CINCINNATI - Acting EM Assistant Secretary Sue Cange explained how a diverse workforce benefits the DOE’s cleanup program and shared her leadership story during a visit to the EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) on March 22.
“The fact is our people are EM’s greatest asset," Cange told the EMCBC workforce. “We all benefit from having a workforce that not only brings their best work to the table, but also brings with them their diverse life experiences and backgrounds to draw upon. There is no question that combination leads to a well-rounded EM team and ultimately translates into executing our mission more effectively."
The event was organized by EMCBC’s Diversity Council to coincide with Women’s History Month.
With a long history of women leaders, EM employs many women, including engineers, scientists, managers and craftspeople.
“It is my hope that in sharing my story, it will serve as encouragement for you to mentor both young women and men, for I believe we all have a responsibility to pass on our experiences for the benefit of all," Cange said to workers at the Cincinnati office.
Cange shared her story of becoming an engineer and leader in a male-dominated field while raising three children. As she discussed her path to EM, Cange recalled a guest speaker in her high school science class who sparked the notion Cange could pursue a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career. Cange noted the strong support she received from her mother, and recalled being one of only a handful of women in the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University.
Cange talked about her work at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and how she later became the first professional woman to join the DOE’s Formally Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program at EM’s Oak Ridge site.
These days, Cange focuses on cleanup progress at EM’s field sites. She pointed to EMCBC site successes, such as completing the high-level waste canister relocation project at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) and surpassing the halfway point of the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (UMTRA). She also highlighted a new EM-wide strategic planning initiative to better tackle the cleanup program’s longer-term challenges.
Cange advised the group that diversity can improve each employee and the greater organization.
“It’s important to realize how diversity can benefit you as an individual but also as an organization - and take time to foster that," she said.
EM supports a variety of STEM programs, such as science fairs and bowls, and internships. The organization is developing a next-generation workforce with well-paying jobs critical to completing the cleanup mission through partnerships with colleges and universities, contractors, and training centers, such as the EM Richland Operations Office’s Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) Federal Training Center.
The EMCBC provides business and technical support services, with line-management authority for EM cleanup work at the Energy Technology Engineering Center, Moab UMTRA, Separations Process Research Unit, WVDP, Nevada National Security Site, and Lawrence Berkeley and Brookhaven national laboratories.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
