Capt. Trevor Webber, an instructor within the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civil Engineer School facilitates a workshop discussion with other CE School faculty to identify opportunities to increase D&I topics in CE School policies and course materials, create an action plan for ownership and accountability, and increase outreach of D&I topics within the CE career field. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Capt. Devin DePalmer)

In December 2021, eight faculty members from the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civil Engineer School earned a diversity and inclusion certificate from Cornell University. The eight-week program focuses on building an organizational culture of D&I through improved engagement, counteracting unconscious bias, and fostering an inclusive climate.

“Cornell’s D&I certificate program was fantastic,” said Maj. Sean-Michael Kelly, senior civil engineer instructor in AFIT’s CE School. “Education plays a critical role in building awareness and understanding, and to me, those are the pathways toward real change. Cornell’s program was the perfect complement to our internal Air Force educational resources.”

The faculty were chosen with the intent to expand D&I training and knowledge within all departments of the CE School. They shared lessons learned and best practices with the rest of the school during a four day D&I workshop on 22-25 February. The objectives of the workshop were to identify opportunities to increase D&I topics in CE School policies and course materials, create an action plan for ownership and accountability, and increase outreach of D&I topics within the CE career field.

"I learned a lot from the workshop. D&I is so much more than demographics, it's about building an environment that everyone truly wants to be a part of resulting in a more efficient and effective team,” said Capt. Benjamin Fonte, instructor in AFIT’s CE School. “I have directly seen the positive impact this has on our students coming though the CE School.”

Nearly 50 faculty and staff from the CE School participated in the workshop. Workshop facilitators employed their innovative teaching techniques through the use of tablets for electronically recording responses and accessing electronic documents and QR codes to collect individual anonymous survey responses. Participants were also split into different small discussion groups each day to increase the diversity of interactions.

“It was great to witness first-hand the interest from The CE School’s faculty and staff in just having a discussion and learning more about D&I” said Col. Laurie Richter, dean of the CE School. “The CE School is committed to advancing the force development of DAF civil engineers through deliberate education; the more we normalize D&I principles in our courses, the stronger we are as an enterprise.”

A stronger, more deliberate focus on D&I initiatives within the school is in direct alignment with the efforts of the CE career field. At the 2022 CE Summit held at AFIT in March, two panel discussions were held on the topic of D&I. A panel discussion on “Advancing Diversity & Inclusion in CE” was held with key career field managers centered on the current efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive force. Next, the 32E CE D&I team hosted their first CE Women’s History Month panel enabling female CE Airmen to share the opportunities and challenges faced in their careers.

In a “We are CE Video” played at the Summit, Col. Shamekia Toliver, deputy director of the installations directorate at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, said “as a young lieutenant, I never worked for another female officer. What I think is a positive trend is we are actually having the conversation. The Air Force civil engineer community has the opportunity to lead the way in so many ways.”