Got a Capitol DEI Committee? Oregon Does.

• Position: INNOVATIONS STRENGTHENING THE LEGISLATIVE INSTITUTION - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

In 2016, well before the revelations that energized the #MeToo movement, staff and members in Oregon began discussing ways to make the Capitol a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place. The conversation grew out of a recognition, House Speaker Tina Kotek says, that more constituency groups than ever--particularly communities of color--were coming to the building to represent and advocate for the broader population.

Two years later, the discussion has led to action: the creation of the Capitol Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and a new full-time staff position with the title accessibility and inclusion administrator. The committee already is planning and developing an agenda that will guide it through 2019. And the new staff position, which will be part of the human resources office, was recently posted.

In keeping with the goal of improving the Capitol's workplace culture holistically, the committee includes legislators and staff, Kotek says. The group recently developed definitions of what it means by the terms diversity, equity and inclusion.

On diversity, its definition includes familiar references to race, ethnicity and gender but also addresses "power relationships in which the dominant cultural group is viewed as one up and the subordinate cultural group is viewed as one down." Equity, the committee writes, "involves striving to...