The State Department announced that its new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) is Zakiya Carr Johnson.
Carr Johnson will “advance our deep commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the Department,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“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 stated. “Over the past three years, the Department of State has made significant progress on this front but there remains work to be done. We will continue to pursue this mission aggressively, because recruiting, nurturing, and promoting the most capable workforce possible is critical to our national security.”
Blinken explained that Carr Johnson offers a “fresh perspective on how we build a workforce that reflects America” and is committed to “inclusive leadership.”
“All of us at the Department must work to advance DEIA if we are to create the inclusive workplace environment we need to continue to 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 concluded. “Together, we will ensure the United States is best positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly complex world.”
A video has emerged of Carr Johnson calling for the “dismantling” of the “traditional structure.”
“I think there is a culture of misogyny that has allowed men to act without consequence, and it becomes part of what we believe is normal,” Carr Johnson says in the clip, adding, “We’ve got to be about dismantling that traditional structure at every juncture.”
