Employee Resource Groups
All ERGs are open to all/welcome all WHOI community members who are interested in participating.
WHOI Employee Resource Groups are voluntary, community-led groups organized around common identities or interests which meet regularly and offer annual programming for the WHOI community. ERGs are spaces for resource-sharing, connection, and mutual support. All groups are open to all WHOI staff, students, and personnel. To learn more about the ERGs, you can contact group leadership directly at the emails below. Check out the Campus Life Calendar for all ERG programming and events. If you are interested in starting an ERG, email marney.rathbun@whoi.edu.
Disability
The Disability ERG aims to provide a space for all interested members of the WHOI community to share experiences and exchange information around disability, and to provide peer support for navigating the workplace with a disability. The primary pillar of the Disability ERG is community building. The Disability ERG will identify areas of particular interest or concern to coordinate education and advocacy activities around disability-related topics with the CWED-associated Disability Education and Advocacy Working Group, whose pillars are Education and Advocacy around disability-related issues. Members of the ERG will be encouraged to participate in both WG and ERG-related activities.
Contact: disabilityleadership@whoi.edu
The Disability ERG is a social group. For more information on Disability advocacy and education at WHOI, check out the Disability Working Group in People Operations here.
International
The International Employee Resource Group (ERG) offers support and assistance to the community of foreign national students, postdocs, and staff members at WHOI to become an integrated part of the Woods Hole community. The group achieves its mission through sponsored programming, social events and other engagement opportunities and is open to all WHOI community members.
Contact: internationalleadership@whoi.edu
LatinX
The LatinX ERG’s main purpose is to provide a safe and engaging place for anyone who is looking to express their cultural diversity. The group principally serves as a gathering space to build community amongst those with Latin American heritage at WHOI, however, we would like to celebrate and include any other cultural background, regardless of heritage and/or language. Whether you would like to find a place where people are culturally similar to you or whether you would like to learn more about different cultures, we welcome anyone in the community.
Contact: latinxleadership@whoi.edu
Mental Health
The WHOI Mental Health ERG acts to strengthen mental health awareness at WHOI through open, positive, and inclusive dialogue; to improve access to and knowledge of the support resources available to the WHOI community, on site and for those at sea and in the field; and to take steps toward destigmatizing mental health issues and conversations. Our activities include co-organizing and implementing activities to highlight resources, services, tools, and tips, including partnering with WHOI's People Operations Team, and curating newsletters and web resources. Our working group members are not mental health experts or professionals.
Contact: whoimentalhealth@whoi.edu
Pride
PRIDE@WHOI seeks to make the Institution a more welcoming and inclusive place for LGBTQIA+ employees. Many members of the LGBTQIA+ Community at WHOI are already engaged with GLOW (a social group begun at WHOI and open to LGBTQIA+ people and allies from the Woods Hole scientific communities and the broader community). While GLOW serves the broader LGBTQIA+ Falmouth community, the WHOI ERG specifically addresses the needs of Queer WHOI employees in particular.
Contact: prideleadership@whoi.edu
WHOI Sustainability
The Sustainability Employee Resource Group (ERG) is an advocate for sustainable initiatives within the WHOI community. Our mission is to integrate sustainable practices and resource conservation in research, education, and operations to reduce human impact on the environment.
Contact: sustainability@whoi.edu
TechGems
TechGeMs exists to provide peer support, mentoring, and networking to all technical staff employees with a focus on women and gender minorities. In September 2017, the group was initiated by female engineering staff in the AOPE department. It was later expanded to include women engineers in all departments in February 2018 and then included all technical staff in Fall 2020 with a steering committee member from each department. The name “Tech Gems” was adopted in Summer 2023 to include gender minorities among the technical staff. We have always welcomed any gender identities and non-technical ladder WHOI employees, including administrative and scientific staff.
Contact: techgemsleadership@whoi.edu
Related resources: Technical Staff Committee
Veterans
The Veterans Resource Group is here to foster camaraderie, provide support, and direct WHOI Veterans and Active Duty Military and their families to valuable resources. Our commitment lies in mentoring and tackling the specific challenges that Veterans and Military personnel encounter, with the goal of making a meaningful and lasting impact on their lives.
Contact: veteransleadership@whoi.edu
WoGems
The Women and Gender Minorities Group (WoGeMS) considers matters of special concern to gender minorities at WHOI, including those who identify as cisgender and trans women, non-binary, or gender non-conforming. In doing so, the WoGeMs mission is to advocate for equitable treatment, foster community, and raise awareness across WHOI and the broader WHOI-associated community. This ERG is the latest incarnation of the WHOI Women’s Committee, which was established in 1973.
Contact: wogemsleadership@whoi.edu
Related resources: Women’s Committee Archive