| | JUNE 2022MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM9Externally, through the network of, and with support from, the Council and our BRGs, we are engaging with our communities in targeted campaigns ­ from volunteering and giving campaigns to adult education programs and university partnerships that aim to not only support our diverse local communities but engage the next generation of AVANGRID's workforce. Driving Opportunity A major aspect of driving opportunity for AVANGRID is focused on removing barriers. In 2021, our executives and their direct reports took workshops on Racism in Corporate America, conducted by an outside consulting firm, to educate about removing barriers and promoting equitable opportunities for growth and development at AVANGRID. These senior leaders engaged in frank discussions, gained awareness of the history of structural racism in America and undertook actions to continue the dialogue with their teams.For both 2020 and 2021, the executive team had clear targets for upwards of 60 percent of employees in their areas to complete Unconscious Bias training. In 2021, the organization's completion rate far exceeded that, reaching 96 percent. An additional area that we are undertaking this year is expanding our scope to the overall career journey. We are focused on pulse surveys to understand what matters most to individuals and groups and increasing cross-training to ensure we have diversity of thought and experience. Creating & Sustaining a Diverse Talent Pipeline Investing in our talent pipeline means engaging at all stages of the employee lifecycle. We started with our early-career programs ­ namely, our Internship Program. Our 2021 cohort was the most diverse in AVANGRID history, with half our participants identifying as women and over a third identifying as a person-of-color. Each year, we aim to hire over 50 percent of our eligible interns, making it a critical tool to building the next generation of talent. To ensure we are sustaining a diverse pipeline, AVANGRID signed the Paradigm for Parity commitment to achieve full gender parity by 2030, with a near-term goal of women holding at least 30 percent of senior roles. To complement this objective, our executive team had goals in 2020 and 2021 to develop succession plans that were progressively more diverse in race and gender. In 2022, we are building on this accountability with our executives with area-specific hiring goals for all manager-level roles and above and requiring diverse interview panels for each applicant. For AVANGRID, our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are still young, but we have a clear vision and goalposts to build an organization that reflects the communities we serve. Leadership accountability is the linchpin to our continued success. We expect our journey to provide challenge as we embed DE&I into our DNA.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >