The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2020 75 AFSA NEWS USAID VP Continued from p. 69 The good news is that these areas and related data could be reviewed by the agency as part of its own effort to advance diversity. Finally, though not in the scope, perhaps the great- est shortcoming is that the report does not touch on inclusion, a critical element to USAID’s institutional strength. Rebuilding OCRD, chang- ing agency culture and addressing unconscious (not to mention conscious) bias will take leadership, commit- ment and dedicated focus; let’s hope we are heading in the right direction. Meanwhile, USAID can take some relatively easy steps to help advance diver- sity. The agency has already acknowledged the report’s findings and is engaging with employees; this is great. USAID could make publicly available a broader range of data and analy- sis on diversity. We are a leader in programmatic data transparency; now let’s be a leader in diversity data transparency. The agency could raise awareness by publishing and updating Senior Leadership Group diversity statistics, exploring possible barri- ers during the application process (in particular, 360 feedback), and ensuring equitable and measured treatment during the large and small group selection process. Human Capital and Talent Management and OCRD, with senior leadership, could host regular webinars and sessions to present data, analyze data and proposals, and hold open discussions about diversity, including crowdsourcing ideas on how we can collectively advance shared goals. There are so many opportunities at this unique moment to make real progress on diversity and inclusion. We must all ask ourselves if we are following the tenet of USAID’s lead- ership philosophy to hold ourselves, colleagues and teams accountable for what we say we will do. The report is available at www.gao.gov/products/ GAO-20-477. n