The United States is enduring a period of divisiveness and its diversity is one of its strengths, U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo said during a department town hall earlier this month.
Diversity is good for the nation but it does have limits, Gina Raimondo said during the Commerce Department's first equity town hall on Jan. 14.
"America's diversity is a competitive advantage – but only if we give everyone an opportunity to fulfill their potential and fully participate," Raimondo said in a news release about the town hall. "That means women, people of color and people who live in rural areas, on tribal lands and in underserved communities."
U.S. Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves
| commerce.gov/
Raimondo joined Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves and International Trade Administration Acting Deputy Under Secretary Diane Farrell for the equity town hall. Among other things, Raimondo highlighted the department's new priorities that include using new and existing programs to drive equitable, place-based growth through the Economic Development Administration's Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
Making equity a priority in the nation will require "institutionalizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the federal workforce," the news release said. "Combatting discrimination by race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation. And advancing equity through minority-serving institutions."
Raimondo also discussed the department's strategic plan for the next four years. Those priorities are expected to include employer-driven investments in the nation's workforce through the Good Jobs Challenge. Meanwhile, the Minority Business Development Agency is now a permanent bureau created out of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, intended to foster the growth of women- and minority-owned businesses and support small business owners in underserved communities.
In his own remarks, Graves emphasized Commerce Department's "commitment to helping build an economic system that works for all," according to the release.
"We recognize that we have fallen short and have embraced the opportunity to build a more equitable Department," Graves said in the release. "In September, we established a department-level Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Council that will drive our efforts to embed equity in our internal culture and across the programs we administer."
