The Department of Aviation’s Office of Business Diversity and Purchasing Administration Unit recently collaborated to host the “Change Your Altitude: Airport ESG Workshop”, focusing on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) opportunities at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE). The workshop covered the Department’s ESG report, and provided an in-depth exploration of the airports’ Sustainability, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Guest Experience, IT, Finance, and Audit & Compliance units.
The ESG report is a 40-page comprehensive report with data, images, and charts that provides a deep dive into the progress being made across areas such as climate resilience, fleet electrification, renewable energy, minority/women-owned participation and overall airport governance.
“Giving our regional businesses tools that help them understand our airports’ plans, values, and opportunities was the driving force for this workshop. It helps firms of all types and industries gain great insight into the aviation industry and provides a terrific platform to meet more than 10 airport departments that are critical to our ESG efforts,” said Denise Bailey, the Department of Aviation’s Vice President of Diversity and Accessibility. “We were as enthusiastic to meet the attendees that wanted to learn more about ESG reports and how to use them as they were to meet us.”
Speakers from the Department of Aviation provided an overview of how their department aligns with the airports’ ESG initiatives and how to use the report to gain an understanding of current and future opportunities.
"The ESG report provides an excellent platform for the airport to showcase our efforts, particularly emphasizing the innovation and compliance within the IT department. The Change Your Altitude workshop allowed me to engage directly with vendors and address inquiries about upcoming business opportunities," said Camille Tomlin, Vice President of IT Systems and Infrastructure.
Attendees were also given the opportunity to network with representatives from the airports’ Procurement, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Capital Development Group teams; key stakeholders; and prime contractors. 
"As a co-organizer of the session with Denise, we really wanted to find a way to connect the dots between the ESG report and future contracting opportunities for our business community, but these are not obvious dots to connect. I was very pleased at the immediate positive feedback we received about this workshop. The participants really seemed to get it and it was a very gratifying day,” said Deatrice Isaac, Vice President of Procurement.
The City of Philadelphia Department of Aviation launched the “Change Your Altitude", a workshop series of capacity-building initiatives for businesses to provide more insights on the airports and its opportunities.
