Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, has recently appointed a new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the State Department, filling a position that had been vacant for 10 months. In an announcement made on Tuesday, Zakiya Carr Johnson was named as the successor to the role.
“I am appointing Zakiya Carr Johnson as the Department of State’s next Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO). Zakiya will lead our Office of Diversity and Inclusion and advance our deep commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the Department. I would like to thank Conny Mayer for her leadership as Acting CDIO,” stated Blinken.
“American diplomacy can only succeed if it fully harnesses all of the talent that our nation has to offer. That is why I created the position of CDIO to elevate DEIA within our organization and give it the dedicated senior-level attention that it deserves,” Blinken said in a statement, referring to the acronym that stands for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
“Over the past three years, the Department of State has made significant progress on this front but there remains work to be done,” he continued. “We will continue to pursue this mission aggressively, because recruiting, nurturing, and promoting the most capable workforce possible is critical to our national security.”
Johnson, who will be replacing acting CDIO Conny Mayer, “brings with her a wealth of experience in influencing gender and racial equity policy. She is the founder of Odara Solutions and a co-founder of the Black Women Disrupt Initiative. Additionally, she has served in various roles such as a senior adviser and director of the Race, Ethnicity and Social Inclusion Unit in the State Department and as a co-chair for the White House Inter-Agency Committee on Gender-Based Violence Monitoring and Evaluation.”
He was nominated by President Biden on November 23, 2020; confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 2021; and sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris the following day.
“Her previous work promoting entrepreneurship and access to opportunity for underrepresented populations, as well as her commitment to inclusive leadership make us stronger, smarter, and more innovative,” Blinken praised.
However, Johnson’s appointment comes at a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion programs face increased limitations. In March, the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) was disbanded as part of a government spending bill. Moreover, Republican lawmakers in more than 30 states have introduced or passed more than 100 bills this legislative session aimed at either restricting or regulating DEI initiatives, according to an NBC News analysis.
Blinken emphasized the importance of commitment to DEI initiatives in the State Department, highlighting their role in creating an inclusive workplace that can attract and retain the nation’s top talent.
“When the people making decisions on behalf of the American people don’t reflect the full diversity of our nation, we all lose, and our national security is weaker,” Blinken emphasized. “Together, we will ensure the United States is best positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly complex world.”
The Biden Administration has pushed ‘racial equity’ in every area of our national life, including in employment,” stated Project 2025, which spans nearly 900 pages.
According to conservatives affiliated with Project 2025, the private sector has been influenced by ideologies such as critical race theory. This theory posits that historical patterns of racism are deeply ingrained in law and other American institutions, leading to harm against Black people and other people of color. These conservatives seek to overturn what they perceive as “the DEI revolution in labor policy” in favor of more “race-neutral” approaches.
“We want to get rid of critical race theory from federal agencies, diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, unconscious bias – we are certainly going to have ideas and proposals ready for a possible new administration,” remarked former Trump administration official Russ Vought, who is advising Project 2025, in a recent interview with USA TODAY.