GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCBD) – The Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce has issued a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request to Santee Cooper regarding their diversity and inclusion practices.
“During the February 27, 2020 House Ways and Means Committee (Santee Cooper HOC Committee Meetings) hearing, Santee Cooper representatives were asked direct questions regarding its diversity… and we have yet to see or hear a public response regarding the diversity of Santee Cooper’s board, executive team, management and hiring practices.”
MARILYN L. HEMINGWAY, CEO/PRESIDENT OF THE GULLAH GEECHEE CHAMBER
The FOIA request was sent to Santee Cooper requesting diversity numbers and practices regarding the make-up of its board, executive team, middle management and hiring.
The Gullah Geechee Chamber says that the utility company’s website indicated a distinct lack of diversity as its 10 board members consist of 9 white males and one white woman, while their six executive level staff members consist of five white men and one white woman.
The FOIA request asks for the following information:
• Number of board positions held by minorities
• Number of executive team member positions held by minorities
• Numbers of middle management positions (director and above) held by minorities and trend in
numbers over the past five years
• Number of Minority employees that have been promoted in the past five years
• Training and/or recruiting programs in existence for the purpose of hiring and training minorities
for management positions, number of enrollees and metrics used to judge the success of the
program.
The Gullah Geechee Chamber believes that better decisions could have have been made with a more diverse board and executive team as they believe there should have been wider consideration of the impact on marginalized communities.
