During this year’s American Association for Access, Equity & Diversity (AAAED) Annual National Conference, L2 Defense Inc., received the Roosevelt Thomas Champion of Diversity Award.
The Roosevelt Thomas Award is given to an organization or corporation for outstanding achievements in promoting diversity in the workforce. L2 Defense, Inc. provides advanced training, logistics, and engineering capabilities for the nation’s military and first responder communities. L2 strives to create an environment where their employees feel not just included but represented and have their voices heard. Our DEI strategy involves initiatives such as the DEI Working Group (a composition of staff members whose membership is voluntary), Culture Corner, Affinity Groups, and the Courageous Conversations (CCAR Program), which have allowed employees to share their thoughts and opinions on matters such as policies, hard-to-talk-about topics, and hiring practices. These initiatives have given the company the confidence to address some of the more difficult topics such as bias, racism, and privilege.
Prior recipients of the Roosevelt Thomas Award include: Hilton (2021), PepsiCo (2020), Cummins, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company (2019), The Coca-Cola Company (2018), Southern Company Gas (2018), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2017).
L2 strives to create an environment where our employees feel not just included but represented and have their voices heard. Various programs with L2, such as the DEI Working Group, Culture Corner, Affinity Groups and Courageous Conversations have allowed our employees to share their thoughts and opinions on matters such as policies, hard-to-talk-about topics, and hiring practices. This initiative has allowed the company to address some of the more difficult topics such as bias, racism, and privilege.
The DEI Working Group works hard in creating a safe and encouraging environment for employees to make their opinions known and heard, which is comprised of staff who volunteered to help in the development of initiatives regarding their DEI Strategy.
In their goal to encourage and expand diversity, L2 partnered with PEG and engaged in ongoing training through their Courageous Conversations about Race Explorations and Leadership programs. L2 worked with a team member to develop and present his self-initiated course, The Elephant in the Room, a conversation about one’s own racial experience and perspective on its implications on society.
L2 Defense rearranged its hiring methods to strive for more diversity within the company. Some of these newly improved methods resulted in an increase in the number of female trainers on staff which is often a male-dominated field. Additionally, L2 has partnered with Sparks Group to present webinars on reducing bias in the hiring process.
They have pushed the limits on how they encourage diversity and increase representation within the workplace by also starting a Culture Corner on their intranet platform to bring employees relevant information about cultural events and perspectives (e.g. Women’s History, AAPI, Hispanic Heritage, etc.). Additionally, they linked with Progressive Women’s Leadership to host seminars for their Women’s affinity group at L2. And lastly, they have continued their community service effort to include service to the Veteran community via meal preparation and clothing drives, supporting Habitat for Humanity, working at the Food Bank to support and acknowledge of needs of our diverse extended community.