The OCS is pleased to announce the formation of an Ames Early Career Advisory Group (ECAG). The Center recognizes the important role early career employees play in the future of the Center and the need to form a coherent voice for all early career employees.

This new Advisory Group will assist the Center in:

• Addressing policies and procedures relevant to supporting early career employees.
• Participation in Diversity and Equal Opportunity Board (DEOB) meetings and actions
• Cultivating a community among early career employees and supporters
• Providing a forum to bring forward issues and concerns relevant to the early career employee community
• Supporting Ames in maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce
• Partner with HR/ODEO to assist with outreach efforts to recruit early career employees
• Fostering professional development

Participation is open to all NASA Ames Research Center civil servants. However, for the purpose of the Advisory Group, meeting the definition of Early Career Professionals (ECPs) can include any of the following civil servants:

1. Graduated with anticipated highest degree or diploma within the last five years
2. Entered a new career occupation (as a permanent, term, pathway or NEX civil servant employee) within the last five years

Contractors may participate in the Early Career Advisory group events and activities with the approval of their company.

Recruitment Events

Please join the ECAG Formation Committee and the Office of the Chief Scientist for our recruitment events! On April 6 (12 pm PDT) and 14th (12 pm PDT), the ECAG Formation Committee will share information such as officer position descriptions, motivations for forming the committee, and answers to general questions – with the hope of recruiting members to join and to run for office in the first ECAG Board. See the centerwide message for meeting and Conference I/O information. We will also take time to discuss issues that the Formation Committee and future officers can use to set short-term and long-term goals and objectives.

ECAG Officer Elections

Elections for ECAG Officer positions will be held April 6-30, 2021 (TBC). Be on the lookout for updates to this section and a centerwide with more information.

ECAG Officer Position Descriptions

The following descriptions of the roles of the officers are taken from the draft Charter composed by the ECAG Formation Committee. Please be aware that the incoming Board shall have the responsibility to finalize the Charter and obtain approval for the document, and therefore will have the power to change the officer roles and responsibilities if they choose. Please consider the below to be general guidelines to help establish expectations for the roles, but not binding job descriptions.

Chair

The Chair shall convene regularly scheduled Board meetings, shall preside or arrange for other members of the executive committee to preside at each meeting in the following order: Co-chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Officer, Events Officer. Specific duties of the Chair include:

• Leading and managing all aspects of the ECAG
• Participating in HR outreach & recruitment activities
• Cultivating internal and external partnerships
• Creating, distributing, and maintaining the ECAG resource guide for use by HR, supervisors, and managers (i.e. contacts, Universities, resumes, organizations)
• Developing projects or activities to promote awareness for improvements in the work environment and enhancement of cultural knowledge
• Coordinating at least 1 annual meeting with Center advisory group chairs
• Assisting ODEO with identifying barriers to the hiring and advancement of early career civil servants
• Meeting once per year with the ODEO Director
• Coordinating 4 (minimum) ECAG meetings during the fiscal year
• Developing the annual advisory group action/activity plan by November 1st each fiscal year
• Establish protocol for ECAG meetings, events, and activities
• Maintain order and decorum at ECAG meetings, events, and activities
• Other roles & responsibilities as deemed appropriate

Co-Chair

The Co-Chair will assist the Chair as requested and designated by the board. In addition, the Co-Chair assumes the duties of the Chair when the Chair is unable to perform his or her duties or is absent from meeting at which the Chair would reside.

Secretary

The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping records of Board actions, including overseeing the taking of minutes at all board meetings, sending out meeting announcements, distributing copies of minutes and the agenda to each Board member, and assuring that corporate records are maintained. Specifically the Secretary will:

• Manage all administrative aspects of the ECAG
• Develop and disseminate ECAG meeting agenda under consultation with the chair
• Record and disseminate meeting minutes
• Create and disseminate notifications for ECAG events or activities
• Assist with the coordination and notification of ECAG meetings during the fiscal year
• Solicit agenda items from ECAG membership prior to each meeting
• Maintain ECAG documentation (i.e. minutes, rosters, event info, contacts)
• Other roles & responsibilities as deemed appropriate

Treasurer

The Treasurer shall make a report at each Board meeting. Treasurer shall chair the finance committee, assist in the preparation of the budget, help develop fundraising plans, and make financial information available to Board members and the public. Specific duties of the Treasurer include:

• Managing all budgetary aspects for ECAG
• Consulting with the chair on Center treasury processes and procedures
• Coordinating event or activity ticket sales and monetary collections
• Composing and providing treasury reports at least 3 times per fiscal year
• Consulting with ODEO to determine annual funding allocations
• Other roles & responsibilities as deemed appropriate

Communications Officer

• Manage all public and communication tasks for ECAG
• Consult with ECAG chair and ODEO to maintain ECAG webpage
• Research and provide information of interest to ECAG membership (i.e. training, cultural awareness, diversity, career advancement, recruitment)
• Act as lead for Officer Nominations committee
• Other roles & responsibilities as deemed appropriate

Events Officer

• Create and disseminate notifications for ECAG events or activities
• Establish protocol for ECAG events and activities
• Assist with logistics for visitors and presenters (i.e. security, visitor’s pass, directions, etc)
• Maintain order and decorum at ECAG events and activities
• Other roles & responsibilities as deemed appropriate

Member-at-large

Members-at-large will be invited to participate in all Board meetings and discussions, and may vote as full Board members. The member-at-large role is not described in the current version of the Charter; the incoming Board shall decide upon the number of members-at-large and any roles they will be expected to play. It is anticipated that members-at-large will be appointed so as to facilitate representation across all organizations at Ames, and that members-at-large may choose to lead specific initiatives or committees of ECAG. Please be aware that the time commitment for this role may be equal to that of named officers.

Advisory Groups at NASA Ames

Advisory Groups (AGs) partner with the Ames Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO). Their primary role is to advise Center management to better address employees’ concerns. We have excerpted the following text from the Advisory Group Handbook to provide you with an idea of the kinds of activities advisory groups carry out.

Advisory Groups have been utilized for networking and to raise awareness. Research shows that Advisory Groups are an invaluable mechanism for advancing an organization’s mission and diversity initiatives. At NASA, we understand the importance of utilizing Advisory Groups to foster inclusion, career development, employee retention, and diversity of thought.

Employee Advisory Groups are formed by employees at Ames with a common perspective, characteristic, interest or shared affiliation, who voluntarily join together to explore how they can contribute to the success of the Center in addition to enhancing their professional and personal development. Some of these characteristics include race, ethnicity, gender, status as an individual with a disability, sexual orientation/gender identity, etc.

There are 9 AGs at Ames:

1. African American Advisory Group (AAAG)
2. Ames Disability Advocates (ADA)
3. Ames Veterans Committee (AVC)
4. Asian-American Pacific Islander Advisory (AAPIAG)
5. Early Career Advisory Group (ECAG)
6. Hispanic Advisory Committee of Employees (HACE)
7. LGBTQ+ Advisory Group
8. Native American Advisory Committee (NAAC)
9. Women’s Influence Network (WIN)

Advisory Groups are encouraged to:

• Present activities and invite speakers that can add value to employee professional and personal development
• Provide diversity education by inviting individuals from around the Center to present topics
• Provide networking opportunities among the membership
• Communicate advancement and training opportunities
• Serve as ambassador of ODEO’s mission and their efforts to promote the sustainability of a diverse workforce
• Become knowledgeable about diversity and inclusion initiatives and share advisory group knowledge
• Become liaisons between employees and management
• Listen to employee opinions about diversity and EO
• Attend Center diversity and Advisory Group events
• Promote diversity and inclusion and EO in the community
• Partner with other Advisory Groups to develop events or invite speakers with common interests

Advisory Groups are advised not to:

• Form for the purpose of opposing other groups
• Form to promote political positions
• Seek remedies for employees and/or contractors
• Participate in a collective bargaining activity