SWANA Member Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey

The SWANA Board of Directors is encouraging you to share your perspective by completing the 2022 SWANA Member Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey by 11:59 pm EST September 16.

One of the challenges all employers, including those in solid waste and resource management, are addressing today is finding and keeping good people. SWANA has written papers and Applied Research Foundation reports on workforce issues. Trade publications routinely carry stories about collection disruptions caused by staffing shortages. SWANA members talk about the difficulty of hiring new workers for processing facilities and operators for heavy equipment.

To advance its overall mission and strengthen the Association, SWANA’s Board of Directors included a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative in its new Forward, Together five-year strategic plan. The initiative, which began as a discussion almost three years ago, is part of the goal to help make our industry more appealing to young people and other potential employees who may not immediately identify solid waste and resource management as the industry that will provide them with great, long-term employment.

The Board’s intention is to better understand DEI issues across Association operations including among SWANA staff and as identified by members across Association governance and within chapters and technical divisions, ultimately leading to a stronger, more diverse, and more inclusive Association and improved conditions for everyone in the industry. 

As part of WANA's commitment to DEI and implementation of the Forward, Together Strategic Plan, we are asking each member to complete the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey by 11:59 pm EST September 16 so we can understand your individual views and experiences within SWANA. This assessment was prepared by our partners at Nonprofit HR. This survey collects demographic data. It is utilized to identify the diversity of our membership makeup along with important trends about how people of varied dimensions of diversity are experiencing SWANA at all levels. You will not provide your name, and all results will go directly to our external consultants at Nonprofit HR. Your individual responses will remain anonymous.

We encourage you to engage in this survey as openly and honestly as possible so that we will have enough data to gain a true sense of our association's strengths and opportunities for improvement. Your perspective is critical. This survey should take between 5–18 minutes to complete, depending on your level of involvement in governance, your Chapter, and/or technical divisions.

At the end of the survey, if you want to be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card (each gift card has a $25 value; six winners will be selected) you will be directed to a separate question block to provide your contact information. Providing contact information is entirely voluntary and separate of your member survey in order to ensure your answers remain anonymous.

If you have any questions about the survey or the process overall, don’t hesitate to reach out to Je’Nai Talley Jackson (jjackson@nonprofithr.com), Team Lead for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Justice, or Dr. Antonio Cortes (acortes@nonprofithr.com), Managing Director for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Justice at Nonprofit HR. If you have questions about the Forward, Together Strategic Plan or the goal to reframe the perception of the industry, contact Executive Director/CEO David Biderman, dbiderman@swana.org, or Deputy Executive Director Sara Bixby, sbixby@swana.org.

Thank you for your time and assistance on this important SWANA initiative.