Diversity & Inclusion Cuts Through Noise of North America’s Largest Solar Trade Show

SALT LAKE CITY – As part of the solar industry’s commitment to promoting a diverse and inclusive workforce, customer base and supply chain, Solar Power International (SPI) and North America Smart Energy Week (NASEW) 2019 featured an array of new programming to address and discuss diversity & inclusion challenges.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) hosted two new receptions on Tuesday: the SEIA Blacks in Energy Reception and the SEIA LGBTQ+ Reception. These events gave hundreds of attendees, community members and allies an opportunity to celebrate equity in the solar industry and make professional connections.

“As 20,000 members of the solar community converge in Salt Lake City, we want to use this opportunity to demonstrate that the solar industry welcomes and celebrates people of all backgrounds,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. “As we enter the Solar+ Decade and advocate for policies that promote solar growth, we must be thoughtful about who has access to cleaner air, jobs, and business opportunities. This work is core to who we are as an industry and must become an imperative.”

SPI and NASEW 2019 are featuring more than a dozen diversity and inclusion-focused programs, including:

• Leveraging Public Resources for Solar Workforce Development
• NAACP Solar Equity Initiative: Elevating Clean Energy as a Matter of Civil Rights
• New Ways Underserved Communities are Going Solar and Their Keys to Success
• Scaling Up Low- and Moderate- Income Solar Access
• SEIA Blacks in Energy Reception
• SEIA LGBTQ+ Reception
• Solar Industry Diversity and Inclusion: New Data and the Path Forward
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Clean Jobs Sector
• Women in Solar & Storage Luncheon
• WRISE Solar and Storage Networking Reception

In May, SEIA launched its Diversity Challenge initiative, challenging the energy sector to mount a sustained effort to address diversity & inclusion in their industries. Since then, SEIA has forged new partnerships and participated in numerous events and programming, including two panels during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference.

In the coming weeks, SEIA will join onto The Hispanic Promise, a first-of-its-kind national pledge to hire, promote, retain and celebrate Hispanics in the workplace. This builds on SEIA’s pledge to CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance workplace diversity and inclusion. So far, 80 SEIA member companies and allies have taken the pledge.

To learn more about SEIA’s work on diversity and inclusion, visit http://www.seia.org/diversity.

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About SEIA®: 

Celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2019, the Solar Energy Industries Association® is the national trade association of the U.S. solar energy industry, which now employs more than 242,000 Americans. Through advocacy and education, SEIA® is building a strong solar industry to power America. SEIA works with its 1,000 member companies to build jobs and diversity, champion the use of cost-competitive solar in America, remove market barriers and educate the public on the benefits of solar energy. Visit SEIA online at www.seia.org.

Media Contact: 

Morgan Lyons, SEIA’s Senior Communications Manager, mlyons@seia.org (202) 556-2872