Mentoring Partnership Aims to Boost Diversity at State Department.

• Author: Brannan, Tom
• Position: DACOR

American Diplomacy

November 1, 2021

www.americandiplomacy.org

Title: Mentoring Partnership Aims to Boost Diversity at State Department

Author:Tom Brennan

Text:

With calls for greater racial and ethnic diversity within the State Department, a new partnership promises to open a little wider the talent pipeline for minorities leading to diplomatic careers.

In early September, the Washington-based DACOR organization and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) signed a mentoring partnership aimed at expanding the flow of women and minorities to diplomatic careers in the U.S. Foreign and Civil Service.

The agreement between DACOR, an organization of foreign affairs professionals, and UDC, one of 51 public historically Black colleges and universities, comes at a time of increased attention by the Biden administration, Congress, and foreign affairs organizations to achieving a more diverse and inclusive State Department workforce.

In its November 2020 report, "A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century," Harvard's Belfer Center concluded that "efforts to promote greater racial and ethnic diversity have failed." Authored by Ambassadors Nicholas Burns, Marc Grossman, and Marcie Ries, the report called for a "relentless focus on diversity as a first-order strategic policy," adding that "diversity is an essential element of producing high performance" and that "America's diplomats should be representative of the American people, their values and their aspirations."

Similar sentiments were expressed in "Diplomacy in Crisis," a report issued in July 2020 by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That report called for increased diversity throughout the Department of State. The report found that "diversity, equity and inclusion at the Department is lacking" and recommended Congress immediately pass the Department of State Inclusivity Act (S-3430) to enhance diverse representation of all kinds at all levels of the State Department." The bill was introduced in March 2020 and action on it is pending.

While acknowledging that the recently expanded Pickering, Rangel, and Payne fellowship programs "provide a vital channel for young people from underrepresented communities," the Belfer report called for a "far greater focus on recruitment of minority diplomats. Recruitment must begin at the high school and college levels." The report further recommended that the State Department "expand the number of minority diplomats who...