Leadership from the Intelligence and National Security Alliance’s (INSA) newest council joins ClearanceJobs for a discussion on how to better assess the Intelligence Community’s (IC) challenges on maintaining a diverse and equitable workforce. Their newest council for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (also known as the JEDI Council) is just kicking off and sharing some of their priority areas.
Nicole Gibson is a Partner with Guidehouse in the National Security Segment and has over 20 years experience providing management-consulting service to the Federal Government, providing clients with insight and guidance as they seek to transform their organizations, increase transparency, better serve their customers, and increase operational effectiveness. Larry Thomas is Chief Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer at Penn State University’s Applied Research Laboratory and for a long time, has served as a trusted advisor for a host of influential employers, executives, and board directors across industries and sectors. Thomas currently serves on the Council of the Brookings Institution and the Society of Fellows Engagement Committee of the Aspen Institute.
Gibson and Thomas share with us a little bit about their motivations to serve on this council and their relationship to INSA. While committees of this sort have become more commonplace in the national security world, Thomas notes that there are DEI councils, but not many that focus on the JUSTICE portion.
The council hopes to achieve better benchmarks for what makes an organization excelling in justice, diversity, equity and inclusion or needing support, and they are both excited to kick off the council and are slated to have their first meeting later this month.
To better assess some of the IC’s challenges and to recommend actionable solutions, the JEDI council will research, discuss, and analyze all these challenges we discussed that affect government agencies, cleared contractors, and academic institutions – we’re excited to see what comes next for JEDI.
Register for INSA’s The New IC: Empowering Women and Engaging Men here. Held at the Army Navy Country Club on Thursday, July 14, this symposium is a full-day program focused on the professional challenges and opportunities facing women in the national security and intelligence community.
The powerful program lineup includes keynotes by The Honorable Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, and Tonya Wilkerson, Deputy Director, National Geospatial Agency, as well as a dynamic blend of discussion formats and networking opportunities.
