A Culture of Belonging
We’re committed to building a workplace where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. For us, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) aren’t just buzzwords — they’re essential to innovation, collaboration, and real results.
All employees complete annual DEI training led by Certified Diversity Professionals from ENCOLOR, helping us strengthen communication and build cultural competence across teams. In 2023, we expanded our efforts by introducing Research & Evaluation training during onboarding, incorporating cultural competence to further enhance our approach. In 2025, we created an employee-led DEI Committee dedicated to advancing DEI efforts in our culture and business offerings. The mission of the committee is to provide resources, opportunities, and radical inclusion to help all employees, clients, and clients’ customers feel valued, supported, and empowered. They focus on addressing the unique challenges faced by historically, currently, and systemically marginalized communities.
Beyond our walls, we support broader equity through STEM partnerships — including South Dakota State University’s STEM Program and the Science is All of Us initiative at the Science Museum of Minnesota. These organizations empower young people – particularly girls and minorities – to pursue STEM careers.
2025 Diversity Goals
Goal 1
Increase representation of women in engineering/professional roles to 40%.
Goal 2
Increase representation of women in the candidate pipeline to 40%.
Goal 3
Increase representation of minorities to 25% across all positions.
Goal 4
Increase representation of minorities in management to 8%.
Recruiting at Michaels Energy
In 2022, Michaels began posting jobs with organizations that target women and minorities to reach more diverse and minority candidates. Michaels also began posting jobs with organizations that target women and minorities to reach more diverse and minority candidates. As a result of these practices, Michaels’ percentage of women and minority employees has drastically increased year-over-year. From just 2023 – 2024 alone, we saw the following increases:
%
increase in women in engineering/professional roles
%
increase in women in candidate pipeline
%
increase in minorities in all positions
%
increase in minorities in management
Michaels actively participates in and posts job openings with the following organizations:
American Association of Blacks in Energy
Association of Women in Energy
Society of Women Engineers
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
Engaging Diverse Businesses
As a Veteran-Owned Small Business ourselves, we understand the importance of engaging with diverse and disadvantaged businesses. Our team seeks out and engages with diverse organizations through industry events, association member directories, networking platforms, supplier diversity trainings, and various organizations like the Association of Women in Energy, American Association of Blacks in Energy, and economic development agencies.
Our accounting software is set up to designate vendors and subcontractors as diverse suppliers. The system can run client/vendor invoice reports for any range and combination of dates, diversity designations, project level, client level, states, and regions, including total spend and diverse spend allocations for tracking and visibility purposes. Diverse businesses that can maintain Michaels’ standards of quality, pricing, and service are given preference over others.
