Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at Cascade Energy

We recognize the pervasive and ongoing impact of systemic racism. We stand with our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Cascade Energy is committed to a just and equitable future that embraces diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

At Cascade Energy, we are working to better understand our own privileges and how we can transform our everyday work through diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). We have a long way to go, and we pledge to be humble, take responsibility, and grow from our mistakes.

Cascade published our first DEIA Report in 2015 and rededicated our DEIA program in 2020. In 2022, we added Accessibility as its own category, distinct from Equity and Inclusion. As an employee-owned company, our people are our priority as well as our most important competitive advantage. We strive to create diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplaces that align with our company values.

LEARN WHAT DEIA MEANS TO CASCADE

Diversity at Cascade

We believe that diversity drives innovation, growth, and better outcomes for all and are striving to increase diversity at all levels within the organization.

Diversity brings different perspectives, increased creativity, higher innovation, and faster problem solving. By 2024, Cascade aims to fill all open positions at a rate of 60% from underrepresented groups, with half of those hires being BIPOC. With this goal, we will work towards reflecting the demographic communities in which we live and work; with diverse backgrounds and perspectives represented at the employee, manager, and board levels.

While our Human Resources and Recruiting teams are responsible for the bulk of this work, we all understand the individual responsibility for creating and supporting safe, welcoming, and inclusive workspaces that will support the retention and happiness of all new employees.

In addition to diverse hiring practices, we leverage our market power to work with diverse business enterprises (DBEs) and subcontractors, supporting traditionally marginalized groups in our business communities.

Learn more about diversity at Cascade and how we are working to create long lasting, sustainable changes:
- Cascade’s 2022 DEIA Report
- Prior Diversity Plans: 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
- Supplier Diversity Program

Equity at Cascade

We believe that everyone is different but equally deserving of fair treatment, opportunities, and outcomes across race, gender, class, and other human differences.

Cascade works hard to create equitable and inclusive workspaces for all our partners and our employees, both current and prospective. Two key ways we improve equity and inclusion within the company are through pay transparency and job leveling.

PAY TRANSPARENCY
- We include salary ranges on our job postings. Within our organization, we have two comprehensive, internal documents:
- The Pay Philosophy Statement: an outline of our view of compensation through pay, benefits, flexibility, and a values-driven culture that attracts, retains, and motivates our workforce.
  
  The Pay Administration Procedures: a detailed explanation of key compensation practices and guidelines in the administration of our compensation programs. These procedures describe Cascade processes for maintaining our salary framework and pay ranges, using geographic adjustments, establishing employee compensation, and implementing annual raises and bonuses.
- This transparency around pay philosophy and administration will help ensure that compensation is applied equitably. Additionally, it enables us to do our part in closing gender and racial pay gaps.
JOB LEVELING
- We have internally published career progression pages for multiple job families which include information on leveling, salary structure, rubrics, and role-specific job descriptions and skills. Making this information accessible helps our employees understand their position within their current salary range, the path to a specified job role or salary range, and the skills needed to fulfill job requirements as well as the skills needed to excel for any position.
- Learn more about equity at Cascade and how we are working to create long lasting, sustainable changes through our comprehensive DEIA Reports. If you’re interested in what some Cascade employees have to say, check out Cascade Energy on Glassdoor.

Inclusion at Cascade

We believe that all voices are important voices and all aspects of organizational work, including the decision making and planning processes should strive to include representation of all voices and perspectives.

Cascade aims to involve all ideas, knowledge, perspectives, approaches, and styles to maximize success at all levels. We want Cascade to be a safe place for folks to speak up and out, to hold productive conversations, and to admit mistakes in order to learn from them. We are working hard to build a solid foundation of DEIA so that it permeates all our actions and decision making and is not merely an afterthought or option to consider only when convenient.

Everyone comes to Cascade from different places with different experiences; we can all share with and learn from one another. Creating a safe place for conversation will enable each of us to grow as individuals and coworkers. It will also provide each of us opportunities to be our authentic selves, build genuine connections with others, and foster a sense of belonging for everyone at Cascade.

We offer training and education throughout the employee timeline. New employee onboarding makes note of our inclusive language guidelines and standards for improving the state of DEIA within Cascade. Employees have ongoing access to learning resources around effective communication, inclusive management, and rotating DEIA topics.

Learn more about inclusion at Cascade and how we are working to create long lasting, sustainable changes through our comprehensive DEIA Reports.

Accessibility at Cascade

We believe that improved accessibility empowers Cascadians to wholly contribute to our work and makes experiences, services, and products better for everyone.

Making accessibility an integral part of the workplace elevates inclusion, empowers equity, and nurtures a rich, diverse internal community.

In 2021, there was an Executive Order to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal workforce. This shift of DEI to DEIA is an important and visible addition that Cascade would like to reflect in our own DEIA journey. All users, both internal and external to Cascade, benefit from accessibility efforts. These efforts identify and remove barriers to participation, creating an inclusive environment that allows a greater number of individuals to access, understand, and engage with – regardless of individual needs or disability status.

In 2022, we were educated by a Cascadian on how those with a disability can experience the same spaces (even equitable spaces) differently. It may be equitable to offer different tools to different people accessing the same resources but taking accessibility into account allows all people to feel equal in the ability to use the same tools to access the same resources.

As a result of employee submitted suggestions, some of the first steps we are taking to improve accessibility include:
- Integrating check points into both new employee onboarding and quarterly check ins with existing employees to ensure that all Cascadians have regular opportunities to request accommodations.
- Auditing written and printed work to ensure that our communications are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
- Providing management training tools to gain and improve skills in effective listening, inclusive leadership, and proactive inclusion.