Equity & Inclusion

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For decades, CEE has worked to serve the full breadth of our community.

We invite the widest array of unique perspectives and wisdom to help us tailor people-centered solutions that serve everyone.

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We seek a healthy, carbon-neutral economy that works for all people.

We constantly improve our planning, policy, and technical offerings to meet the needs of historically underserved populations. We want all people to realize the economic and health benefits of our emerging energy system across socioeconomic class, geography, race and ethnicity, politics, age, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, physical or language ability, mental capacity, and other distinctions.

Equity & Inclusion

Our home region and the energy field have histories of marginalization and oppression that we need to change.

Named for the Dakota Mni Sota, our region is the ancestral home of the Dakota, Ojibwe, Ho-Chunk, Oto, Cheyenne, Iowa, and Sauk and Meskwaki people, and the land on which we work was acquired through their forced removal and genocide. Today Minnesota ranks among the nation's worst for racial and ethnic disparities in education, employment, housing, and the economy. In Minneapolis, Black and Hispanic households face higher energy burdens than white households. Specific to our field, women currently represent just 27 percent and people of color represent only 28 percent of our state's clean energy workforce.

Equity & Inclusion

CEE is dedicated to turning the dial toward equity and justice.

In pursuit of fair access to energy and equitable decarbonization, we’ve aligned our programs and operations behind an energy economy with cost-effective, practical solutions that promote prosperity for all. As one of the Upper Midwest’s largest and oldest clean energy nonprofits, we’re well-positioned to promote energy strategies and human relationships centered on equity and inclusion.

Commitment matters, but our actions drive change:

Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council drives company-wide learning and reinforces accountability.

Composed of staff volunteers and key leaders, the DEI Council helps to establish DEI-related objectives, support implementation, and inform our staff and board about progress.

Learn more about our DEI progress

We know enough to know we have a lot to learn.

We offer regular learning opportunities to staff through trainings and visiting speakers, with invited space for discussion and reflection. We encourage each person to speak for themself and tell their own story.

Our recruitment practices are diversifying our in-house workforce.

To strengthen staffing through diversity, we nurture relationships with community partners and set meaningful job criteria that opens our doors as widely as possible.

We partner with independent communities around the region to reach all residents.

Multiple CEE efforts in lending, residential, and small business programs are designed to help reduce the energy burden on historically underserved communities.

Our forums and public events are guided by official policies for inclusion.

We are best able to engage and strengthen crucial, long-term relationships when our events are inclusive and feature presenters and content that represent diverse perspectives.

We provide workforce development training to improve access to clean energy jobs in historically white male fields.

With Xcel Energy, CEE will launch a new workforce development program in 2021 to recruit and train underrepresented women and people of color for long-term success in clean energy jobs.

We speak our truth out loud.

We publicly post this web page and related content to ensure that our efforts to build an equitable energy system are visible and hold us accountable for action.

We actively grant each other and ourselves the grace to learn, grow, and be human.

This work is dynamic and ongoing, and we will make mistakes. We commit to recognizing our failings, learning from them, and not being dissuaded in pursuit of our goals.

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We want to hear from you.

We invite your reflections and feedback on CEE’s efforts toward equity and inclusion.

Contact Us