Our new RDE&I Officer previews her 2025 plan for Cultural Diversity at ALMA

May 22, 2024 | News | 2 comments

Tags: ALMA

☆☆☆☆☆
“It was unreachable”. That was the impression that Valezka Galdames, our new Respect, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, had of ALMA before taking up her position on 8 April.

The desert and its climate takes her back to her youth in Chuquicamata, where she lived for 9 years, but back then “I knew very little about ALMA, I saw it as very distant, even though I lived nearby”, she adds.

But that has changed. In little more than a month she has got to know our organisational culture and, above all, its people: “It’s very different to be here and talk to people who have been here for a long time. The commitment, joy and enthusiasm for what they do every day is wonderful. I love being with the people, listening to them and knowing their needs. They are very generous in that way. I am very proud of where I am”.
On Tuesday 21 May, we commemorated Cultural Diversity Day. A very important date for our observatory, and even more so for Valezka, who has multiculturalism as one of her three pillars of work.

“There are many nations, many cultures living together professionally every day, but there are customs that we need to know and cannot assume. And for that we need to talk, to get to know each other, because it will help us even more so that teamwork is a high-level performance”.

Valezka also recognises that there is a lot of work to be done in terms of gender, considering that we have more than 85% male presence among our staff. “It’s a big challenge. We have to get closer to these professionals who are outside and perhaps see ALMA as very distant. We have to open our doors and show that we are a place where women can also work,” says Valezka.

Her third focus is on people with disabilities working at the observatory. In addition to developing an inclusion policy, Valezka says that an analysis will be made of the positions and their functionalities, in order to ensure universal accessibility of work in those positions. “It’s not just about hiring because they are a person with a disability, but because of their talent, their contribution to the organisation. We take into account their disability situation to make reasonable adjustments so that they can go about their daily work without any obstacle that could diminish their full and active participation in ALMA,” she says.

Valezka is leading a working committee that, by early 2025, will publish an organisational policy on Respect, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, as well as establish a committee to enforce this charter.

However, our new Respect, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer emphasises that cultural change requires education. That is why we are working on various activities, such as experiential talks and workshops, which will allow this learning to permeate the entire organisation: “My wish is that together we can co-construct a safe space for everyone at ALMA, where all employees can be themselves”, concludes Valezka.

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2 Comments

  1. Alicia
    Alicia on May 23, 2024 at 5:31 pm

    Bienvenida Valezca, Exito y mis mejores deseos!

    Reply
  2. Martin Diaz
    Martin Diaz on May 23, 2024 at 6:44 pm

    Bienvenida Valezka!!! Gran y maravilloso desafío. Por suepuesto, cuenta conmigo!!

    Reply

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