The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2023 33 efforts to establish an office focused on stopping bullying and harassment. Congressional support has allowed the State Department to expand the availability of paid internships, and State is con- verting all internships to paid internships. State’s first cohort of 126 paid interns was brought on in fall 2022, and we expect to be able to onboard a total of 500 paid interns in Fiscal Year 2023. Recruiting for these opportunities focuses on tradition- ally underserved communities, socioeconomic groups, and major geographic centers, including minority-serving institu- tions, women’s colleges, public and land grant universities, and community colleges. The ODI team, including our DEIA Data Working Group, will perform demographic analyses on the intern cohorts to assess if the program does, in fact, enhance department diversity. Recently, in a move that got widespread press coverage, Secretary Blinken directed the State Department to use a more accessible typeface that is easier to read for colleagues with vision impairments. He elected Calibri (a sans serif typeface) for all papers submitted to the Executive Secretariat. Though a relatively small move, it is a start on addressing the broader issues around accessibility and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Our office is also working in collaboration with the Bureau of Medical Services, the Bureau for Global Talent Management, and Diplomatic Security to get medical and lactation devices approved for use within controlled access spaces. Such steps, small or large, create a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging for all. In March 2023, 16 new demographic questions were added to the State Department’s Global Talent Management database. New questions offer Civil Service and Foreign Service employ- ees expanded options to voluntarily self-identify their sexual orientation; gender identity; disability status; regional origin/ heritage; where they are from in the United States; whether they grew up in a rural area, small town, or large city; their educational background; and whether they reside with and/or care for an individual with a disability. The expansion addresses concerns expressed by employees who do not identify with the current binary gender options “male” and “female.” It will also address concerns of those who are of Middle Eastern and North African heritage and have long lobbied for a “MENA” category. The new questions about where employees spent the majority of their time prior to age 18 and if they lived in a rural area, small town, or large city will allow us to address congressional interest in whether our workforce is drawn from diverse communities and all 50 states. The questions are voluntary, but we encourage employees to answer them, because doing so will give us a much better sense of our overall workforce and any issues particular demographic groups may have. This summer we will release the results of our first three “barrier analyses”—one on potential barriers for Civil Service progression to the Senior Executive Service, one on mid-level bidding for Foreign Service officers, and one on Civil Service applicant data flow. The last two studies—on FS mid-level bidding and CS applicant data flow—are extremely complex. To assess, for instance, if protected characteristics are a factor in the bidding process, the data group had to control for things like regional experience, language capability, and the rank and cone of the various bidders. The exacting work going into these studies will pay dividends for years to come via interactive dashboards that will allow bureaus to continuously study the makeup of the bidders and applicants for their jobs. Looking Ahead I’m proud of what our team has been able to accomplish in two years. We work to ensure that this DEIA push is the last such one the State Department will ever have to do. I say the “last” because, with a sustained effort, we will make sure that, as my friend and fellow DEIA champion Director General of the Foreign Service Marcia Bernicat likes to say, DEIA is part of our institution’s DNA. To succeed in embedding DEIA in State’s DNA, we will take on some stubborn challenges. I always knew that the account- ability piece would be the most difficult, and that has proven true. The Department of State 2022 DEIA Climate Survey revealed widespread employee distrust of how the department handles allegations of harassment, discrimination, and bully- ing. The ODI team is working with stakeholders throughout the building to fix this. When the Anti-Harassment Program substantiates harass- ment, victims are not privy to the details of the findings or More than 20 bureaus have established a position for a DEIA senior adviser to advance DEIA across their respective organizations.