By Michael Lefenfeld, CEO Cyanco

One of the challenges the overall mining industry faces is the relatively small number of female engineers available on the jobs market today, so Cyanco has become increasingly involved in supporting STEM initiatives, with a focus on encouraging more young women along the STEM path, like the new STEM Sisters program in Northern Nevada.

STEM Sisters is a training opportunity for female high school and undergraduate students who are interested in science. Sponsored by the Voyles Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, the program builds core knowledge in several different biological disciplines, such as microbiology, immunology, thermal ecology and more. It includes university-style lectures, supplemented in active learning activities, with hands-on, in-depth training in multiple laboratory and field techniques. Cyanco is proud to provide scholarship dollars to program participants.

Cyanco was also among several chemical suppliers to sponsor the MOE 365 Miracle Workerz Robotics Team in the FIRST Robotics Championships in Houston, TX. We believe that supporting these students as they grow to become the next generation workforce of engineers, technicians and manufacturing professionals will contribute to a safer, more sustainable future for the mining industry.

We are also doing more to support the local schools with things like Chromebook donations (to aid remote learning during COVID for example) and build a larger presence by attending student-focused job fairs and leveraging speaking opportunities at colleges and technical schools to help promote women in the field. Additionally, Cyanco is a big supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of Winnemucca, with the mission to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

We’re publishing more content that highlights Cyanco’s female executives and talking more about the issue of diversity in our public-facing materials.

Finally, we’re also very active in promoting an updated view of the mining category, tying it to the next generation of our economy – the Circular Economy – with metals and minerals playing a major role in automation, decarbonization and smart, connected living. Mining doesn’t always have to be represented in black and white photos of men with pickaxes! This is a modernized industry that can and should be visualized differently!

This brings us to the conclusion of Cyanco’s blog series on workforce diversity. Hopefully you found it valuable! As you progress on your company’s own diversity journey, you may discover there are some changes that need to be made in order to up-level your brand presence and overall appeal as a competitive employer.

You may also determine the need to look at alternative sources for your hiring needs – and at a diversity of skills and professional experience earned in labs, on manufacturing floors, in the field and in boardrooms across the globe.

At Cyanco, we’re also looking for individuals who can adapt to the speed today’s business environment, learn quickly, and find new ways to serve our customers’ needs. We want people who encapsulate technical, operational and go-to-market skills, while bringing a passion to the work they do and the teams they support.

As such, we’ve ended up with a very diverse workforce across the board that brings a high level of innovative thinking to our company.  That’s why I truly believe we’re doing things today at Cyanco that no other supplier to the industry has been able to accomplish.