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Cultivating Excellence, Collaboration, and Innovation

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is a staff organization working within Northwestern IT to support the mission and efforts of the Office of Institutional Diversity & Inclusion.

Join Us

Northwestern IT Commitment Statement

Northwestern University is best served by an IT organization that supports the full demographic diversity of current and future generations of Northwestern students, faculty, and staff.

Therefore, we commit to:

  • Building a more diverse workforce that cultivates excellence, collaboration, and innovation
  • Ensuring equitable treatment, promoting access to opportunity and advancement, and removing barriers to success
  • Providing an inclusive work environment where all members of the Northwestern IT community can thrive and learn from each other
  • Embracing diversity and perspectives that support a culture of trust and accountability
  • Bringing sustained, intentional effort to this essential work and integrating it into all aspects of our organization

Initiatives

  • Develop policy(s) to ensure the Northwestern IT hiring process includes oversight and guidance from a hiring team, and include a requirement on diverse candidate pools.
  • Develop policies, standards, and guidelines to enable staff retention and inclusion, where training, professional development, coaching, and mentoring are a priority.
  • Establish a platform for advocacy and build allies and committees at the University to strengthen Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
  • Curate educational programming such as workshops, conferences, books, podcasts, and other educational materials to educate and strengthen the diversity, equity, and inclusion commitment for Northwestern IT.

Working Groups

In 2021, Northwestern IT implemented a climate survey across the organization. The survey results led to the creation of working groups tasked with focusing on four essential areas. If you are interested in joining one of the groups, please contact the DEI Steering Committee.

  • Communications
  • Hiring, Retention, and Advancement
  • Performance Excellence Guidance and Support
  • Programming

How to Get Involved

Committee members are staff from across Northwestern IT who have a strong interest in creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable community.

Any IT staff member may request to participate in the committee or its associated workgroups and activities. 

Steering Committee Members

  • Josephine Anderson, AV Support Engineer, Media and Technology Innovation
  • Michael Campbell, Developer, Application Development and Operations
  • Steve Christensen, Director of IT Communications and Engagement, IT Communications (Senior Leadership Team Representative)
  • Lisa Hinkley, Systems Analyst, Enterprise Systems Human Resources and Student
  • Serena Simpson, Communications Specialist, IT Communications (Co-Chair)
  • Betsy Watkins, Systems Engineer, Collaboration Services (Co-Chair) 
  • Colby Witherup Wood, Manager, Data Science Services, Research Computing and Data Services

Resources and Learning Opportunities