An important part of MSRI's mission is to help develop the human potential within the mathematical community, including the important potential to be found among those groups historically underrepresented in mathematics. In accordance with this, it is MSRI policy that each of its programs should actively seek diversity among its participants in both gender and ethnicity.

This is an issue to which each program's organizing committee must give careful attention from the very beginning. A key element in accomplishing this is diverse representation on the program organizing committee itself. The presence of diversity in the proposed organizing committee will strengthen the proposal and be a factor in its evaluation. The Human Resources Advisory Committee (HRAC) will review the proposed composition of the program organizing committee and may suggest additional members in order to assure diversity.

To help the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and HRAC evaluate a program's progress in assuring diversity, the list of proposed participants submitted to SAC before its November meeting the year before a program, as well as the second list submitted the following January, should identify those proposed participants who are from underrepresented groups.

Each program will have an HRAC liaison to help it address these issues. This liaison might not necessarily come from HRAC's membership, but should be someone who works in an area related to the program's topic and who can help suggest participants from underrepresented groups, as well as assure that the program receives publicity among diverse segments of the mathematical community.