Blinken appoints new chief diversity and inclusion officer to build ‘workforce that reflects America’

The State Department has tapped a new chief diversity and inclusion officer, simply months after it defended a memo from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that urged staffers to keep away from gendered language comparable to “mother” and “manpower.”

Blinken introduced Tuesday that Zakiya Carr Johnson, who beforehand labored on the State Department from 2010 to 2017, had been tapped to lead the State Department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion in an effort to “advance our deep commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the Department.”

Tasked with developing “a workforce that reflects America,” Johnson will substitute Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, who served because the State Department’s chief diversity and inclusion officer from April 2021 to June 2023. Conny Mayer briefly served within the place as performing chief diversity and inclusion officer.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken introduced Tuesday that Zakiya Carr Johnson had been tapped to lead the State Department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. (Getty Images)

“Over the past three years, the Department of State has made significant progress on this front but there remains work to be done,” Blinken mentioned. “We will continue to pursue this mission aggressively, because recruiting, nurturing, and promoting the most capable workforce possible is critical to our national security.”

Speaking extremely of Johnson, Blinken mentioned 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.”

“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 added within the announcement.

The place of chief diversity and inclusion officer was created in 2021 by Blinken, who mentioned on the time he was “committed to bringing the diversity and inclusion work already underway at the State Department to the next level.”

In saying the place, Blinken mentioned in February 2021 that the person within the function will “hold senior leadership accountable” for implementing new diversity and inclusion applications and report immediately to him.

Diversity, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) efforts have been on the forefront of priorities for the administration ever since President Biden took energy in January 2021.

Earlier this 12 months, Blinken despatched a memo to State Department workers, warning them in opposition to utilizing sure gender-specific language.

The place of chief diversity and inclusion officer was created by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The memo, titled “Modeling DEIA: Gender Identity Best Practices,” aimed to “increase understanding of gender identity and provide guidance on gender identity language and best practices that support an inclusive work environment.”

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“When speaking, avoid using phrases like ‘brave men and women on the front lines,’” mentioned Blinken’s Feb. 5 cable, which was first obtained by the National Review. Instead, State Department staffers have been urged to “use more specific language such as ‘brave first responders,’ ‘brave soldiers,’ or ‘brave DS agents.’”

The State Department defended Blinken’s memo later, insisting it is the “respectful” factor to do.

“If you look at that memo, as I have done, it’s a standard government practice to try to encourage people to just to be respectful of others, and use the terms with which others are comfortable, and talk to people the way that they would like to be addressed. And nothing more than that,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller mentioned at a February press briefing.

Miller mentioned that although the memo had Blinken’s identify on it, it didn’t essentially come immediately from the secretary. 

“When it comes to these types of cables, they all come out with the secretary’s signature on it. That’s the standard department practice, has been for years. It doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a memo from the secretary himself,” he mentioned on the time.

The steerage reportedly runs via a listing of gendered phrases and phrases that ought to be averted, together with: “manpower,” “you guys,” “ladies and gentlemen,” “mother/father,” “son/daughter” and “husband/wife.” Instead, the memo urged employees to use “labor force,” “everyone,” “folks,” “you all,” “parent,” “child,” “spouse” or companion.”

The cable also cautioned employees against assuming someone’s gender based on how they look or their name and urged them to use “gender-neutral language every time doable” to “present respect and keep away from misunderstandings,” the guidance continued, and encouraged employees to include their preferred pronouns in emails or during meetings.

Pride flags are held at the Tennessee Capitol, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

The State Department is charged with advising the president on foreign policy, as well as negotiating agreements with other nations. The memo was published as the U.S. grapples with ongoing wars raging between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the war in Israel, and just days after the U.S. launched strikes on Iranian-backed militants following the deaths of three American service members.

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Other agencies under the Biden administration have rolled out guidance on inclusive and non-gendered language, including pronoun guidance for the Department of Health and Human Services that was slammed by an expert last year as violating employee rights and speculating it would lead to firings for “misgendering.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.