SSA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee

At its 20 November 2021 meeting, in recognition of the need for SSA to have broader representation and participation from all sectors of society, both in its leadership and its membership at large, the SSA Board of Directors established the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee.

A standing committee of the SSA Board of Directors, the DEI Committee is tasked with recommending to the Board actions and initiatives that will improve DEI throughout SSA; supporting the Board’s implementation of the principles and initiatives that foster DEI in all SSA activities; documenting and reporting to the Board on an annual basis the DEI initiatives implemented within SSA and their outcomes; and liaising with DEI groups in other geoscience societies to develop and share resources that improve the participation of under-represented groups in SSA and in geoscience more generally.

DEI Committee members are appointed for a term of up to three years by the SSA president in consultation with the Executive Committee. All members of the committee are active members of SSA, and no member serves more than two consecutive terms. The committee chair, at the time of appointment, must be a Board member other than the president or immediate past-president.

The DEI Committee is comprised of an early-career representative, a representative of SSA’s social science research community, a representative of minority-serving institutions, an industry representative, a representative based outside the United States, the chair of the annual Nominations Committee (ex officio), a Government Relations Committee representative (ex officio), a Meetings Committee representative (ex officio), a Membership Committee representative (ex officio), a Publications Committee representative (ex officio) and an Honors Committee representative (ex officio).

The terms of the committee will be reviewed at least once every five years.

The establishment of this committee was among the recommendations of a DEI Taskforce established by SSA’s Board of Directors in 2021. For more information, read the Taskforce’s 2021 Report, 2021 Report, SSA Taskforce on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Toward a Changing, Inclusive Future in Earthquake Science.