Open letter to supporters and partners

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) admits that despite efforts to diversify staff over the last decade, it has failed to address a culture of microaggressions and structural racism, leaving leadership largely white. In response to a public resignation letter from a Black employee and broader social unrest, the organization is implementing reforms to increase the role of staff of color in decision-making, accelerate their hiring into management, and engage the board of directors through a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Task Force.

• The Union of Concerned Scientists acknowledges that while it increased staff diversity over the last ten years, its leadership remains predominantly white and the organizational culture did not evolve to support employees of color, leading to experiences described as transactional and unfulfilling.
• The organization is implementing immediate reforms to improve the workplace for colleagues of color, focusing on increasing their involvement in decision-making, enhancing support mechanisms for younger staff, and accelerating the appointment of people of color to management roles.
• UCS is engaging its board of directors to address these internal challenges through the existing Board/Staff Diversity Equity and Inclusion Task Force.

APA

Kimmell, K., & Rest, K. (2020). Open letter to supporters and partners. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/about/news/open-letter-supporters-and-partners

Chicago

Kimmell, Ken, and Kathleen Rest. Open letter to supporters and partners. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2020. https://www.ucs.org/about/news/open-letter-supporters-and-partners.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Kimmell |first1=Ken |last2=Rest |first2=Kathleen |title=Open letter to supporters and partners |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=5 June 2020 |url=https://www.ucs.org/about/news/open-letter-supporters-and-partners |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{kimmell2020open, author = {Kimmell, Ken and Rest, Kathleen}, title = {{Open letter to supporters and partners}}, publisher = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ucs.org/about/news/open-letter-supporters-and-partners}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }