The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2023 31 DEIA IS NO LONGER JUST “NICE TO HAVE” Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a 30-year diplomat, was the State Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer, serving from April 12, 2021, until June 30, 2023. She has held a series of senior positions that included ambassador to the Republic of Malta, foreign policy adviser to the commander of U.S. cyber forces, and deputy coordinator for counterterrorism. A difficult mandate, significant strides, stubborn challenges ahead: State’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer reviews the past two years. BY G I NA ABERCROMB I E-WI NSTANL EY A pril 12 marked two years since the establishment of the Secretary’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) and my appointment as the State Department’s first stand- alone chief diversity and inclusion officer (CDIO). On my first day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made clear that the only way to ensure our foreign policy delivers for the merican people is to recruit and retain a workforce that truly reflects the American people. America’s diversity is a source of strength that few countries can match, and it gives us unique advantages on the world stage. The Secretary asked us to develop a robust framework for fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) across the department and noted that the mandate is a hard one: to change parts of the State Department’s culture—the norms, behaviors, and biases—that have prevented equity in career outcomes for far too long. Over the past two years, the department made significant strides to advance DEIA, but as with any organization, gaps between intentions and outcomes arise. Assigned to lead this tall order, I knew success would not be achieved in a straight line and that we would encounter zigs and zags along the way. For instance, we have identified a range of anomalies in the department’s demographic data that suggests possible barriers to equal opportunity, but we don’t have the resources to study every single anomaly. Instead, we try to identify those areas with the broadest possible enterprise impact and investigate them first. We also have our work cut out for us in the accountability space. In our May 2022 DEIA Climate Survey, an unacceptably high number of employees reported that they have been the victim of discrimination, harassment, or bullying, but many employees also report that they do not file an official complaint FOCUS DEIA: FOUNDATIONS FOR PROGRESS