One Year Anniversary Message

Colleagues – 

It’s been just over a year since I started serving as USAID’s Chief Diversity Officer. I'm pleased to share our remarkable achievements to advance our Agency’s initiatives and all the work that USAID staff champions.

Respect, Empowerment, Inclusion, and Commitment to Learning are core pillars of our leadership philosophy and part of the Agency’s DNA. During the January DEIA Town Hall, Administrator Power stated: “DEIA is not a staffing strategy; it’s not a task to complete. It’s a lens through which to look at all our work. An embrace of the idea that regardless of identity, background, or experience, every human being deserves respect, opportunity, and dignity.” Those are words we use to advocate for those we serve in our programs, and it should be no different when we are talking about who we are, how we interact with one another, and how we represent the United States. 

We have made much progress on our DEIA Strategic Plan since OPM approved it in July 2022—I highly recommend reading it in full to better understand the goals and activities. From designating gender-neutral restrooms in newly leased USAID buildings, increasing capacity for employees to attend the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP), making strides towards alleviating barriers in our hiring process at home and abroad, we are moving in the right direction. See more examples of our progress on each of our target areas on our intranet page. Some early successes include: 

• DEIA Governance. The Administrator established the DEIA Office to foster more respectful, inclusive, and safe environments across USAID’s workplaces and programs by investing in people, updating policies and practices, and strengthening programs and partnerships.
• DEIA Data (Survey). In October 2022, the Agency successfully launched the inaugural DEIA survey with a 60 percent participation rate and more than 70 percent of respondents with a favorable approval of the Agency’s DEIA efforts. The survey included data points on expanded demographics and identity categories. This is also the first DEIA survey to capture information across all hiring mechanisms.
• Partnerships and Recruitment. 
  • USAID diversified its talent pipeline through initiatives such as masked hiring practices and expanded innovative and cutting-edge partnerships at the operational level through Local Works. USAID has expanded outreach to Veterans, persons with disabilities, and marginalized communities through recruitment programs and events, and we have expanded partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions.

  • USAID doubled the Donald M. Payne International Fellowship Program, managed by the Office of Human Capital and Talent Management (HCTM), in September 2022 from 15 to 30 Fellows annually. The Payne Fellowship encourages the application of individuals from historically underrepresented groups in the Foreign Service as well as those with financial need. Applications from the FY 2022 to FY 2023 cohort of Fellows increased by 42 percent. Since the Program’s inception in 2012, 80 percent of the Fellows have self-identified as members of racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in USAID’s Foreign Service.

• Promoting Paid Internships. USAID promotes internship and fellowship opportunities across MSIs to encourage their students to consider opportunities such as the overseas internship program. HCTM hosts interns through the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. 
• Pay Equity. HCTM is partnering with the DEIA Office and the Office of Civil Rights to find ways to alleviate barriers in USAID’s hiring processes, performing data analyses, and developing a hiring manager guide to standardize and help new supervisors navigate the hiring process.
• Advancing Equity for LGBTQI+ Workforce. USAID is working to expand gender neutral bathrooms in its facilities and is expanding data collection around LGBTQI+ identities to ensure proper recognition of all identities.
• Professional Development and Advancement. USAID tripled the number of slots for the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP), a professional development and leadership program for highly promising mid-career professionals in international affairs in the U.S. managed by HCTM, from six (6) staff participants to 20 in three (3) years. On March 2, 2023, Administrator Power released the Foreign Service Empowerment (FSN) Empowerment Implementation Plan (EIP) along with a statement outlining our Agency’s need to elevate our FSN Workforce. 
• DEIA Training and Learning. The DEIA Office’s Respectful, Inclusive, and Safe Environments (RISE) training program has reached over 6,000 people to date with the work of staff and hundreds of volunteer hours. RISE hosts more than 26 standalone sessions each quarter, and a total of 254 trainings with more in development. The New Entrant Orientation (NEO) expanded to three days to accommodate new sessions on DEIA, Inclusive Development, EEO, Anti-Harassment, and the Action Alliance for Preventing Sexual Misconduct (AAPSM). 
• Advance Equity for Workforce with Disabilities. USAID has increased its efforts to recruit persons with disabilities. The Office of Civil Rights established the Disability Employment Program which anticipates additional restructuring soon and will house three programs: (1) reasonable accommodation process; (2) recruitment and retention of individuals with disabilities; and (3) policy and data analysis. In FY 2022, USAID selected applicants with disabilities at twice the rate at which they apply.  
• Safe Workplace and Survivor Support. The Administrators Action Alliance for Preventing Sexual Misconduct is leading the development of a new, three-year plan for addressing sexual misconduct and workplace violence, with an emphasis on advancing more people-centered approaches across our policies, systems, and practices. One of the plan’s core pillars will focus on rolling out a new, pilot program later this year to provide enhanced support to individuals impacted by potentially harmful or adverse events within or in connection to our workplace, such as sexual misconduct, workplace violence, harassment, and discrimination.

We’re also leveraging a strategic tool – the “Five P” Framework: People, Programs, Partnerships, Policies, and Processes. The Five Ps span the agency from leadership to local staff, partners and contractors, and individuals and communities. This framework demonstrates how USAID staff can operationalize DEIA every day – something that many USAID staff are already doing. The DEIA Office, in partnership with DEIA Advisors and bureau technical staff, is developing a series of workshops in mid- to late-2023 on how to use this tool to strengthen our work and teams. 

I want to thank our partners in HCTM who play a huge role in implementing large parts of the DEIA Strategic Plan. These successes would not have been possible without the collaboration and hard work. And I want to recognize and express my heartfelt gratitude to the Agency DEIA Advisors across the Bureaus and Missions for their unwavering support in driving change across our Agency.

Last April 2022 USAID also launched the Equity Action Plan (EAP) to advance equity in our operations by reducing barriers in our programs and partnerships. Next month we’ll highlight more successes achieved in the EAP since its release a year ago. 

As we continue to build on this work in the coming year, I'm confident we will make even greater strides towards achieving a more inclusive, equitable, and respectful workplace. 

Neneh Diallo

Chief Diversity Officer

Spotlights: The 5Ps — People, Programs, Partnerships, Policies, Processes in Action

DEIA in Action through our People: USAID/Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance

“The Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) has over the last few years really increased our inclusion of foreign national and locally employed staff overseas in our Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs),” says Shivani Ray, Humanitarian Assistance Field Operations Officer, BHA/Field Platform Operations team.  “As DARTs are arguably one of the most visible ways BHA operates, this is a quiet, but important success. Not only does this promote the empowerment of all our staff, it also ensures that the perspectives of our field staff colleagues— who have vital institutional knowledge— can inform our emergency responses.”

DEIA in Action through our People: USAID/Indonesia

At USAID/Indonesia, the USAID staff celebrate following their performance of "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper at the Mission's DEIA Town Hall in February 2023. 

A USAID employee performs a traditional dance at the USAID/Indonesia town hall.

DEIA in Action through our Programs: USAID/Colombia 

With the support of USAID/Colombia’s Natural Wealth activity (SEED Office), Asociación Río Cali worked with Juan Pablo, who was born blind, as a sound designer and accessibility consultant to establish the first bird-watching route for people with disabilities in South America. The route and audio guide feature recordings of 27 bird species in the Cloud Forest of San Antonio. The inclusive birding trail includes interactive features like this QR code. USAID/Colombia Natural Wealth

DEIA in Action through our Programs: USAID/Kenya

Esther Oloo proudly poses for a portrait during a visit to her business in Kisumu, where she discusses the challenges she faces as a woman entrepreneur with a disability and the support she receives through the Global Labor Program - Inclusive Futures. This photo shows Esther as a confident and driven business owner, sharing her experiences and insights into the challenges women entrepreneurs with disabilities face. Image © Ninth Wonder Production/Sightsavers

DEIA in Action through our Partnerships: Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) Partnership Initiative

The MSI Partnership Initiative continues to add value and strengthen our relationships with research and academic institutions. These engagements go beyond career expos and information sessions, and include meaningful engagement with students and faculty on discourse on global development challenges and the role institutions can play in solving them. USAID now has six (6) Memoranda of Understanding through the MSI Partnership Initiative. On April 17, USAID established a second cooperative framework through the DEIA Office that will build on USAID’s existing relationship with HACU to foster short-term faculty fellowships and improve collaboration on engagement and outreach opportunities with Hispanic-Serving Institutions.  In February 2023, the New Partnership Initiative launched an incubator providing four (4) MSIs with assistance in strategic planning, communications, and business development, among other areas, to prepare the institutions to partner with USAID in the future. The institutions included two Hispanic Serving Institutions (University of Texas San Antonio and Florida International University); one Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institution (University of Hawai’i at Manoa); and one HBCU (Langston University). More on the MSI Partnership Initiative will be shared next month listing all the work the Agency has accomplished in this program. Pictured above: Second-place Case Competition winners Bela Urbina and Carlos Marquez at the Hispanic Serving Institutions Conference at Florida International University in Miami, FL.

DEIA in Action through our Policies and Practices: Masked Hiring and Schedule A Hiring Best Practices

Masking is the process of redacting any and all identification and demographic details from candidates’ resumes, applications, and/or interviews. It helps the hiring team evaluate people on their skills and experience instead of factors that can potentially lead to biased decisions. In an effort to reduce biases and promote diversity, USAID is beginning to use masked hiring processes for some positions. In addition, some Missions, such as USAID/Albania, are piloting the use of masking in the bidding process for Foreign Service positions to promote greater fairness by moving away from the traditional network-driven practices that rely on personal connections.

Utilizing Schedule A and the Disabled Veteran Non-Competitive Hiring Authorities is an effective way to increase the number of persons with disabilities within the Civil Service and create greater equity for employment opportunities for this marginalized population.  It is concurrently a way to expedite the hiring process. Most recently, we can attribute the number of persons with disabilities within the Civil Service to over 11 percent (over 2 percent of that number represents persons with targeted disabilities).  The utilization of these non-competitive hiring authorities allows hiring managers to appoint Persons with Disabilities to positions at any time a vacant position is open within the civil service, including pre and post advertising. USAID continues to encourage OUs to utilize these authorities in advance of posting positions and work with through HCTM/XOSR to source candidates. 

DEIA in Action through Processes: DEIA Councils

DEIA Councils serve as a means to advocate for a culture of inclusion, belonging, and equity in the workplace. USAID currently has more than 50 Councils. They strengthen collaboration within the Agency to promote and sustain a positive culture accessible to everyone. The councils are responsible for advising senior leadership and serve as a forum for the workforce to work collectively to identify DEIA challenges and opportunities for improvement. Including them in the decision-making process at USAID is one way we use processes to integrate DEIA values in the work we do.

DEIA Cross-cutting the 5Ps: FSN Empowerment Implementation Plan

On March 2, 2023, Administrator Power released the Foreign Service Empowerment (FSN) Empowerment Implementation Plan (EIP) along with a statement outlining our Agency’s need to elevate our FSN Workforce. The EIP sets out structural changes to strengthen their ability to help fulfill this Agency’s mission and promotes greater recognition, equity,  inclusion, and accessibility. USAID’s local staff in our missions abroad, known collectively as Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs) play a fundamental role in achieving the Agency's mission. Numbering more than 4,600 persons strong, they account for approximately 70 percent of our overseas workforce. FSNs play a critical role in carrying out USAID’s goals and their lived experience in the countries we serve is invaluable.  In conjunction with the FSN Advocacy Council (FSNAC) and a host of other stakeholders, USAID rolled out a Foreign Service National Empowerment Implementation Plan (EIP). The plan aims to promote greater recognition, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility for local USAID staff by (i) providing the necessary tools and resources for FSNs to excel; (ii) creating pathways into leadership; (iii) fostering an enabling environment that develops and uplifts the talents and voices of FSN leaders throughout the Mission; and (iv) positioning USAID to compete for and retain indispensable local talent. This plan is supported by the localization, inclusive development, and DEIA values USAID continues to integrate into our work. Increasing our investment in FSNs, meaningfully recognizing their skills and creating more leadership and decision-making opportunities for them are crucial to the success of our DEIA efforts, and our office looks forward to working with Agency leadership, missions, and the FSNAC or other stakeholders to realize the plan’s commitments.   Pictured above: Attendees of the 2022 Global Foreign Service National Conference with Administrator Samantha Power and Counselor Clinton White.