This article has been updated to reflect that the interview with Brian Davis took place earlier this summer.
Brian Davis, president and CEO of the Georgia Aquarium, recently said he was “beyond excited” to learn that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution plan to present its diversity, equity, and inclusion award for 2024 to the organization he has run since 2020.
Davis, whose unexpected death was announced Aug. 6, said making the aquarium more representative of the community it serves had been a priority of his tenure.
“I don’t think anybody realizes how much it meant to me,” Davis said in an interview conducted in July.
As part of its 14th annual Top Workplaces survey, the newspaper and its partner, Energage, sent questionnaires to all Top Workplaces winners, allowing them to share their DEI efforts. The determination went beyond employees’ opinions and looked at what companies do in practice.
The questionnaire also delved into recruiting and hiring, compensation and benefits, professional development, employee involvement, and visible commitment.
In the aquarium’s case, Davis was troubled by some “unsatisfactory” results on an employee engagement survey in 2020. He spent two hours with roughly 30 small groups in the organization discussing how to improve.
Davis said an action plan was generated that called for some changes to be implemented immediately, and some to be phased in year after year. The aquarium, like most, had not been a very diverse space.
As one of two African Americans running one of the nation’s largest aquariums, Davis said he knows “what that journey is when you don’t feel like you are included in the space with the conversation.”
The aquarium now has a DEI committee and a more diverse and dynamic workforce, he said.
“We are an aquarium for everybody,” he said. “We have to be a workplace for everybody. That requires constant innovation and reflection, feeling comfortable being uncomfortable.”
The aquarium has specific recruiting efforts for LGBTQ+ individuals, those with disabilities, veterans, women, and racial and ethnic minority groups. Intern programs and apprenticeship opportunities are also available.
Additionally, the Georgia Aquarium partners with universities, colleges and other organizations to serve underrepresented communities, creating a pipeline for diverse candidates.
The organization has an employee referral program and advertises on diverse job boards.
Employee compensation includes gender transition leave, paternity leave, and benefits eligibility for same and differently-gendered partners and spouses.
This is the second year the AJC has given the DEI special award.
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