Brandy Armstrong, President, president@ieeeoes.org
A First for IEEE OES
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As the first female President of IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES), I recognize the importance of this moment and that I have an opportunity to speak up. A diverse administrative committee brings new ideas and approaches to leadership, which I believe will serve our Society well if member volunteers are committed to working together to move the Society forward through change.
MTS President Justin Manley (left) and OES President Brandy Armstrong present a plaque in appreciation of the Local Organizing Committee to the OCEANS Singapore Chair Venu Pallayil.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Your President is a champion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our community. Diversity is the presence of people of different backgrounds, perspectives, and identities in our community. Equity recognizes that we don’t all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. Inclusion relies on Diversity and Equity and enables full participation of a diverse member base in the events happening at all levels of our community. Diversity and Equity are essential in fostering an inclusive Society, where community members feel they belong, which is a powerful catalyst to bring underprivileged and minority groups into Oceanic Engineering. These groups span gender, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and neurodiversity.
Diverse and inclusive Societies find and nurture the best talent, increase volunteer engagement, and see increased membership. IEEE Societies’ experiences have shown that including DEI in strategic planning and leadership decisions results in integrity and technical excellence. How we interact with our fellow community members is at least as important to the purpose of the Society as technical skills.
We can build an ecosystem of Societies and collaborators who are also aware of and fostering an environment of Diversity and Inclusion. Our Berths of Opportunity program with Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) is one example of the type of program that we can create working with organizations who are strong supporters of DEI. IEEE OES has been a technical co-sponsor of the past two Ocean Sciences Meetings (OSM), another event where DEI is strongly emphasized. OSM held DEI events each day of the 6-day conference in February of 2024. The Oceanographic Society’s Oceanography magazine published an entire Volume (Volume 36) on Building Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Ocean Sciences, which they distributed for free at OSM as a conference co-sponsor. Exxon Mobil sponsored a half day program at OTC Asia on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Insights. Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: Harnessing the Power of Diversity in the Energy Industry.
OES’s approach to DEI can position us for success and growth. IEEE recognizes this. The TAB DEI committee received unanimous approval at the February TAB meeting for a budget and additional committee members. The TAB DEI committee has already provided a toolkit to support all organizational units to manage initiatives toward advancing DEI, as well as embed DEI into ongoing activities. The first step is to establish a long-term DEI Committee within an organizational unit. The toolkit is available at https://www.ieee.org/about/diversity-index/secure/volunteer-toolkit.html
Leadership and their understanding of how to manage a diverse group of humans is the biggest determinant of the daily experience for our Society members. I encourage all IEEE OES members to contact your Administrative Committee and Executive Committee members to let them know your thoughts on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and how to better understand your needs as members.
As long as I am in OES leadership, I will continue to work to incorporate DEI in our purpose and culture and seek responsibility towards affective action. If you would like to get involved in advancing DEI efforts in IEEE OES please contact your President at president@ieeeoes.org .