{"id":272309,"date":"2020-07-08T08:39:29","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T12:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/?p=272309"},"modified":"2020-07-08T08:44:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T12:44:07","slug":"comptroller-stringer-op-ed-new-york-city-needs-a-chief-diversity-officer-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/newsroom\/comptroller-stringer-op-ed-new-york-city-needs-a-chief-diversity-officer-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Comptroller Stringer Op-Ed: New York City Needs a Chief Diversity Officer Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

(New York, NY)\u00a0<\/strong>\u2060\u2014\u00a0Gotham Gazette published an op-ed by New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0need to install a Chief Diversity Officer in City Hall and within every City agency\u00a0to serve as\u00a0executive level diversity and inclusion strategists\u00a0driving the representation of people of color and women across government.<\/p>\n

Text of the op-ed is available below and can be viewed online\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery catalyzed one of the largest social justice movements in United States history, rightfully forcing both the public and private sectors to finally listen to Black lives who have sounded the alarm for decades. Under heightened scrutiny, many corporations have taken preliminary steps to acknowledge and confront the systemic racism ingrained within their organizations \u2013 cognizant that to ignore the deafening cries for justice is a tacit admission of complicity that can have major consequences for bottom lines.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whatever their motives, major players like Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Korn Ferry, and Zoom have made the decision to hire Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) who can serve as bridges between stated good intentions and reality. When utilized effectively, CDOs identify both overt and covert racism across the spectrum of workplace policy \u2013 hiring, retention, culture, management, and more \u2013 and implement strategies to course-correct.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for the public sector to do the same. I created a CDO position within the office of the New York City Comptroller when I took office in 2014, and the role has become an essential function of our office. Our CDO serves as an invaluable resource to New York City\u2019s minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M\/WBEs) navigating the labyrinth of city contracting and, most recently, the ongoing economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

With a CDO in place, we\u2019ve increased diversity among the firms managing more than $205 billion in city pension assets, and we\u2019ve launched successful initiatives to increase transparency and accountability in corporate America\u2019s hiring practices. In recent weeks, our CDO has guided important officewide conversations as we work toward inclusivity, equity, and representation in all areas of our work. As a white, cis-gender male elected official, it\u2019s my responsibility to create space, listen, and make sure that we\u2019re walking the walk \u2013 and to commit to doing better when we fall short. We could not do this without our CDO keeping us on track.<\/p>\n

Seeing firsthand the impact this position can create in a public office, I\u2019ve urged New York City to embrace the role of a CDO to address the systemic racism that we know exists in all government institutions at every level. Last year, I joined a broad coalition of civic and faith leaders and owners of M\/WBEs calling on the City Charter Revision Commission to install a CDO in City Hall, reporting directly to the Mayor, and one within every city agency.<\/p>\n

A CDO for New York City would function as city government\u2019s executive level diversity and inclusion strategist, driving the representation of people of color and women across government, tracking and overseeing the city\u2019s M\/WBE programs, and determining whether agencies\u2019 daily practices are equitable. A citywide CDO could begin to tackle long-standing disparities that are now coming into stark relief — from analyzing how taxpayer dollars are spent through an intersectional lens to removing barriers to doing business with the city to making sure public service is a viable option for people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.<\/p>\n

That charter revision proposal did not make it onto the ballot \u2013 but the need for CDOs in government is now more apparent than ever and it\u2019s not too late to act.<\/p>\n

New York City agencies spend almost $20 billion a year on everything from pens and paper to consulting services and construction, yet less than 5 percent of those contracts are awarded to M\/WBEs. In my most recent Making the Grade report, which grades city agencies on their spending with M\/WBEs, the city earned a \u201cC\u201d grade with Hispanic-American-owned businesses, a \u201cD\u201d grade with women-owned businesses, and a dismal \u201cF\u201d grade with African-American-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

Eighty percent of New Yorkers are either women or people of color and more than 600 languages are spoken on our streets; we cannot settle for an exclusionary status quo. A CDO could help break down the biases baked into our contracting processes, and make sure our spending represents the diversity of our city, its economy and its people.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need to wait for another Charter Revision Commission \u2013 the mayor can take administrative action right now to create Chief Diversity Officer roles within City Hall and across agencies. While the private sector has recognized the value empowered CDOs bring to institutions, local government continues to be years late and many billions of dollars short. We should not fall further behind. As we work toward a more just New York City, we need Chief Diversity Officers to help lead the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(New York, NY)\u00a0\u2060\u2014\u00a0Gotham Gazette published an op-ed by New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0need to install a Chief Diversity Officer in City Hall and within every City agency\u00a0to serve as\u00a0executive level diversity and inclusion strategists\u00a0driving the representation of people of color and women across government. Text of the op-ed is available below and can… Read More<\/strong><\/a>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":272317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,190],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272309"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272319,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272309\/revisions\/272319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}