New Chief Diversity Officer Selected at Northern Arizona University

Carmen Phelps, a director in the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership (IDEAL) at Temple University, has been selected to serve as chief diversity officer at Northern Arizona University. Phelps will begin her new role August 1.

Read the story here.

CFPB’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Publishes Annual Report

Baker & Hostetler LLP, Lexology

The CFPB’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) published its third annual report to Congress highlighting its 2015 activities. Dodd-Frank requires the CFPB and other federal regulators to establish an office of minority and women inclusion, requires each office to gather certain data, and then requires each office to provide Congress with an annual report.

Read the story here.

CFPB releases diversity and inclusion plan for 2016 – 2020

Buckley Sander LLP

On October 27, following a March 4 CFPB Office of the Inspector General report on the CFPB’s diversity and inclusion efforts, the CFPB released a five-year Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan. Based on regulations and guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Dodd-Frank Act, the plan is built around the following objectives: (i) recruit a diverse workforce; (ii) enable individuals to contribute to their full potential; (iii) ensure sustainability of the plan; (iv) increase opportunities for minority and women owned businesses; and (v) assess diversity practices of regulated entities. Regarding the fifth objective, the report states that, through the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, the CFPB will use interagency policy standards to assess regulated entities’ diversity and inclusion policies and procedures and collect baseline data that will serve as a survey of best practices for institutions.

Read the story here.

Related content:

• Employment & labor law in the United States (Ogletree Deakins)

AAAA Participates in Training Conference Hosted by the Office of Personnel Management

The American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA) will participate in a training conference for federal employees hosted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). This conference follows the release of a Presidential Executive Order 13583 on Diversity and Inclusion signed by President Barack Obama on August 18, 2011. AAAA President Gregory T. Chambers, former President ReNee Dunman, AAAA Board Secretary Carmen Suarez, and members Debbie Seeberger (Towson State U.), Ilyce Murray (Campbell Soup Co.) and Marjorie Powell (University of Maryland, Baltimore) will be workshop presenters.

The AAAA workshop will consist of diversity and Equal Opportunity practitioners highlighting strategies they have utilized to create highly effective relationships between Equal Opportunity, Human Resource, and Diversity professionals.

SODEXO : receives prestigious 2012 Catalyst Award in North America for Diversity and Inclusion

4traders.com
01/27/2012 | 09:08am

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life Services, is pleased to announce it has received the prestigious 2012 Catalyst Award in North America, honoring exceptional business initiatives that advance women in the workplace.

Sodexo will be recognized at Catalyst's 50th anniversary celebration, in March 2012.

The Catalyst Award is attributed based on a rigorous year-long evaluation process. Award-winners are assessed against a robust set of criteria, including senior leadership support, employee engagement, innovation, business rationale, communication, accountability, and measurable results.

"The pioneering initiatives we honor with the Catalyst Award affect businesses and employees' lives, but their influence also extends beyond corporate walls to families, communities, and economies worldwide. Clearly, what's good for women is good for men, business, and society," said Ilene H. Lang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst.

Full Story: http://www.4-traders.com/SODEXO-4703/news/SODEXO-receives-prestigious-2012-Catalyst-Award-in-North-America-for-Diversity-and-Inclusion-13990193/

OPM releases the Federal Government Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan

AAAA Urges OPM and EEOC to Include Private Sector in a Consultative Role

The US Office of Personnel Management has issued the long-awaited Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan for federal employees. The OPM plan was a product of the presidential executive order 13583 calling for a diversity and inclusion policy and program for the federal sector. The Executive order "directs executive departments and agencies (agencies) to develop and implement a more comprehensive, integrated, and strategic focus on diversity and inclusion as a key component of their human resources strategies."

OPM defines workforce diversity and inclusion thusly:

"We define workforce diversity as a collection of individual attributes that together help agencies pursue organizational objectives efficiently and effectively. These include, but are not limited to, characteristics such as national origin, language, race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, veteran status, and family structures. The concept also encompasses differences among people concerning where they are from and where they have lived and their differences of thought and life experiences.
We define inclusion as a culture that connects each employee to the organization; encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness; and leverages diversity throughout the organization so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential."

The OPM's three principal goals are: Workforce Diversity (recruit from a diverse and qualified workforce), Workplace Inclusion (cultivate a culture that encourages collaboration and fairness), and Sustainability (develop structures to enable managers to manage diversity).

AAAA met with OPM staff including Director of Diversity Veronica Villalobos last week. OPM official Liz Montoya also addressed the AAAA board in September.

AAAA has urged the government to include non-governmental organizations including AAAA to assist in advising OPM in the development of such programs. Diversity management as a concept is not new to the private sector and AAAA is recommending that the government not reinvent the wheel and that it confer with those who have experience in managing diversity, affirmative action and EEO programs. The ultimate program may have implications for the private sector as well.

AAAA board members Gregory T. Chambers, ReNee Dunman, Delia Johnson and John Gonzalez have taken a lead role in this initiative. For a copy of the OPM Diversity and Inclusion Plan, go to: http://www.opm.gov/diversityandinclusion/reports/GovernmentwideDIStrategicPlan.pdf

The Paradox of the New Elite

The New York Times
Sunday Review
By ALEXANDER STILLE
Published: October 22, 2011
Alexander Stille is a professor of international journalism at Columbia.

IT’S a puzzle: one dispossessed group after another — blacks, women, Hispanics and gays — has been gradually accepted in the United States, granted equal rights and brought into the mainstream.
At the same time, in economic terms, the United States has gone from being a comparatively egalitarian society to one of the most unequal democracies in the world.
The two shifts are each huge and hugely important: one shows a steady march toward democratic inclusion, the other toward a tolerance of economic stratification that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/opinion/sunday/social-inequality-and-the-new-elite.html?_r=1

Executive Order--Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
August 18, 2011

Executive Order--Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce

EXECUTIVE ORDER
ESTABLISHING A COORDINATED GOVERNMENT-WIDE INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote the Federal workplace as a model of equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Our Nation derives strength from the diversity of its population and from its commitment to equal opportunity for all. We are at our best when we draw on the talents of all parts of our society, and our greatest accomplishments are achieved when diverse perspectives are brought to bear to overcome our greatest challenges.
A commitment to equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion is critical for the Federal Government as an employer. By law, the Federal Government's recruitment policies should "endeavor to achieve a work force from all segments of society." (5 U.S.C. 2301(b)(1)). As the Nation's largest employer, the Federal Government has a special obligation to lead by example. Attaining a diverse, qualified workforce is one of the cornerstones of the merit-based civil service.
Prior Executive Orders, including but not limited to those listed below, have taken a number of steps to address the leadership role and obligations of the Federal Government as an employer. For example, Executive Order 13171 of October 12, 2000 (Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government), directed executive departments and agencies to implement programs for recruitment and career development of Hispanic employees and established a mechanism for identifying best practices in doing so. Executive Order 13518 of November 9, 2009 (Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government), required the establishment of a Veterans Employment Initiative. Executive Order 13548 of July 26, 2010 (Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities), and its related predecessors, Executive Order 13163 of July 26, 2000 (Increasing the Opportunity for Individuals With Disabilities to be Employed in the Federal Government), and Executive Order 13078 of March 13, 1998 (Increasing Employment of Adults With Disabilities), sought to tap the skills of the millions of Americans living with disabilities.
To realize more fully the goal of using the talents of all segments of society, the Federal Government must continue to challenge itself to enhance its ability to recruit, hire, promote, and retain a more diverse workforce. Further, the Federal Government must create a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness to enable individuals to participate to their full potential.
Wherever possible, the Federal Government must also seek to consolidate compliance efforts established through related or overlapping statutory mandates, directions from Executive Orders, and regulatory requirements. By this order, I am directing executive departments and agencies (agencies) to develop and implement a more comprehensive, integrated, and strategic focus on diversity and inclusion as a key component of their human resources strategies. This approach should include a continuing effort to identify and adopt best practices, implemented in an integrated manner, to promote diversity and remove barriers to equal employment opportunity, consistent with merit system principles and applicable law.
Sec. 2. Government-Wide Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and Strategic Plan. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in coordination with the President's Management Council (PMC) and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), shall:
(a) establish a coordinated Government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the Federal workforce;
(b) within 90 days of the date of this order:
(i) develop and issue a Government-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan (Government-wide Plan), to be updated as appropriate and at a minimum every 4 years, focusing on workforce diversity, workplace inclusion, and agency accountability and leadership. The Government-wide Plan shall highlight comprehensive strategies for agencies to identify and remove barriers to equal employment opportunity that may exist in the Federal Government's recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention, professional development, and training policies and practices;
(ii) review applicable directives to agencies related to the development or submission of agency human capital and other workforce plans and reports in connection with recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention, professional development, and training policies and practices, and develop a strategy for consolidating such agency plans and reports where appropriate and permitted by law; and
(iii) provide guidance to agencies concerning formulation of agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plans prepared pursuant to section 3(b) of this order;
(c) identify appropriate practices to improve the effectiveness of each agency's efforts to recruit, hire, promote, retain, develop, and train a diverse and inclusive workforce, consistent with merit system principles and applicable law; and
(d) establish a system for reporting regularly on agencies' progress in implementing their agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plans and in meeting the objectives of this order.
Sec. 3. Responsibilities of Executive Departments and Agencies. All agencies shall implement the Government-wide Plan prepared pursuant to section 2 of this order, and such other related guidance as issued from time to time by the Director of OPM and Deputy Director for Management of OMB. In addition, the head of each executive department and agency referred to under subsections (1) and (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, United States Code, shall:
(a) designate the agency's Chief Human Capital Officer to be responsible for enhancing employment and promotion opportunities within the agency, in collaboration with the agency's Director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Director of Diversity and Inclusion, if any, and consistent with law and merit system principles, including development and implementation of the agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan;
(b) within 120 days of the issuance of the Government-wide Plan or its update under section 2(b)(i) of this order, develop and submit for review to the Director of OPM and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB an agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, advancing, promoting, and retaining a diverse workforce consistent with applicable law, the Government-wide Plan, merit system principles, the agency's overall strategic plan, its human capital plan prepared pursuant to Part 250 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and other applicable workforce planning strategies and initiatives;
(c) implement the agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan after incorporating it into the agency's human capital plan; and
(d) provide information as specified in the reporting requirements developed under section 2(d).
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) authority granted to a department or agency or the head thereof, including the authority granted to EEOC by other Executive Orders (including Executive Order 12067) or any agency's authority to establish an independent Diversity and Inclusion Office; or
(ii) functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,August 18, 2011.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/18/executive-order-establishing-coordinated-government-wide-initiative-prom

President Signs Order To Promote Diversity And Inclusion In The Federal Workforce

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE8-18-11

EEOC Chair Berrien to Help Establish Government-Wide Initiative
WASHINGTON – President Obama today signed an executive order to promote equal employment opportunity, diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce, making federal workplaces models that tap talents from all segments of society.
The order directs U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry and Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Jeff Zients, in coordination with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien and the President’s Management Council (PMC), to establish a government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce; develop a government-wide strategic plan and guidance for agency-specific plans within 90 days; identify best practices to improve agency efforts; and establish a system for reporting on agency progress.
The plans should identify strategies to remove barriers to equal opportunity in federal government recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention, professional development and training. Within 120 days after the government-wide plan is released, each agency must to issue its own agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan.
“President Obama's Executive Order reinforces the leadership that federal agencies can play in ensuring that every qualified worker has an equal opportunity to succeed and advance in the workplace,” Chair Berrien said. “The Executive Order will help the nation fulfill the promise of equal employment opportunity, in every workplace, beginning with the federal government.”
The full text of the President’s executive order, “Establishing a Coordinated Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce,” is available on-line at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/18/executive-order-establishing-coordinated-government-wide-initiative-prom.
The EEOC enforces the nation's laws against employment discrimination. More information is available on the EEOC's website: www.eeoc.gov. Additional information on the federal sector EEO process can be found at www.eeoc.gov/federal/.

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-18-11a.cfm

To Foster Diversity, Paint the Big Picture

The New York Times
Job Market
By EILENE ZIMMERMAN
Published: July 2, 2011

Q. You are a member of a minority group and want to become involved in creating a more inclusive and tolerant environment at your company. You would also like those efforts to benefit you professionally. How should you start?
A. Make sure you understand the corporate environment and culture before trying to change it, said Lisa Rubens, chief of staff for diversity and inclusion at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago. It will probably be hard to create diversity initiatives in a company that doesn’t feel they are necessary or beneficial.
Whatever you do — whether starting a task force or organizing multiethnic potluck lunches — the effort should be aimed at helping the business. “If it’s all about making you look good, people will see through that very quickly,” Ms. Rubens said.
There are many ways to become a representative of your minority group as a company employee. One of the most common is to join the company’s diversity advisory board or a group concerned with things like recruiting and advancement, said Laura S. Hertzog, director of diversity and inclusion programs at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations of Cornell University in New York.

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/jobs/03career.html

Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion

IPS News (First appeared in DiversityinMotion blog)
Op Ed
By Irina Bokova and Jorge Sampaio*UNITED NATIONS, May 20, 2011 (IPS) -

All cultures contribute to the enrichment of humankind. Human beings must respect one another in all their diversity of belief, culture and language. Differences within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed but cherished as a precious asset of humanity. This is a core challenge of the 21st century.At the same time, we know well that living at ease with the landscape of diversities can pose challenges because communicating across differences is not always simple. This is true on the borders between countries. This is obvious in the tough neighbourhoods of our cities. UNESCO was created 65 years ago to promote the dialogue of cultures, to deepen understanding between peoples and to make the most of humanity's great diversity with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is also why five years ago a new initiative - the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations – was launched to build bridges between societies, to promote dialogue and understanding and to forge the collective political will to address the world's imbalances. To achieve these goals, we need renewed commitment and intensified collective action by states, by civil society, by the private sector. This must start with the involvement of individuals and communities at grass roots who will make a difference in building a culture of peace and dialogue in our age of diversity.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55721

Comcast Names Maria G. Arias As Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Advert.co.UK
Priya Lopes on 04 18, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies, today announced it has named Maria G. Arias as Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion. In this newly created role, Ms. Arias will direct, manage, and organize Comcast’s diversity program strategy with a focus on recruitment and career development, suppliers, programming, and community investment. Additionally, she will work closely with the Comcast Internal Diversity Council and the newly created Comcast/NBCUniversal Joint External Diversity Advisory Council to coordinate the execution of diversity and inclusion initiatives across the entire company. She will report to Karen Dougherty Buchholz, Vice President of Administration at Comcast.

Full Story: http://www.vadvert.co.uk/business/12071-comcast-names-maria-g-arias-as-executive-director-of-diversity-and-inclusion.html