Employee Resource Groups

 

NSA offers nearly a dozen Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for agency and United States Cyber Command civilian and military employees to help foster a unified culture. These ERGs are NSA's expression of federally-mandated Special Emphasis Programs and are a driving force for promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility at the agency. These employee-led groups are composed of individuals who work together to foster an inclusive and unified culture where everyone is not only included and respected, but valued for their mission contribution. Individuals may join ERGs as either a member or ally.

AIAN – American Indian Alaska Native: The American Indian Alaska Native (AIAN) ERG represents a number of tribes — each tribe represents a sovereign group of people with distinctive histories, cultures, experiences, and governments. There are 566 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. and 32 Accredited Tribal Colleges. The AIAN ERG partners with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, which has seven regions across the U.S. and four chapter types across the regions supporting professional, graduate, undergraduate, and high school students. The AIAN ERG advances DEIA goals through career development, heritage activities, active participation in events throughout the Native community, raising awareness about the different perspectives AIAN cultures bring to the workplace, and understanding and recruiting AIAN individuals to be agency employees.

AV – American Veterans: The American Veterans (AV) ERG provides holistic support to Active Service members, service members transitioning out of active service, and civilian veteran employees. The AV ERG advances DEIA goals by bridging the gap between civilian and military cultures, developing working partnerships, and effectively communicating unique values and experiences of veterans, retirees, active duty service members, guards, and reservists. Additionally, the AV ERG champions concerns brought forth by its members; facilitates events and speakers to promote awareness of veterans’ resources, internal and external to the agency; encourages and builds partnerships through mission-focused activities; fosters a culture of inclusion   and integration; and serves as a resource to leadership and the workforce.

AAPI – Asian American Pacific Islander: The Asian American/Pacific Islander ERG works to raise awareness of AAPI   matters by promoting a vibrant and strong membership; developing an inclusive work environment which nurtures cross-functional relationships and the efficient leverage of knowledge; broadening AAPI cultural awareness within NSA in order   to maximize mission effectiveness and employee contribution; and enhancing the professional development and sense of   inclusion for AAPI members.


ESL – English as a Second Language: The English as a Second Language (ESL) ERG supports members of the workforce whose first, native, or sole language is not English. The group’s   aim is to be the voice of NSA's ESL employees by advocating and promoting a culture of respect, openness, and inclusion. The ESL ERG assists ESL employees in successfully integrating into   the agency's culture, advises supervisors to support and empower the ESL workforce to reach its full career potential, and guides the entire workforce to cultivate cultural intelligence. 

​HLAT – Hispanic/Latinx: The Hispanic/Latinx ERG aims to promote the recruitment, retention, and advancement of   Hispanic/Latinx employees and provides networking, mentoring, and leadership opportunities that encourage the professional and personal development of all employees. The group’s mission is to support DEIA in building and maintaining a culture of inclusion, fairness, equality, and equity for all NSA employees, ensuring that all opportunities are   equal to everyone and allowing every employee to have a positive impact on the agency’s mission.

IC – Islamic Cultural: The Islamic Cultural ERG was created to increase workforce awareness and sensitivity of Islamic culture. The agency requires certain skill sets, such as knowing foreign   languages and the history and culture of other countries. To alleviate employees feeling marginalized in the workplace, the IC ERG mentors and encourages employees by aiding agency   retention efforts and producing educational forums. All IC ERG efforts help improve intelligence reporting on targets belonging to the Muslim world and representing certain aspects of the   Islamic culture, and provide Muslim and non-Muslim employees mechanisms through which they can learn about one another and engage in cultural exchange.

PwD – People with Disabilities: The People with Disabilities (PwD) ERG is committed to heightening NSA’s awareness   of issues that adversely affect people with disabilities; supporting the career development and retention of people with   disabilities; striving for equitable access to products and services through support of reasonable accommodations (Section 504) and the Accessible and Usable Technology Overall (AUTO) program (508); and heightening ERG   members’ awareness of NSA and government resources that can support their needs.