National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Office of the Administrator

Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters 

Washington, DC 20546-0001

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Policy Statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility 

for NASA’s Workforce and Workplaces

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is fully committed to 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) for our entire workforce and all 

our workplaces. This means our Agency will continually prioritize the following: 

reinforcing a culture in which our employees feel they can be authentic, welcomed, 

respected, included, and engaged; maintaining an environment where our employees 

consistently and systematically receive fair, just, and impartial treatment; and ensuring 

our employees can fully and independently access facilities, information and 

communication technology, programs, and services. 

At NASA, we fully understand the critical importance and value of DEIA for our entire 

workforce. DEIA enables us to recruit and engage the best talent from the full spectrum 

of our society – with a variety of valuable skills, capabilities, perspectives, thinking, 

culture, and backgrounds. This strategically enables us to achieve superior performance, 

problem-solving, innovation, safety, and public service. Our astronauts have taught us 

about the “Overview Effect” – a cognitive shift in awareness achieved through a 

transcendent perspective in space – which helps us understand that all human beings are 

connected by the commonality of our existence and our interdependencies on a small and 

fragile planet; therefore, the success and wellness of our species and planet depend on the 

equity, inclusion, and access accorded to the full diversity of all people on our Earth. Our 

Agency’s history and missions reflect our commitment to DEIA, as we have regularly 

worked inclusively, equitably, and accessibly with a wide diversity of countries and 

sectors to accomplish higher and common purposes, including: our past Apollo and 

Shuttle-Mir programs, the International Space Station, our current Artemis program, our 

hypersonic and electric aeronautics efforts, and our partnerships in science and 

technology. NASA continues to prioritize DEIA, including by adding “Inclusion” as an 

Agency core value, naming our Headquarters building after Mary W. Jackson, 

implementing a Unity Campaign, and renewing our engagement with Employee 

Resource Groups. 

Diversity and Inclusion 

NASA is entirely committed to the full participation and empowerment of a wide variety 

of people, organizations, capabilities, and assets because we know this best enables us to 

access everyone and everything we need to best accomplish our missions. We define 

diversity broadly as “the entire universe of differences and similarities.” Additionally, 
we define inclusion as “the full participation, belonging, and contribution of 

organizations and individuals.” 

Our definitions of diversity and inclusion apply to and embrace the full variety of 

environmental, organizational, and individual dynamics and characteristics – including 

the commonalities that connect organizations and individuals, as well as the different 

cultures, histories, traits, skills, knowledge, capabilities, and thinking of organizations 

and individuals that are so unique and vital for our mission success. Our definition of 

diversity specifically encompasses the full variety of communities, identities, races, 

ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and beliefs of all people, including those from 

underserved communities (i.e., populations and geographic communities, sharing a 

particular characteristic, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to 

participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life). Our definition of inclusion also 

specifically involves the recognition, appreciation, and use of the talents and skills of 

employees of all backgrounds. 

NASA is proud to be a leader in diversity and inclusion, having been ranked the “Best 

Place to Work in the Federal Government” among large Federal agencies for nine 

consecutive years, based on data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s 

(OPM) Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). NASA has also been ranked first 

in OPM's FEVS-based Inclusion Index for the past seven consecutive years. 

Equity

NASA is also fully committed to equity for all employees and in all our workplaces. We 

define equity as “the consistent and systematic provision of fair, just, and impartial 

treatment to all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved 

communities that have been denied such treatment.” 

NASA strictly prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, 

gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, status as a parent, marital status, age, 

disability (physical or mental), family medical history or genetic information, political 

affiliation, military service, or any other non-merit-based factor. These protections 

extend to all employment policies, practices, and actions, including but not limited to: 

recruitment and hiring; job assignments; performance management; rewards; promotions; 

training and development; reassignments; discipline; and removals.

Additionally, NASA is committed to ensuring an environment where employees are fully 

empowered to raise concerns about employment discrimination and to participate in the 

Agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process. Accordingly, NASA strictly 

prohibits retaliation against employees for raising allegations of employment 

discrimination, opposing employment discrimination, or participating in the EEO 

complaint process. NASA also strictly prohibits any personnel from interfering with the 

EEO process or behaving in a manner that would reasonably have the effect of interfering 

with another individual’s participation in the EEO process. 
Furthermore, NASA is fully committed to assuring the safety and effectiveness of our 

workforce and our missions. Consequently, NASA strictly prohibits harassment and is 

fully committed to providing a safe and harassment-free work environment. We define 

harassment as any “conduct that is unwelcome, verbal or physical, regardless of whether 

it is based on an individual’s race, color, sex (sexual orientation, pregnancy, and gender 

identity), national origin, religion, age, disability, status as a parent, genetic information, 

or retaliation, when: (a) the behavior can reasonably be considered to adversely affect 

the work environment, or (b) an employment decision affecting the employee is based 

upon the employee’s acceptance or rejection of such conduct.” Examples of such 

conduct include, but are not limited to, offensive jokes, slurs, name calling, physical 

threats, intimidation, and insults.

NASA encourages all employees to report and help prevent workplace harassment, and 

NASA strictly prohibits retaliation for raising allegations of harassment, opposing 

harassment, or participating in a process to gather information and respond to allegations 

of harassment. The Agency’s Anti-Harassment Program provides for prompt, thorough, 

and impartial investigations of harassment allegations, initiating such investigations 

within ten calendar days of receipt of the allegation. Individuals reporting harassment are 

assured that NASA will protect the confidentiality of harassment complaints to the fullest 

extent possible. The Agency will take immediate and appropriate corrective action in 

situations involving harassment (e.g., issuing a decision within 60 days of an allegation) 

and proactively in other situations to reasonably prevent harassment from occurring. 

NASA employees have multiple avenues to report alleged harassment, including but not 

limited to: any NASA supervisor; an Anti-Harassment Coordinator at Headquarters or 

one of the NASA Centers; the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity; and the Office 

of the Chief Human Capital Officer. All employees should visit and review the antiharassment resources and information available on the NASA Anti-Harassment Program

webpage, including NASA’s Anti-Harassment Procedures (NPR 3713.3A), the AntiHarassment Implementation Guide, and the Center Anti-Harassment Coordinators listing. 

Moreover, any employee or applicant for employment who believes they have been 

subjected to employment discrimination, harassment, or retaliation should contact 

NASA’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO) within 45 days of the 

alleged harm to avail themselves of NASA’s EEO complaints process. Employees are 

also encouraged to use NASA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process as a 

valuable tool to resolve EEO complaints in a prompt and effective manner. All 

employees are encouraged to visit the EEO complaints process webpage, located on the 

NASA ODEO webpage, to learn more about the EEO complaints and ADR processes. 

Together, we can ensure that all NASA personnel can contribute to the success of our 

mission in an equitable environment. Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation 

compromise the safety and effectiveness of our workforce and missions; therefore, they 

have no place at NASA.
Accessibility

Additionally, NASA is fully committed to ensuring all individuals have appropriate 

accessibility to our work and to our workplaces. We define accessibility as “the 

capability for full and independent use by all people, including people with disabilities, of 

technology, programs, and services through inclusive design, construction, development, 

and maintenance of facilities.” Our definition specifically encompasses the provision of 

reasonable accommodations, equal employment opportunity, and inclusive participation 

for people with disabilities. By ensuring all individuals (e.g., employees, applicants, and 

visitors) have accessibility to and at NASA, we best assure that all individuals have 

equitable opportunities to participate and contribute, and this will enable our best mission 

success with the best service to the public. 

All NASA employees are encouraged to familiarize themselves with NASA’s policies, 

procedures, and other resources on reasonable accommodation and accessibility to 

information and communication technology, including: NASA’s Policy Directive on 

Provision of Reasonable Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities (NPD

3713.8B); NASA’s Reasonable Accommodations Procedures (NPR 3713.1C); and 

NASA’s webpage on Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.

Again, any employee or applicant for employment who believes they have been subjected 

to discrimination (including, e.g., denial of reasonable accommodation or other 

employment discrimination based upon disability) should contact NASA’s Office of 

Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO) within 45 days of the alleged harm to avail 

themselves of NASA’s EEO complaints process. 

Summary

At NASA, we fully embrace DEIA as a strategic enabler of our safety and mission 

assurance. Our commonalities unite us as a team, and our differences strengthen our 

capabilities, including our talent, skills, knowledge, experience, innovation, perspectives, 

and ideas that optimize performance and mitigate groupthink, optimism and confirmation 

bias, complacency, normalization of deviance, and risk. 

I call upon all NASA executives, managers, supervisors, and other employees to fully 

support DEIA for our workforce and workplaces, and this includes our policies, 

programs, culture, facilities, technology, and all missions and operations. This will 

enable all NASA organizations and individuals to maintain a transcendent focus on our 

common goals and to reinforce our connections – empowering us to work together as a 

team to best achieve our missions for the benefit of all human beings. 

1/18/2022

Bill Nelson Date