The purpose of today’s town hall is to discuss NASA’s 2022 Equity Action Plan, get feedback on the plan’s implementation, gather recommendations on future engagement, and discuss how equity advocates like yourself might help the agency’s equity efforts moving forward. The town hall is an opportunity to hear directly from NASA leadership on the importance of diversity in the space industry and from our Equity Action Plan leads on what their teams are doing to improve access to science, data, information, and opportunities for traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities.

We’ve also partnered with the Small Business Administration for this event, and they will share how they are working with NASA to advance equity in the federal government. But most importantly, today is about open dialogue, which you’ll have a chance to do during our focus area breakout sessions. We welcome your thoughts, ideas, and questions, and I’ll share more on how to provide feedback in a moment.

Housekeeping Items

Before we move forward, I’d like to cover a few housekeeping items to make sure you’re able to participate and get the most out of our session today:

• To ask a question during the presentation, please enter your question in the Q&A box just below the chat box on the right side of your WebEx screen. If you’d like to ask a speaker a question, please begin your question with that speaker’s name. We are reserving time at the end of our session to respond to questions. We will do our best to answer as many questions as we can in the time allowed. If your question is not answered today, you can submit your question to the Mission Equity webpage.
• If you have other comments or experience technical difficulties, please enter them in the chat box.
• Closed captioning is available on demand. To access closed captioning, select the CC icon identified by box 1 in the bottom left of your WebEx screen, then select the three dots located in the bottom right of your screen identified by box 2. It will allow you to open and select captions. You will begin to see the captions as the panelists begin to speak.
• This event is being recorded, and registered participants will receive an email once the recording and presentations are available on NASA’s Mission Equity webpage.
• Breakout sessions will also include polls. Please take a moment to answer questions and provide feedback.
• To access speaker bios, use the camera on your mobile phone to scan the QR code on the cover of the presentations.

To open our town hall, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Technology Policy and Strategy, Dr. Pavi Lal, will give remarks and introduce our next speakers. As the Associate Administrator for Technology Policy and Strategy within the Office of the NASA Administrator, Dr. Lal is responsible for providing evidence-driven advice to NASA leadership on internal and external policy issues, strategic planning, and technology investments.

Please welcome Dr. Pavi Lal.

Hello!

As Jarrell said, I’m Pavi Lal, and on behalf of the entire leadership team at NASA, we welcome those of you tuning in from around the country as well as NASA colleagues here in person. As you’ve heard, this is our inaugural Equity Stakeholder Town Hall. However, it is not a one-time event. We plan to continue our efforts in reaching out and collaborating with all communities.

I’m not here because I’m the Associate Administrator for Technology Policy and Strategy. I’m here because this is personal to me. When I was a little girl in India, I remember my father describing Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon. We didn’t have a television, but looking up at the stars that evening and imagining what it must be like to walk on the moon sparked something in my soul. This inspiration put me on a path of studying nuclear engineering and eventually joining the team here at NASA, where

As part of President Biden’s goals on government contracting, NASA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) are working together to support small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) by providing funding and opportunities. The SBA is focused on increasing the number of businesses contracting with the federal government and making the process easier for them. They are simplifying certifications, improving business development support, and expanding access to capital and bonding. The SBA offers various programs and resources to support small businesses, and they encourage entrepreneurs to reach out for assistance. Additionally, they are streamlining and improving their lending network to connect businesses with capital.

NASA and the SBA recognize that there is still more work to be done to help businesses thrive in federal contracting. They are proud to be working together to advance this mission. The equity town hall hosted by NASA aims to promote diversity, fairness, and inclusivity in their work and across the federal government.

Equity Action Plan

NASA has launched its mission called “Mission Equity” to advance racial equity and support underserved communities. They have conducted a self-assessment of their programs and resources and sought feedback from external stakeholders to identify potential barriers. Based on this assessment, NASA has created an Equity Action Plan that focuses on four key areas:

1. Equity and procurements/contracts: Increasing the number of awards and dollars awarded to underserved communities
2. Equity and grants/cooperative agreements: Enhancing processes to advance opportunities and access for underserved communities
3. Equity and climate data accessibility and environmental justice: Using earth science data to promote environmental justice
4. Equity and civil rights compliance and accessibility to limited English proficiency populations: Increasing civil rights compliance reviews and accessibility for limited English proficient individuals

NASA is committed to continuously assessing and gathering input to add new goals and actions to their Equity Action Plan. They have already established a fifth focus area, which is equity and STEM engagement, with the goal of building a STEM pipeline for the future.

NASA’s Commitment

NASA is dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all aspects of their work. They believe that these principles are crucial for the success of the Artemis generation and for the benefit of society as a whole. They have implemented equitable actions in 2021, such as incentivizing partnerships with underserved communities in procurement and selecting small business technology program proposals from historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. NASA is also using its resources to address environmental challenges and promote accessibility for limited English proficient populations.

Importance of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

NASA’s Deputy Administrator, Pam Melroy, emphasizes the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their mission. These principles are essential for advancing human exploration, expanding knowledge of the universe, and creating advancements in space technology. NASA fully supports the vision of the Biden-Harris administration to create a more diverse and inclusive America. They understand that diverse talents, perspectives, capabilities, and knowledge are necessary to push the boundaries of space exploration.