RCN: GOLD-EN: Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity and Inclusion in Geosciences (LANDInG): Building, Developing and Sustaining DEI Leaders

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The American Geophysical Union (AGU) will organize a Research Coordination Network (RCN) to support community and leadership development efforts with the goal of creating a more diverse and inclusive geoscience workforce. Cultural shifts can be facilitated by leadership, and research indicates that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are more often effective when championed from the top. Increasing capacity for DEI leadership through a Community of Practice (CoP) and professional development within the geosciences would fill an infrastructure gap for efforts that broaden participation in the geosciences and improve DEI outcomes (directly and indirectly) across the discipline. DEI champions and leaders in the geosciences lack a central community for networking and professional development, hindering broader impact of their efforts. LANDInG RCN's (Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity and Inclusion in the Geosciences-Research Coordination Network) aim is to develop a sustainable network of formal and informal leaders to champion DEI values and practices, developing cohorts of new leaders to implement DEI efforts that broaden participation across the geosciences. Leveraging the membership and reach of AGU, in partnership with other geoscience societies, the program will achieve four objectives: Objective 1: Implement a sustainable CoP Network for DEI champions in the geosciences, including a virtual platform (The LANDInG Site) and in-person events to engage and support a broad representation of DEI champions within the geosciences in networking, resource-sharing, and professional development activities. Objective 2: Implement a DEI Leader Academy for the geosciences, building capacity for evidence-based leadership of DEI efforts that specifically address the needs of the geoscience community. Objective 3: Create and foster opportunities for direct experience leading DEI initiatives in the geosciences, to further ensure broad engagement with evidence-based strategies for culture and organizational change while broadening impact for the CoP. Objective 4: Raise the visibility and recognition of DEI champions/ the value of DEI leadership in the geosciences amplifying the expertise and successes of those who participate in the CoP Network and Academy to elevate recognition and value of DEI champions and leaders within the discipline. The model for change draws from research and theory spanning social and organizational sciences, including the literatures on professional networks/mentoring, and implementing effective diversity and leader training. The methods for enacting change are evidence-based and framed by national models for cohort-based professional development within higher education/STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).LANDInG's outcomes for geosciences would include: 1) new models for DEI professional development; 2) increased capacity for DEI leadership; 3) broader and stronger professional networks for DEI champions; 4) increased understanding of DEI needs; 5) institutionalization of new practices/models for DEI change across the discipline. LANDInG's goal's include 1) Increased recruitment, retention, and advancement of women, persons with disabilities, underrepresented minorities, and those at the intersections of these identities in the geosciences; 2) Increased capacity for DEI champions to emerge and affect change in the geosciences; 3) Scalable, sustainable models for professional societies to affect DEI change and broaden participation in STEM; 4) enhanced partnerships between academia, associations, industry, and nonprofit organizations; and 5) development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.