Anderson Alumna Joyce Rowland Drives Change at Sempra Energy

By Devon Dickau

As UCLA Anderson increases our focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives, we strive to share stories of success in the corporate world. Joyce Rowland (’81), chief human resources and administrative officer for Sempra Energy, has many of those stories.

Anderson welcomed Rowland to campus to discuss her decades of experience as a human resources leader in the energy sector. A double Bruin, Rowland impressed me with her lens on diversity in the workplace and her willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue around tough questions. As a student who has committed time to driving conversations about diversity on campus, I appreciated Rowland’s fresh perspective as both an alumna and an outsider.

Introduced by Professor William Ouchi, Rowland discussed the unique diversity challenges faced by Sempra, a Fortune 500 energy company, in its recent headquarters move to San Diego — and in maintaining a diverse workforce among roles traditionally held by men, such as engineers and on-the-ground technicians. Her approach to diversity and inclusion at Sempra requires integration, and she describes the organization’s philosophy as a “tightly woven fabric.” Discussing how Sempra knits together values and policies to create a foundation for confronting one-off issues and driving companywide decision-making, she said, “Once you have a fabric, one person can’t break it.”

Rowland remarked the importance broadening our concept of diversity. Who do we call “diverse,” she asked? Is anyone “not diverse”? Sempra, she noted, is gradually expanding its vocabulary. Sempra also focuses on strengthening diversity in its supplier base and meeting the needs of its diverse customers.

Rowland shared specific tactics she has employed for success at Sempra. She stressed the importance of gathering buy-in from stakeholders across the organization (creating allies) and Sempra’s regional and national diversity councils, which are empowered to make changes. For example, one regional council led an effort to solve the inherent conflict between some cultures’ practice of removing shoes indoors and the code that dictates technicians wear shoes while working. The solution: plastic booties technicians could wear over shoes. After the regional effort, the practice was adopted across the organization.

Rowland called on her own identity — as a woman and as a member of the LGBTQ community — to bring color to her passion for Sempra’s achievements. “Success is a journey,” she said when a student asked her to discuss metrics and defining success. “The question is always ‘What’s next?’”

The event was co-sponsored by African American Students in Management (AASM) and the Energy Management Group (EMG), in collaboration with the Anderson Student Association (ASA). As VP of Student Affairs for ASA for 2014-2015, I focused on facilitating collaboration between student-run organizations across campus, enabling clubs to partner with administration to bring important conversations to students, faculty and staff. This talk, in both its fruition and in Rowland’s wisdom, epitomized our hopes for continued shared dialogue at Anderson.