FEDERALhearing transcript

Senate Hearing on Diversity and Inclusion in U.S. Diplomacy

Original title: DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY IN U.S. DIPLOMACY AND DEVELOPMENT

January 1, 2023

diversity and inclusion foreign policy hiring practices State Department USAID workforce demographics

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The Frame

What this does

The hearing assesses the effectiveness of federal hiring and retention programs at the State Department and USAID, which directly impacts the demographic composition of the U.S. diplomatic workforce and the implementation of foreign policy.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

State Department employees

Employees are subject to agency-wide hiring, retention, and diversity policies discussed in the hearing.

USAID employees

Employees are subject to agency-wide hiring, retention, and diversity policies discussed in the hearing.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2023.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing to examine diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts within the U.S. Department of State and USAID. The committee reviewed progress in workforce representation and the effectiveness of existing fellowship programs.

Key Facts

The State Department reported a 2 percent decrease in the proportion of Black employees over the last 20 years.
Latino representation at USAID is 6 percent, compared to 19 percent in the general U.S. population.
The hearing marked the 30th anniversary of the Pickering program, 20th of the Rangel program, and 10th of the Payne program.
The committee reviewed data indicating that the State Department was statistically more diverse in 1986 than in 2021.
The hearing was the first time the committee held a dedicated session on diversity and inclusion with senior department leadership.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was this hearing held?

The committee held the hearing to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives within the State Department and USAID.

What programs were discussed regarding diversity?

The hearing discussed the Pickering, Rangel, and Payne fellowship programs, which were created to increase diversity in foreign policy agencies.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

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Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Stagnation in Diversity Goals

The hearing highlights a documented decline in diversity metrics at the State Department over the last two decades despite the existence of targeted fellowship programs.

State Department Pickering program Rangel program

Connected Entities

personRobert Menendez“Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee”Map →

personGina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley“Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, U.S. Department of State”Map →

otherPickering program“Diversity fellowship program celebrating its 30th anniversary”Map →

organizationU.S. Department of State“Federal agency responsible for foreign policy”Map →

organizationUSAID“U.S. Agency for International Development”Map →

otherPayne program“Diversity fellowship program celebrating its 10th anniversary”Map →

personNeneh Diallo“Chief Diversity Officer, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)”Map →

otherRangel program“Diversity fellowship program celebrating its 20th anniversary”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy45
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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