[Senate Hearing 117-619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]








                                                        S. Hrg. 117-619
 
                     DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION,
                  AND ACCESSIBILITY IN U.S. DIPLOMACY
                            AND DEVELOPMENT

=======================================================================

                                HEARING



                               BEFORE THE



                     COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE



                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS



                             SECOND SESSION



                               __________

                             JULY 26, 2022

                               __________



       Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
       
       
       
      [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] 


                  Available via http://www.govinfo.gov
                  
                  
                  
                  
                         ______
 
              U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 51-523PDF             WASHINGTON : 2023
                
                  
                  


                 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS        

             ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey, Chairman        
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        MARCO RUBIO, Florida
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      MITT ROMNEY, Utah
TIM KAINE, Virginia                  ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts      RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 TODD YOUNG, Indiana
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey           JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 TED CRUZ, Texas
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
                                     BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
                 Damian Murphy, Staff Director        
        Christopher M. Socha, Republican Staff Director        
                    John Dutton, Chief Clerk        



                              (ii)        

  


                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Menendez, Hon. Robert, U.S. Senator From New Jersey..............     1

Risch, Hon. James E., U.S. Senator From Idaho....................     3

Abercrombie-Winstanley, Hon. Gina K., Chief Diversity and 
  Inclusion Officer, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC....     5
    Prepared Statement...........................................     7

Diallo, Neneh, Chief Diversity Officer, U.S. Agency for 
  International Development, Washington, DC......................     9
    Prepared Statement...........................................    11

              Additional Material Submitted for the Record

Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
  Submitted by Senator Robert Menendez...........................    38

Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions Submitted by Senator 
  Robert Menendez................................................    42

Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
  Submitted by Senator James E. Risch............................    47

Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions Submitted by Senator 
  James E. Risch.................................................    49

Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
  Submitted by Senator Benjamin L. Cardin........................    51

Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions Submitted by Senator 
  Benjamin L. Cardin.............................................    52

Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
  Submitted by Senator Cory Booker...............................    54

Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions Submitted by Senator 
  Chris Van Hollen...............................................    54

Statement for the Record, Government Accountability Office, 
  Dated July 26, 2022............................................    55

                                 (iii)

  


                     DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION,



                  AND ACCESSIBILITY IN U.S. DIPLOMACY



                            AND DEVELOPMENT

                              ----------                              


                         TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2022

                                       U.S. Senate,
                            Committee on Foreign Relations,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in 
room SD-419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Robert 
Menendez presiding.
    Present: Senators Menendez [presiding], Cardin, Shaheen, 
Coons, Murphy, Kaine, Markey, Booker, Risch, Rubio, and Cruz.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY

    The Chairman. This hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee will come to order.
    Let me first thank Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, 
the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the Department of 
State, as well as Chief Diversity Officer at USAID Neneh Diallo 
for appearing before our committee today.
    I believe this is the first time the committee has held a 
hearing on this topic with senior department leadership 
dedicated to this issue.
    Our premier American foreign policy institutions must set 
the bar for others to follow, and harnessing the incredible 
diversity of the American people on different points of view, 
backgrounds, and languages is crucial to not only our nation's 
security, but also our global, economic, and other interests.
    I have been working on efforts to promote diversity at the 
State Department and USAID now for more than two decades, and 
while I am disappointed to say progress has been slow, I am 
pleased to see both of you here today.
    Only last year, the head of the American Foreign Service 
Association said, ``The State Department was more diverse in 
1986, literally, than it is now.'' In the last 20 years, there 
has been a 2 percent decrease in the proportion of Black 
employees at the State Department with the majority still in 
the civil service and Latino numbers have barely budged. USAID 
is no better with 6 percent of its workforce Latino while the 
Latino population of the United States overall is almost 19 
percent.
    This year, we are commemorating the Pickering program's 
30th, Rangel program's 20th, and Payne program's 10th 
anniversary, all programs created to increase diversity at our 
agencies, but as we commemorate we need to know if these 
programs are actually accomplishing their goals. I can count on 
my fingers the number of ambassadors and mission directors who 
are people of color.
    We have got a lot of work to do. Not fully utilizing the 
strategic advantage of America's diverse talent pool to engage 
our allies and counter our competitors and adversaries on the 
global stage is a vital error.
    Let me just give one example. I know some of our colleagues 
will probably be unhappy about today's hearing, but the reality 
is that when I was in China, our chief in China in charge of 
democracy and human rights programs was an African American who 
was an active participant in the civil rights struggle.
    His personal history, his personal eyewitness to the 
accounts of trying to change the course of events in our 
country, were a powerful voice to those in China seeking to 
create an opportunity for themselves in terms of greater 
openings for democracy and human rights.
    I can recount easily over the course of 30 years of doing 
foreign policy dozens of moments in different parts of the 
world where the few people that we have had who come from 
diverse backgrounds had been able to make a powerful case and 
liaison with the peoples of those countries where we are being 
represented.
    That cannot be purchased. That cannot be bought. While it 
is an error in terms of where we have been at, I am pleased to 
say this Administration is trying to fix. It is also one that 
nations like Russia and China continue to exploit by using 
their propaganda tools to highlight the gap between our 
promises and rhetoric when it comes to racial justice and our 
actions.
    They paint us as hypocrites who talk a big game on equality 
and human rights, the very foundation of democracy, but say we 
do not deliver. Our diplomats are on the front lines of 
countering their narratives.
    We must modernize our diplomacy and development efforts to 
meet the demands of the 21st century. That means recruiting 
from all across America, from the cities and coasts of New 
Jersey to the border towns of Texas and Idaho. It means 
cultivating and retaining a diverse workforce that can take 
advantage of our nation's technology advances and keep up with 
other industries.
    It means ensuring workstations and foreign mission 
buildings are accessible for those with disabilities and it 
means committing to increasing morale so that people are not 
leaving mid-career after years of investment in extensive 
language and diplomatic skills.
    Let me be clear. As chief diversity officers, you not only 
have the full weight of the White House and your leadership 
supporting you, I want you to know that many of us support you 
as well. I certainly do.
    That is why I am launching a series of initiatives to 
advance the diversity, legislation, resources, and recruitment 
pipelines. We need to keep our nation competitive in global 
affairs for years to come.
    This is also an economic imperative. I often tell when I 
speak to the corporate leadership in our country about 
diversity, not for diversity's sake, but for the bottom line. 
Study after study shows that more diverse corporate boards and 
senior executive management means more profitability, and these 
are studies done by private entities.
    Also, as I tell groups as a simple example of the past, 
Chevrolet found out what diversity means when they tried to 
sell the Chevy Nova in Latin America. For those of you who do 
not know Spanish, when you pronounce Nova in Spanish it means 
it will not move. It will not go.
    That is just a simple example. I do not care what type of 
marketing program you have. A car that says it is not going to 
move, it is not going to go, is not going to sell.
    That is just one of many simple examples where in terms of 
the economics of how to do business and get greater market 
share for our country is incredibly important.
    Today, I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on how 
they are advancing these goals at their agency. I also want to 
know what is needed to do your jobs effectively, and if you are 
not getting what you need, I want to know why. The clock is 
ticking. It has been a year and a half since these efforts 
began and I want to see progress.
    Finally, to those who might be reticent to support these 
efforts, I want to point out that one of our other great 
institutions, the United States military, has long been a place 
where people of all backgrounds fight alongside each other and 
where they can rise and an opportunity is given including to 
the highest levels of our military.
    As a result, our military is the greatest fighting force in 
the world. Our diplomatic corps and our development program 
should be strengthened in the same way. We must, as diplomat 
and Nobel Laureate Ralph Bunche once said, ``Adhere staunchly 
to the basic principle that anything less than full equality is 
not enough.''
    With that, let me turn to the ranking member for his 
opening statement.

               STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES E. RISCH, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO

    Senator Risch. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and kudos 
to you for pursuing this issue. I know you have been on the 
forefront of this and certainly deserve credit for the progress 
that has been made and I know you will keep up those efforts.
    I, too, am interested in diversity, although I come at it 
from a little different viewpoint than you do, but diversity of 
all sorts is important in our agencies.
    Our foreign affairs agencies in the Department of State in 
particular have wrestled with issues of diversity in the 
civilian national security workforce for generations.
    For years, we have heard the Department say that its 
workforce was going to ``look like America.''
    However, its workforce still does not look like America. 
Employees from urban and especially coastal areas are still 
heavily over represented while noncoastal, suburban, and 
especially rural areas and interior areas of America are barely 
represented.
    This is at least partially and substantially the result of 
the fact that the Department only offers Foreign Service oral 
exams in Washington, DC, dozens of times a year and twice a 
year in San Francisco, both coastal cities and two of America's 
most expensive.
    Let us take my state, Idaho, for example. An Idahoan would 
have to buy an airline ticket to either of these cities, taking 
multiple legs each way to DC, then pay for multiple nights at a 
hotel.
    A trip like this would cost more than $1,000. For a 
professional already in the workforce, they would also need to 
take vacation days and also find someone to look after their 
children if they were single with children while they travel 
across the country, all for the privilege of applying for a job 
at the State Department.
    This burden comes only after they have already decided they 
want to try and join the Foreign Service. What about 
recruitment to join its special ranks? The Department uses 
diplomats in residence scattered across the country to help 
highlight how great a career in diplomacy can be.
    Yet, only a handful of these people exist. There is only 
one diplomat in residence for all of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, 
Colorado, and Montana, and that person is based in Denver.
    So if a University of Idaho student wanted to meet with the 
local diplomat in residence, he or she would have to drive 17 
hours to Denver. In fact, it would actually be faster to drive 
to the Pacific Northwest diplomat who is based in Berkeley, 
California. That drive is only 14 hours.
    The truth is State Department's continued promise to 
develop a workforce that looks like America is not centered and 
representing all of America based on things like geographic 
diversity.
    It seems devoted to representing the ideas and opinions of 
coastal views and philosophy, which does not highlight 
diversity of all of America with its broad and stunning 
greatness.
    Similarly, at USAID there are so many hiring mechanisms 
that the agency cannot even provide credible data on the 
success or failure of its own efforts to enhance diversity.
    Our foreign affairs agencies must be serious about all 
forms--all forms--of diversity, to include participation from 
our veterans. They have sacrificed a lot to protect our nation 
and freedom, and their perspective and experience brings 
diversity of thought to solving tough diplomatic challenges.
    We need more and better from the Department and USAID on 
these issues and I look forward to hearing how the Department 
intends to do a much better job of developing a workforce that 
represents all of America and especially its interior.
    Again, kudos to the chairman for his efforts in this 
regard.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    The Chairman. Thank you.
    It is an honor to introduce our two witnesses today, our 
privilege to welcome Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, 
the State Department's first Chief Diversity and Inclusion 
Officer charged with ``advancing national security by building 
a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible department 
to handle the foreign policy challenges of the 21st century.''
    A consummate diplomat, Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley 
has served her country for over three decades as the longest 
serving U.S. Ambassador to Malta, the first woman to lead a 
diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia, and as chair of the Middle 
East Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute.
    In addition to serving at the National Security Council, 
she also served as a fellow on this very committee under then 
Ranking Member Biden.
    We are also joined by Chief Diversity Officer Neneh Diallo, 
whose remit is to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and 
accessibility among USAID's people, partners, and programs at 
home and abroad as part of USAID's international development 
and humanitarian efforts around the globe.
    Her public service career has included work as the Director 
of Diversity and Inclusion at the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation. She has also led diversity efforts in the private 
sector as a senior vice president for marketing and 
communications in global media.
    Welcome to you both. Your full statements will be included 
in the record without objection, and I would ask you both to 
try to summarize your statements in about 5 minutes or so so 
that then we can have a conversation.
    Ambassador Winstanley.

  STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE GINA K. ABERCROMBIE-WINSTANLEY, 
   CHIEF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OFFICER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 
                     STATE, WASHINGTON, DC

    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Chairman Menendez, 
Ranking Member Risch, members of the committee, I am delighted 
to speak with you today about the State Department's efforts to 
advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility--DEIA.
    I am pleased to be joined by my counterpart from USAID, 
Neneh Diallo.
    Secretary Blinken appointed me as the Department's first 
standalone Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer 15 months ago. 
Since that time, the Department has made significant strides to 
advance DEIA within our organization and build the foundation 
for sustained success.
    We have done this by increasing transparency and 
accountability for processes and personnel. Our goal is to 
improve our entire organization. Any business wants a highly 
productive workforce that operates maximally.
    It is not enough to recruit a representative workforce. We 
have to keep them. We must leverage the strength of our 
diversity to ensure we have the strongest foreign policy to 
meet 21st century challenges.
    We are focused on examining our organization holistically, 
to identify where inequities exist, not just in whom we hire, 
but among who stays and who advances.
    The Department is committed to using evidence-based 
approaches to identify barriers to equitable merit-based hiring 
and career outcomes. By analyzing disaggregated data we can 
identify where potential inequities exist and recommend 
specific actions to address them.
    This is why my first priority was to create a DEIA data 
working group. Since its formation, we have compiled a 
demographic baseline of the entire Department of State by rank, 
job category, and bureau. With this established baseline we can 
evaluate the effectiveness of our initiatives and track our 
progress.
    In this way, we will remain unified in opportunity, unified 
in earned recognition and support. Data analysis is key to 
guiding, measuring, and sustaining an effective DEIA program, 
which is why I respectfully ask for your support to continue 
providing my office with the funding and staffing resources 
needed for this important work.
    Another change I am proud to tell you about is that 
advancing DEIA is now tied to the Foreign Service promotions 
and civil service performance evaluations. Everyone must play a 
part to advance DEIA as an organizational culture.
    Why? Because it will improve the quality of our foreign 
policy, model the values that we promote abroad, and ensure the 
best rise to the top because of merit.
    To hold employees accountable for this, the Department has 
created a dedicated DEIA core precept for the Foreign Service 
and a DEIA work element for the civil service.
    While the dedicated core precept provides a way to 
recognize and reward positive contributions to the DEIA 
mission, we must also improve accountability and uproot toxic 
workplace behavior.
    As the Department has made significant strides to educate 
employees on how to address toxic behavior, reports of 
harassment have increased. Staffing to investigate and respond 
has not.
    The Department's fiscal year 2023 budget includes a request 
for new positions and funding to create an anti-bullying 
program and to properly staff our anti-harassment program.
    We can correct toxic behaviors and eliminate the resulting 
distractions in the workplace that impede our best work in 
service to the American people.
    The Department's 5-year DEIA strategic plan has been 
released to the workforce. It is the most forward leaning, 
ambitious, robust DEIA strategic plan the Department has ever 
created.
    My office will oversee the plan's implementation and has 
already formed an implementation team. It is made up of 
representatives from bureaus and offices with responsibility 
for action items in the plan. We are already taking steps to 
reconfirm our commitment to make a truly merit-based 
organization.
    Lastly, I applaud the Department's recent changes to the 
Foreign Service generalist exam process. The Foreign Service 
Officer Test served as a distorted barrier to entry for the 
Foreign Service and has never been a predictor of future job 
performance.
    Let us be clear, there are many highly successful Foreign 
Service Officers and career ambassadors serving today whose 
entry requirements did not include taking or passing the FSOT.
    Starting last month, the Department now takes a more 
holistic approach by evaluating a candidate's FSOT performance 
along with their skills and experience when deciding who will 
advance to the Foreign Service oral assessment.
    For candidates who miss the FSOT cut off by a few points, 
but have valuable relevant skills and experience, this change 
allows their other strengths to be considered. This levels the 
playing field and allows the Department to examine more 
candidates from a wider variety of backgrounds.
    I am grateful to this committee for its attention to this 
decades-long problem within the Department of State. With your 
support we will continue to work until we have a workforce that 
does truly reflect and leverage the diverse talents of the 
nation we represent.
    Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to speak 
today and I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ambassador Abercrombie-
Winstanley follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Ambassador Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley

    Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, Members of the Committee, 
I am delighted to speak with you today about the State Department's 
progress--and challenges--on diversity, equity, inclusion, and 
accessibility (DEIA). I am thrilled to be joined by my counterpart, 
Neneh Diallo, from USAID.
    Secretary Blinken appointed me as the Department's first stand-
alone Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer 15 months ago. Since that 
time, the Department has made significant strides to advance DEIA 
within our organization and build the foundation for future success. 
This foundation will ensure the Department's DEIA initiatives get 
implemented in a sustainable way. Our steadfast goal is to support 
equity and inclusivity across our entire workforce and ensure our 
workforce knows and understands what we are doing and why.
    It is not enough to recruit and support a workforce that draws from 
the diversity of our nation. We must also leverage the strength of our 
diverse talents to make certain we have the strongest foreign policy to 
meet 21st century challenges. This is how we best serve the American 
people. Therefore, we must examine our organization holistically to 
identify where inequities exist not only in terms of whom we hire, but 
also in terms of who stays and who advances.
    Our approach is two-pronged: first, focus on structural changes to 
policy, practice, and procedures so that opportunities are no longer 
based on ``who you know'' but what you bring to the table. We do this 
work by identifying and removing barriers to a truly merit-based system 
for every employee. Second, we are focused on changing the culture so 
that employees feel truly included, seen, and encouraged to speak up 
when they have ideas to offer or want to flag concerns.
    The Department is committed to using an evidence-based approach to 
identify barriers to equitable, merit-based hiring and career outcomes. 
By examining red flags in our data, we can identify where potential 
inequities exist and recommend specific actions to improve how we do 
business. This is why my first priority as Chief Diversity and 
Inclusion Officer was to create a DEIA Data Working Group. This team of 
analysts and subject matter experts from multiple offices coordinate 
the Department's vital barrier analysis work.
    Since standing up this unprecedented group a year ago, we've 
compiled a demographic baseline of the Department of State, by rank, 
job category, and bureau. As a result, we now have a more accurate 
picture of who and where we are as an organization. And we can now 
better identify where we have work to do to keep us unified in terms of 
opportunity, earned recognition and support. With this established 
baseline we can also evaluate the effectiveness of our initiatives and 
track our progress. Data analysis is key to guiding, measuring, and 
sustaining an effective DEIA program, and I want to thank Congress for 
providing the resources needed for this important work.
    Another change I am excited to tell you about is our work to ensure 
that advancing DEIA is now tied to Foreign Service promotions and Civil 
Service performance evaluations. Secretary Blinken has made clear his 
expectation that DEIA work is not just on me, my office, or for 
employees working in human resources. It must not be limited to 
employees from historically underrepresented groups or the most junior 
among our ranks. Everyone must play a part in advancing DEIA as an 
organizational culture. Why? Because it will make the Department of 
State stronger, improve the quality of our foreign policy, model the 
values we promote abroad, and ensure the best rise to the top because 
of their merit.
    To hold employees accountable for this, the Department has created 
a dedicated DEIA core precept for the Foreign Service and DEIA work 
elements for the Civil Service. This was necessary, because while the 
Department has always valued and included DEIA principles as an element 
of earlier core precepts and work elements, if employees demonstrated 
achievements in other areas within the precept, their lack of attention 
to DEIA could be overlooked. By tying promotions more strongly to 
advancing DEIA, we have now increased the incentive for every 
Department employee to forward this vital work.
    While the dedicated core precept provides a way to recognize 
positive contributions to the DEIA mission, we must also do more to 
improve accountability and transparency, and root out toxic workplace 
behavior such as discrimination, including harassment and bullying. As 
the Department has made significant strides to educate employees on how 
to address toxic behavior, and reports of harassment have increased, 
staffing to investigate and respond has not. The Department's FY23 
budget includes a request for new positions and funding to create an 
Anti-Bullying Program and to properly staff our Anti-Harassment Program 
so that we can correct toxic behaviors and address situations before 
they reach the level of a formal complaint. It is imperative that our 
workplaces eliminate toxic behavior so that everyone has the same 
opportunity to do their best work in service to the American people.
    I am pleased to report the Department completed development of its 
5-year DEIA Strategic Plan. It is the most forward-leaning, ambitious, 
and robust DEIA Strategic Plan the Department has ever created. It 
includes input from dozens of offices and hundreds of employees from 
every segment of the workforce. This includes local DEIA Councils, 
Employee Organizations, Locally Employed Staff, Eligible Family Member 
staff, contract staff, the Civil Service, and Foreign Service 
Specialists and Generalists. My office will oversee the Plan's 
implementation and has formed an Implementation Team, made up of 
representatives from bureaus and offices with responsibility for action 
items in the Plan. The Team's first meeting was in June, and it will 
meet quarterly to ensure goals and objectives are being met within the 
outlined timeframes and ensure the Plan is properly resourced. In 
addition, the State-USAID Joint Strategic Plan includes a strategic 
objective on promoting DEIA as a component of revitalizing our 
workforce.
    Lastly, I would also like to mention the Department's recent 
changes to the Foreign Service generalist exam process. The Foreign 
Service Officer Test (FSOT) served as a distorted barrier of entry into 
the Foreign Service because it favored candidates who had the resources 
to hone their standardized testing skills on niche topics. Further, the 
FSOT has never been a predictor of future job performance. There are 
many successful Foreign Service Officers and career ambassadors serving 
today whose entry requirements did not include taking the FSOT. In 
essence, our analysis showed that the FSOT served as an initial stage 
to reduce the volume of candidates to a more manageable number to 
determine who to advance to the Foreign Service Oral Assessment (FSOA). 
The Oral Assessment has always been the true method of evaluating a 
candidate's skills and abilities to succeed in the Foreign Service.
    I am pleased the Department made changes to the Foreign Service 
generalist selection process. Starting last month, the Department now 
takes a more holistic approach by factoring a candidate's FSOT test 
performance along with their skills and experience when deciding who 
will advance to the FSOA. For those candidates with valuable and 
relevant skills and experience but less practice at taking standardized 
tests, this change allows the Department to look at all of a 
candidate's strengths. No amount of skill or experience will cancel out 
a low FSOT score. Likewise, candidates with high FSOT scores, but 
inadequate experience or skills, are also unlikely to advance to the 
FSOA. This change takes a comprehensive view of all candidates, levels 
the playing field and allows the Department to examine more candidates 
from a wider variety of backgrounds, using better and more predictive 
assessment information and criteria.
    While the changes we have implemented in this short amount of time 
exceeded my expectations, we have much more work to do. The findings in 
the recently released GAO report ``Additional Actions Needed to Improve 
Workplace Diversity and Inclusion'' are consistent with the initiatives 
my staff and I lead, as we rally more Department employees to join us 
in this work.
    I am grateful to this Committee for its attention to this decades-
long issue at the State Department. We will continue the work until we 
have a workforce that truly reflects and leverages the diverse talents 
of the nation we represent. Thank you for providing me with this 
opportunity to speak today. I look forward to your questions.

    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Ms. Diallo.

STATEMENT OF NENEH DIALLO, CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER, U.S. AGENCY 
         FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WASHINGTON, DC

    Ms. Diallo. Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, 
members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
speak about the progress USAID has made to date and the 
remaining opportunities to do more on diversity, equity, 
inclusion, and accessibility--or DEIA--within our agency.
    Thank you for your leadership in this space. I also want to 
acknowledge Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley and her work 
at the Department of State. Our agencies are working together 
to ensure we maximize and accelerate efforts toward our shared 
interests.
    With the leadership and support of President Joe Biden, 
Administrator Samantha Power, and a strong bipartisan coalition 
in Congress, USAID is uniting its DEIA efforts, an ambitious 
undertaking I have been privileged to lead since being sworn in 
this past March.
    As the agency's first chief DEIA officer, I oversee our 
DEIA efforts not only in our workforce and workplace, but also 
in how we deliver assistance, design programs, and partner. My 
office does not undertake this work alone, but together with 
DEIA advisors who are hired within bureaus and independent 
offices as well as the diversity councils across the agency.
    I would also like to take this time to thank the committee 
and your colleagues for providing this office with a dedicated 
budget to realize our DEIA objectives.
    My office oversees USAID's DEIA strategic plan. This seeks 
to reduce potential barriers to accessing benefits and 
services, procurement and contracting opportunities, and agency 
actions and programs.
    We work collectively to recruit, retain, and promote the 
agency's talent. This work is not without its challenges when 
it comes to underrepresented populations. My submitted 
testimony goes into the details of how we are addressing these 
challenges, but let me highlight three ways we are making 
progress on our agenda.
    First, recruitment. We have expanded our Affirmative 
Employment Division within the Office of Civil Rights to 
include the establishment of a robust Special Emphasis Program 
to identify and remove any potential barriers to equal 
employment opportunity in agency policies, programs, processes, 
and practices for all persons, including members of groups that 
are traditionally underrepresented or have been historically 
subjected to discrimination in the workforce.
    We are working to ensure USAID is an employer of choice for 
all individuals with disabilities. Thus, we are prioritizing 
the use of Schedule A hiring authority for individuals with 
disabilities and disabled veterans on competitive hiring 
authorities.
    We are also working to diversify our candidate pool through 
new and renewed partnerships with historically Black colleges 
and universities, tribal and indigenous colleges and 
universities, and institutions serving Hispanic, Asian 
American, and Native American/Pacific Islander communities.
    These partnerships help diversify our talent pipelines and 
provide opportunities to collaborate with USAID as thought 
leaders in global development and expand our partner base to 
ensure minority-serving institutions play a meaningful role in 
our humanitarian and development work.
    Second, we continue to invest in the career advancement and 
professional development of our current workforce. For staff 
from underrepresented groups, we are expanding our support for 
the International Career Advancement Program and the Donald M. 
Payne International Development Fellowship Program.
    These programs provide highly qualified candidates with 
leadership development and valuable firsthand experience both 
in Congress and in the agency.
    Since arriving at USAID we have doubled our support in both 
programs and will look to continue building off that success.
    As a learning organization, we are committed to capacity 
building for a global workforce. That is why we have expanded 
access to DEIA-related training through our Respectful, 
Inclusive, and Safe Environments' learning and engagement 
platform.
    USAID's RISE training has reached more than 6,000 
individual staff members globally since June of 2020. USAID has 
developed our first ever DEIA survey, which, when completed, 
will establish a baseline for DEIA-related metrics and enable 
longitudinal evaluation across USAID's entire workforce.
    I am also working to ensure that DEIA competencies and 
objectives are included into annual civil service performance 
evaluations and Foreign Service precepts across all work 
levels, including senior leaders.
    This is a clear step forward in ensuring leadership 
accountability for creating an inclusive work environment.
    Third, USAID is committed to expanding the universe of 
implementing partners. Last November, we launched the Work With 
USAID platform, a free online resource hub to support new and 
existing partners with the knowledge, tools, and networks to 
navigate how to work with us.
    We are streamlining acquisition and assistance practices to 
enhance equity and inclusion for both our domestic and 
international partners.
    We are updating and enhancing our policies to ensure that 
our programming is inclusive, equitable, and reaches 
marginalized and underserved populations, including persons 
with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, indigenous peoples, and 
nondominant racial, ethnic, and religious groups.
    Our inclusive development approach ensures we do no harm to 
those who are vulnerable and marginalized and that we 
intentionally and proactively include them.
    We believe all these efforts at USAID will help us bring 
diverse perspectives and talents into our workforce and across 
our humanitarian assistance and development programming, and 
provide opportunity and equitable access in a deliberate way.
    In closing, echoing testimony from Ambassador Abercrombie-
Winstanley, I am grateful to the members of this committee for 
your support of our ongoing efforts to strengthen and improve 
development outcomes for the communities where we work through 
a comprehensive and unified DEIA strategy. With your support, 
we will continue to ensure that USAID reflects the values we 
strive to live up to as Americans.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to be here and I look 
forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Diallo follows:]

                 Prepared Statement of Ms. Neneh Diallo

    Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, Members of the Committee, 
thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the progress USAID 
has made to date--and the remaining opportunities to do more--on 
diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) within our 
Agency.
    In the span of USAID's 60 years of global development work, the 
Agency has relied on the dynamism and fresh perspectives of a uniquely 
talented workforce, always aiming to improve policies and outcomes to 
better reflect our values and bring to bear the best of what America 
has to offer. With the leadership and support of President Biden, 
Administrator Power, and a strong bipartisan coalition in Congress, 
USAID is finally able to unite its disparate diversity, equity, 
inclusion, and accessibility efforts, an ambitious undertaking I have 
been privileged to lead since being sworn in in March of this year. As 
the Agency's first ever Chief Diversity Officer, I lead an office of 
outstanding and committed individuals who are working tirelessly to 
ensure USAID is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible 
throughout its practices, programs, policies, and partnerships. I 
oversee our DEIA efforts across the Agency, not only in our workforce 
and workplace, but also in how we deliver assistance, design programs, 
and form partnerships. I want to acknowledge Ambassador Gina 
Abercrombie-Winstanley and her work at the Department of State and let 
the Committee know that the Department and USAID are working together 
to ensure we maximize and accelerate efforts where we have mutual 
interests.
    Administrator Samantha Power has prioritized a comprehensive 
approach to DEIA from her first day in office when she signed USAID's 
2021 DEIA Strategic Plan. Since then, she has continued to demonstrate 
that DEIA is a priority by establishing the DEIA Office within the 
Office of the Administrator, creating the Agency's first Chief 
Diversity Officer position, and ensuring the Agency has dedicated staff 
to support this important work. I would like to thank the Committee and 
your colleagues in Congress for providing the office with a dedicated 
budget to support the programs and activities that will help increase 
diversity in our workforce, expand opportunity to the organizations 
with which we partner, and ensure equity is incorporated across our 
employment lifecycle, our partner base and in the communities we serve.
    This new office is now staffed by a team of 18 dedicated DEIA 
experts that reflects the diversity we expect to see across the Agency: 
a mix of civil service, foreign service, and institutional support 
contractors with a variety of talents and abilities. USAID has also 
hired 13 full-time DEIA Advisors, roles created in specific Bureaus and 
Independent Offices to work in collaboration with my team to advance 
USAID's unified DEIA strategy.
    As mentioned, I oversee USAID's 2021 DEIA Strategic Plan, an 
updated version of USAID's DEI strategy, which contains 10 goals to 
enhance diversity, and promote an equitable and safe workplace. My 
office also supports the implementation of USAID's Equity Action Plan, 
which seeks to reduce potential barriers to accessing benefits and 
services, procurement and contracting opportunities, and Agency actions 
and programs. To achieve continuity across our efforts, we routinely 
engage with USAID Bureaus and Independent Offices, including the Bureau 
for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL), the Bureau for Human Capital 
and Talent Management (HCTM), the Bureau for Democracy, Development, 
and Innovation (DDI), and the Bureau for Management, as well as the 
Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of the General Counsel, 
regional and functional bureaus and our overseas Missions.
    On the diversity front, the Agency strives to remove any potential 
barriers to equal employment opportunity in a bid to build a workforce 
that reflects the diversity of our nation. We work collectively to 
recruit, retain and promote the Agency's talent, yet we still have more 
progress to make with communities of color, veterans, persons with 
disabilities, persons of different religions, persons of different 
sexes and gender identities, and persons in rural areas. To address 
these challenges, we have expanded our Affirmative Employment Division 
within the Office of Civil Rights to include the establishment of a 
robust Special Emphasis Program--to identify and remove any potential 
barriers to equal employment opportunity in Agency policies, programs, 
processes, and practices for groups that are traditionally 
underrepresented or have been historically subjected to discrimination 
in the workforce. We are adding posts with work-study opportunities and 
increasing paid internships; those managed by USAID and with third 
parties such as the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 
and the Urban League.
    As we prioritize the diversification of our talent pool, we are 
actively working to ensure USAID is an employer of choice for 
individuals with disabilities, including disabled veterans. As such, we 
are prioritizing the use of the Schedule A hiring authority for 
individuals with disabilities and Disabled Veteran non-competitive 
hiring authorities. These non-competitive authorities are invaluable in 
ensuring we achieve our goals of reaching 12 percent of our employees 
be Persons with Disabilities and 2 percent be Persons with Targeted 
Disabilities or Serious Health Conditions within the next 2 years.
    We are also actively working to diversify our candidate pool 
through new and renewed partnerships and engagements with Minority 
Serving Institutions (MSIs) such as Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities (HBCUs), Tribal and Indigenous Colleges and Universities 
(TCUs), and institutions serving the Hispanic, Asian American (AA), and 
Native American Pacific Islander communities. Last year, we held the 
first conferences for HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) 
with a total of over 3,000 registered students, faculty, and partners. 
This fall we will host our second annual HSI and HBCU Conferences and 
will be expanding conference outreach to AA and Native American Pacific 
Islander Serving Institutions (NAPISI) and planning the Agency's first 
TCU symposium in the spring. Our partnerships with MSIs are intended to 
do more than diversify our talent pipelines, however; we hope that 
these institutions can also collaborate with USAID as thought leaders 
in global development, and also ultimately join our cadre of 
implementing partners and sub-partners. On top of the Memoranda of 
Understanding we have signed with Delaware State University, Tuskegee 
University, Florida International University, and Alcorn State 
University, we are teeing up new partnerships to be announced this fall 
and exploring new partnerships with HSIs and TCUs.
    We also plan to leverage our Development Diplomats in Residency 
(DDIRs) Program, through which talented Foreign Service Officers are 
embedded within higher education institutions in the U.S. to strengthen 
our partnerships, enhance regional outreach and recruitment activities, 
and allow for development concepts to be incorporated into the 
educational curriculum of institutions.
    The elevation and unification of these efforts in USAID's Front 
Office is about more than just changing what this Agency looks like. 
It's about changing how it feels to work here, to partner with us, and 
how we deliver results, elevating a far more inclusive array of voices, 
making sure they have seats at the table, and grappling with the 
legacies of racism and sexism that plague all our country's 
institutions. It's about overcoming a history of gatekeeping that 
prevents underrepresented groups both in the United States and abroad 
from having a meaningful say in our humanitarian and development work.
    To minimize biases during the hiring process as more diverse 
candidates apply for employment, USAID is piloting masked hiring, a 
process that promotes the mitigation of bias by masking information 
such as demographics and focuses on objective criteria for positions. 
This process is currently being piloted within the civil service and 
within some of our non-direct hire mechanisms.
    We continue to invest in the career advancement and professional 
development of our current workforce, including staff based in 
Washington and around the world. For staff from underrepresented 
groups, we are expanding our support for the International Career 
Advancement Program (ICAP), which provides leadership development to 
mid-level professionals from underrepresented backgrounds. Over the 
past year USAID has doubled the number of ICAP participants, and we aim 
to further expand participation in the program 50 percent next year. We 
have also increased our support for the Donald M. Payne International 
Development Fellowship Program, which recruits highly competitive 
candidates from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds to join 
USAID's Foreign Service and intend to expand the Payne Fellowship 
Program from 15 to 30 Fellows in the coming year. I appreciate that 
many Members of Congress have hosted Payne Fellows for summer 
placements. I hope you will continue to support our Payne Fellows who 
gain invaluable first-hand experience on the legislative process.
    In my role as CDO, I engage with staff across the Agency and serve 
as a standing member of USAID's Senior Leadership Group Panel, which 
selects key Foreign Service leadership assignments. And we will be 
including DEIA competencies and objectives into annual civil service 
performance evaluations, and foreign service precepts across all 
workforce levels, including senior leaders, a clear step forward in 
ensuring leadership accountability for creating an inclusive and 
diverse work environment.
    As a learning organization, we are committed to capacity-building 
for our global workforce. USAID has expanded access to a wide range of 
DEIA-related training through our Respectful, Inclusive, and Safe 
Environments (RISE) learning and engagement platform. USAID's RISE 
training has reached more than 6,100 individual staff since June 2020 
and is a gold standard for the Federal Government. Over a third of our 
workforce, including over half of USAID leadership, has participated in 
at least one of the 660 RISE trainings or events held since June 2020.
    USAID has also developed our first-ever DEIA climate survey, which, 
when complete, will establish a baseline for DEIA related metrics and 
enable longitudinal evaluation across the workforce. The survey will 
expand our insights into the diversity of USAID's workforce through the 
collection of expanded demographic and sexual orientation and gender 
identity data and will help us better understand staff perceptions on 
USAID DEIA efforts.
    USAID's DEIA efforts go beyond building a diverse workforce and an 
equitable and inclusive workplace, we are also committed to expanding 
the universe of USAID implementing partners by reducing potential 
barriers for underrepresented groups and organizations from the U.S. or 
overseas. In November, we launched the WorkwithUSAID.org platform, a 
free online resource hub built to support new and existing partners 
with the knowledge, tools and networks to navigate how to work with us. 
Since its launch, we have hosted 37 external events to promote the 
platform, reaching over 10,000 people with 2,373 approved partner 
profiles uploaded to date, of which 390 are U.S. companies.
    As we grow and expand our partnership base, our localization 
initiative is critical to diversifying the Agency's implementing 
partners. Localization encompasses a range of processes and actions 
that USAID is undertaking to ensure our work puts local actors in the 
lead, strengthens local systems, and is responsive to local 
communities. USAID's localization efforts include streamlining the 
Agency's internal processes to facilitate partnerships with vetted 
local organizations and expand our stable of non-traditional partners. 
One important way USAID approaches localization is through our New 
Partnerships Initiative (NPI). For NPI, Missions and Operating Units 
must specifically outline plans for enhancing equity and inclusion 
through their acquisition and assistance practices and program 
implementation in the countries in which USAID operates.
    As we provide development and humanitarian assistance, we are also 
tapping into the expertise of U.S. small and disadvantaged businesses 
through the work of USAID's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business 
Utilization (OSDBU). To expand our work with these small and 
disadvantaged businesses we have included the businesses in the 
Agency's draft 2022 Acquisition and Assistance Strategy, provided 
training to Agency staff on how to work with small and disadvantaged 
businesses, and are doing targeted outreach to the small business 
community throughout the U.S.
    Finally, we are updating and enhancing our policies to ensure that 
our programming is inclusive, equitable, and reaches marginalized and 
underserved populations. Our inclusive development approach is rooted 
in a both a ``below the line'' principle, ensuring we do no harm to 
those who are vulnerable and marginalized, and an ``above the line'' 
principle that intentionally and proactively includes these groups, 
including persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, Indigenous 
Peoples, and non-dominant racial, ethnic, and religious groups. USAID 
is also enhancing implementation of its nondiscrimination for 
beneficiaries' policy, including by making ``Inclusive Development'' 
training mandatory for all staff and developing an accountability 
mechanism that can help stakeholders provide feedback to the Agency on 
its programs.
    We believe all our efforts at USAID will help us bring diverse 
perspectives and talents into the national security workforce and 
provide opportunity and equitable access in an intentional and 
deliberate way. In closing, echoing testimony from my colleague 
Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley, I am grateful to the Members of this 
Committee for your attention to and support of our efforts to 
strengthen our work and improve development outcomes for the 
communities where we work through a comprehensive and unified DEIA 
strategy. With your support, we will continue to ensure that USAID is 
reflective of the values we strive to live up to as Americans. Thank 
you for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to your 
questions.

    The Chairman. Thank you. Thank you both.
    We will start a round of 5-minute questions.
    Ambassador Winstanley, let us start off with the answer to 
this question. Why diversity?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Diversity is at the 
foundational level of our nation. We come from everywhere and 
we should be represented by everyone who is part of this great 
nation.
    We have talked about human rights, the opportunity in the 
United States, and we have to show it. Great ideas come from 
every background of Americans and we know the Department of 
State benefits from having us all there. So, in short, we have 
to represent our nation with representatives from every part of 
our nation.
    The Chairman. So we do this not for the sake of diversity 
itself, not because it is the nice or right thing to do, 
because it is the empowering thing to do on behalf of our 
nation.
    It is clear to me that we look for an array of skills. We, 
certainly, at USAID do not send a rocket scientist to help 
countries in terms of agriculture. We look for different 
experiences.
    At the end of the day, those different experiences are also 
manifested in the diversity of our people and their experiences 
as well.
    We were able to obtain--can we get those charts?
    We were able to obtain demographic trends data from GAO, 
OPM, and the Department that I would like to share that is 
quite concerning.

[Editor's note.--Chart being presented.]

    The Chairman. The red bars on this graph that we are about 
to put up represent white employees at the Department. It shows 
that in the 1980s the State Department was much more successful 
in its diversity efforts than in recent times. From 1981 to 
2002, you can see the percent of nonwhite employees--the blue 
and other colored bars--more than doubled from 13 to 28 
percent, but over the last 20 years, racial diversity at State 
barely budged at all, even as the Latino population has 
substantially grown across the country. From 2002 to 2021, the 
percent of nonwhite employees only rose from 28 to 34 percent 
and African Americans actually decreased from 17 to 15 percent.
    When we look--may we have the other chart?

[Editor's note.--Chart being presented.]

    The Chairman. When we look at the red sections on this 
second figure we see that the senior ranks of the State 
Department remain largely white in both the Foreign Service and 
civil service with the Senior Foreign Service and Senior 
Executive Services almost 85 percent white.
    It comes as little surprise then that only, roughly, 12 
percent of U.S. ambassadors come from underrepresented 
communities and only 40 percent of ambassadors are women.
    While this committee plays a critical role in confirming 
ambassadors, we also need more diverse candidates to consider.
    As I noted in my opening statement, the State Department 
sets the stage for what happens in our other agencies. So if we 
get this right at State, we get it right at USAID, at DFC, Ex-
Im, Peace Corps, MCC, and the entire foreign affairs 
infrastructure.
    The first graph demonstrates change is possible and we all 
know change comes most quickly when it comes from the top. We 
are living in historic times. For close to two decades I have 
called for diversity initiatives to address under-
representation in our foreign affairs infrastructure.
    Last year, Ambassador, you were appointed as the State 
Department's first standalone Chief Diversity and Inclusion 
Officer in April of 2021 by Secretary Blinken, and Chief 
Diversity Officer Diallo, you were appointed by the 
administrator earlier this year in March.
    We also passed the 1-year anniversary of the President's 
June 2021 Executive Order 14035--Diversity, Equity, Inclusion 
and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce--and the February 
2021 President's National Security Memorandum prioritizing 
diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as a national 
security imperative.
    So I applaud these efforts, but I am concerned that the 
White House has yet to allow you to release the diversity and 
inclusion strategic plans you are required to draft by 
Executive Order 14035 a year ago and what signal that sends.
    I have a couple of questions. When do you anticipate the 
plan being released to State Department and USAID personnel, 
the public, and Congress?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you, Senator, for 
the question, Mr. Chairman.
    We released the report to the workforce, yesterday. We got 
permission yesterday afternoon or the night before and we 
released it immediately. It is on our SharePoint site and 
released to our employee organization so that people can see 
it.
    We will have what I believe is going to be a more user-
friendly version up in a couple of weeks as well so that people 
can interact with it, but we have released it.
    The Chairman. When will Congress get that?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I would say at least a 
couple of weeks that we get a version that you will actually be 
able to understand.
    The Chairman. I look forward to knowing when that is going 
to happen and to receiving it.
    How is the White House supporting you and your efforts to 
change these worrying demographic trends, especially in the 
senior ranks?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you.
    It has been a strong cheerleader for our efforts. The 
demand signal, as you noted, comes from the top from the 
President, from the Secretary, and I have the opportunity to 
continue that demand signal within our organization.
    We are very serious about this now. The statistics that you 
put up there are deeply troubling for all of us, but we 
recognize that and we have put resources and personnel and 
leadership from the top to this problem.
    So we have put in place accountability factors with the 
core precept. That is a way that we are communicating to the 
entire organization that this counts, that we are taking it 
seriously, and we are holding people accountable. If you want 
to be promoted you will help the organization be better, more 
diverse, more inclusive, taking steps with regard to 
accessibility.
    We are in the midst of conversations, reviewing options on 
how to increase transparency and accessibility with regard to 
senior positions from the Deputy Assistant Secretary on up.
    We have changes that I am sure are going to be very 
impactful for the entire organization in the next several 
months. We have changed how we are doing our Foreign Service 
oral exam with regard to using the technology that we have all 
come to know and, perhaps, not love, with remote interviews and 
that is going to help us expand our reach throughout the 
nation.
    So we have taken several steps, but most importantly, 
ensuring that the entire organization understands it counts. We 
are holding people accountable. If you want to be promoted, we 
are holding people accountable for their behavior if they are 
not supportive and making us the best organization that we can 
be.
    The Chairman. Well, I have many other questions, but in 
deference to my colleagues, let me turn to the ranking member.
    Senator Risch.
    Senator Risch. Thank you.
    I heard your statements and I think everything that has 
been said, certainly, is laudable.
    What I would like to hear a little more is about the 
details of recruiting. Could both of you touch on that a bit? 
How do you go out and recruit specifically for the agencies and 
then, specifically, how do you focus on diversity recruitment, 
in detail?
    Either way. Jump ball.
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator, for your question.
    Through the Global Development Partnership Initiative, 
USAID will build a responsive and resourceful and resilient 
workforce by increasing the size and diversity of our permanent 
career workforce and providing flexibility to hire noncareer 
direct staff.
    Senator Risch. How did you do that specifically? Did you 
run ads in magazines? Did you go on TV? Did you do it on--how 
did you do that, mechanically?
    Ms. Diallo. It is a current program that we are running 
right now and so what we are doing is through those methods, 
sir, and through nontraditional means as well, including 
outreach to minority-serving institutions.
    USAID held its first HBCU conference last year and the 
first Hispanic-serving institution conference as well where we 
had about 3,000 attending.
    Senator Risch. Where were those held?
    Ms. Diallo. It was virtual, sir.
    Senator Risch. I see.
    Ms. Diallo. So in addition to that outreach, it increases 
the awareness of USAID and our jobs. We have also developed a 
new recruitment video that promotes the careers in Foreign and 
Civil service and it features USAID employees who represent the 
agency's diversity.
    Senator Risch. What about personal interviews when you are 
hiring someone? What does a person have to do if they, say, 
live in Idaho and they want to go to work at the State 
Department?
    Ms. Diallo. I would have to get the details exactly from 
our HR colleagues, sir, but my understanding is that we hold 
virtual interviews with people all across the world.
    Senator Risch. So a person does not have to appear 
personally?
    Ms. Diallo. Currently, no.
    Senator Risch. Go ahead.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question.
    We also do remote interviews at this point that I mentioned 
earlier, and so we have been able to increase our reach across 
the nation, the middle parts as well. I am from Ohio so I think 
this is very important.
    We have expanded our diplomats in residence so we are going 
to be sending them to more college campuses. We hold 
recruitment events across the country and overseas as well 
because there are Americans studying abroad.
    We use our hometown diplomat program that I have 
participated in many times over my 30-plus career when I have 
gone home to the Midwest, to Ohio, and to neighboring states, 
reaching out to colleges and universities and community 
colleges in states that are not on either coast.
    We have informal diplomats in residence. I started one 
myself when I left the State Department in 2017. I reached out 
to colleges in Ohio to offer my services to support students 
who did not have access to those Washington, DC, universities 
to talk to them about the Foreign Service exam, to help them 
prepare for it, to look at internships in the Washington, DC 
area if they were going to be studying here or virtual ones 
that would help give them a leg up.
    I have had conversations with other retirees who are doing 
that in different parts of the country as well.
    Finally, we have started a collaboration with the 
Association of Community Colleges because, as we all know, you 
do not even need a college degree to join the Department of 
State. You have to pass our entry procedures.
    So you do not have to go to a 4-year college on either 
coast or in the middle of the country. Community colleges have 
an amazing array of Americans who would bring background 
experience and knowledge that we need, and so we are doing 
additional outreach in that area as well.
    Also, community colleges have a wide array of Americans, 
extremely diverse, whether it is geographic, racial, ethnic, 
background, et cetera, that we want to reach and tap and we are 
taking strides to do so.
    Senator Risch. What percent of college campuses do you 
think that the State Department visits recruiting each year?
    Probably not exact, but can you give me a general sense of 
that?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I would ask you to take 
the question back to see if our full time talent management 
colleagues have an idea of that, but it is only going to be an 
idea because people like me go out because we love to work for 
the Department of State. So we are going to be reaching college 
campuses and the Department will not even know it.
    Senator Risch. Thank you. My time is up, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Senator Cardin.
    Senator Cardin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me thank both 
of our witnesses for your service to our country. We thank you 
for taking on this challenge.
    Diversity at the State Department is critically important, 
as both of you have said. America's strength is in our values 
and we should be judged by our actions. So diversity is a very 
important goal that we need to obtain. We also have so many 
challenges in international diplomacy. We need all the talent 
of all of Americans in our State Department.
    Then for effectiveness of our foreign policy we need a 
workforce that represents this nation. So for all those 
reasons, it is critically important that we achieve the goals 
that you have expressed.
    So the chairman's numbers are extremely disappointing. We 
have lost over a decade of progress in diversity at the State 
Department. That is difficult to make up. It takes time for us 
to achieve these objectives.
    Yes, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for holding this 
hearing. This hearing is solely focused on this issue, but I 
want to tell you, we have raised these issues with senior 
representatives at the State Department in many hearings on 
oversight of the Department, generally, and I am going to tell 
you I have heard some of the same replies from those officials 
that I am hearing today.
    I am concerned that we really are not going to see 
progress, and I point out the GAO report that was issued in 
2020 that showed the deficiencies in regards to what we needed 
to do on diversity, and then last week they issued the report, 
``State Department Additional Actions Needed to Improve 
Workplace Diversity and Inclusion,'' and it points out the 
deficiencies in performance measures and accountability.
    I have heard you mention, Madam Ambassador, that you are 
dealing with performance and accountability, but we have not 
seen the specifics.
    So how can you reassure this committee that you have 
listened to the challenges we have had for a long time at State 
Department, not having adequate performance measures and not 
having adequate accountability to make sure we achieve our 
objectives? What is different under your leadership?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you. Thank you, 
Senator, for the question.
    It was important from the very beginning when we started 
this mission that it be clear this time is different. Our 
credibility with our workforce demanded it. Our credibility 
with you and the American people demanded it, and so we have 
taken concrete steps with regard to accountability for actually 
moving this forward in addition to putting the need for support 
for DEIA in our performance evaluations.
    Again, this was a clear signal to all of our workforce from 
top to bottom that this work is important, that we are taking 
it seriously, that it is going to count with regard to your 
ability to be promoted in the Foreign Service, and it is for 
senior leaders down to the entry level. Everyone has to address 
this. It is part of the civil service job performance element 
for those who supervise. So we are sending a clear signal 
there.
    We have released guidance on integrating DEIA into our 
post-integrated country strategies. So this is not Washington-
focused. This is around the world.
    We have strengthened our policy on vetting. We get back to 
that accountability. People can talk the talk, but are they 
doing their best to ensure that we have the best representing 
our nation.
    One of the ways that we have done this is to ensure that I 
am on the committees that select senior positions--chiefs of 
mission, deputy chiefs of mission, deputy assistant 
secretaries, and principal officers.
    So everyone heading up the ladder understands that this 
issue and their support, participation, impactful work on this 
issue is going to count with regard to whether they are going 
to be tapped for leadership positions.
    So those are things that we have done with regard to 
accountability so that people understand that we are serious, 
and we continue to make the point in our actions and in our 
words because we know that we have a credibility gap. We know 
what those numbers are.
    Senator Cardin. Let me just conclude by--you started by 
saying that you have invested a lot of resources in getting the 
specific demographic information about the workforce broken 
down by Department, et cetera. Will you make that information 
available to this committee on a regular basis?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Yes.
    Senator Cardin. Thank you.
    The Chairman. Senator Cruz.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley, the Biden 
administration, I believe, is staffed by radicals. The State 
Department has consistently alienated our friends and appeased 
our enemies.
    You are empowered as the State Department's first 
standalone Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Your mandate 
is to promote a concept on the left called equity, which, I 
think, is nothing more than brazen discrimination.
    You were appointed in April 2021, and as you extensively 
testified this morning, you introduced fundamental changes to 
the State Department hiring practices in line with the mandate 
of equity to affirmatively and aggressively discriminate.
    A year after your appointment in April 2022, the State 
Department released its ``equity action plan'' to integrate 
these so-called equity principles into ``all aspects of State 
Department foreign affairs.''
    That very week, just days after you published the equity 
action plan and 1 year after you began your tenure, a senior 
State Department official broadly distributed what I consider 
to be a very troubling email. I have a copy of that email next 
to me. Let me read from a part of the email.
    The email says that hiring practices have developed inside 
the State Department so that, and I will quote, ``that certain 
candidates could not be hired because they have a disability--
they are white men. They are straight white men. They are not 
of the `right religion.''' All of these are verbatim quotes 
from the email of a senior State Department official.
    My first question to you is did you clear this guidance?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    I have never seen that before.
    Senator Cruz. You have never seen the email before?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I have never seen it.
    Senator Cruz. You did not know it had been sent?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. This is the first time I 
am seeing it, sir.
    Senator Cruz. Do you know that it is happening, that the 
State Department perceives--and this is, I believe, as a result 
of your work--that they have a mandate to discriminate 
against--as the email says, to discriminate against people with 
disabilities, to discriminate against white men, to 
discriminate against straight white men, and to discriminate 
against people that are not of the ``right religion.''
    I am not sure what that meant, but I suspect it meant that 
if someone is a Christian. I do not know that because that is 
not what the email says.
    Are you aware these practices are happening at the State 
Department?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Again, thank you for the 
question. I am definite and certain that they are not happening 
at the State Department, but again----
    Senator Cruz. So do you believe the senior State Department 
official who sent this email was lying?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Senator, I cannot 
comment. I do not know who that is from. I do not know if it 
is--I have never seen it before.
    Senator Cruz. So you are the Chief Diversity Officer and 
you are arguing you are certain discrimination is not happening 
at the State Department.
    Is that right? Is that what you are testifying? It is what 
you just said.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I am saying that it is 
against the law and we certainly are not overtly or on purpose 
breaking the law in the Department of State.
    Certainly, there are members of our organization who do 
discriminate, who do harass, who do bully, which is why we are 
trying to put in place programs to address it and to strengthen 
accountability for those who do break the law.
    Senator Cruz. So you did not clear this guidance, and after 
it was sent you are testifying now that you remained unaware of 
it. So no one showed it to you.
    You were in the State Department for a year. You were 
empowered in your position in an unprecedented way. In your 
testimony, you talked about creating a DEIA data working group 
about hiring practices and a dedicated DEIA core precept, and 
your testimony is you did not know that this discrimination was 
happening. My staff can transmit to you the exact header and 
the details of this email.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Okay.
    Senator Cruz. I have to say, Ambassador, I find it a little 
bit amazing that this discrimination is being reported to be 
ongoing in the Administration and you are professing to be 
unaware of it.
    I am reminded from a line from the movie ``Office Space''--
what would you say you do around here? What is your job if not 
to stop discrimination? Unfortunately, I believe what your job 
in practice is, is encouraging this discrimination.
    This is a manifestation. You just said a minute ago in 
testimony your hiring and promotion in the State Department 
will depend on complying with the edicts from your office.
    Is it good for the State Department and good for the United 
States Government to be actively discriminating based on 
disability, based on race, based on being a straight white man, 
or based on not being the right religion? Is that good or bad?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Senator, as I am looking 
at the email it does appear to me--and my eyesight is not 
great--that people have reported comments. That is certain 
candidates.
    Senator Cruz. So what it says is, unfortunately, over the 
past several months, a number of people have reported comments 
that certain candidates could not be hired because.
    So these are employees at the State Department saying we 
cannot hire someone because, and here is what the email lists. 
They have a disability. They are white men. They are straight 
white men or they are not of the right religion.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Indeed. So I would say 
comments does not at all say it is, indeed, happening.
    Senator Cruz. Comments from hiring people saying we cannot 
hire them because of it.
    The Chairman. The time of the senator has well expired.
    I would ask the senator to submit copies for the rest of 
the committee so we could see it, and if there is an 
attribution, which I do not understand if there is or is not 
one--if there is an attribution then that person should come 
forward and it should be fully investigated what he has to say. 
Otherwise, we have an anonymous entity.
    The next person is Senator Booker.
    Senator Booker. I want to thank the chairman, who has been 
championing this issue not just in the State Department, but 
throughout our society for a long time.
    I also think that I state the obvious when I say that all 
through the private sector, through companies that are run by 
people all across the political spectrum, they see diversity as 
a strength.
    We know this from Harvard Business School studies to big 
consulting firms like McKinsey. Companies do better when they 
have diverse teams at the table.
    My mom, having been an HR officer for IBM focusing on these 
issues way back in the seventies and the eighties, understands 
that their competitive edge was improved by making their 
workforce more reflect the population of the United States.
    As someone who has traveled around the world now in the 
privileged office that I hold, I have to say it is always 
disappointing when I sit in a State Department team in a 
foreign country and see very little diversity, not because I 
just like to see diverse folks, but because I know diverse 
teams are better teams.
    That is why I am extraordinarily grateful for the mission 
that you both hold and the work that you both do. Again, having 
grown up at a kitchen table listening to a mother that was 
trying to help serve the bottom line of IBM by making more 
diverse teams, I know how difficult it is on everything from 
pipeline issues to even retention issues because often when you 
promote diverse candidates, because there is such a paucity of 
them, they have a lot of demands for other opportunities.
    So I just want to say thank you, first and foremost. I know 
your dedication to your mission. I know the hill that you have 
to climb.
    I know, as the chairman put forth, we have a lot of really 
urgent work to do. Again, this is not just a radical agenda of 
some left-wing politician. This is an agenda that I see from 
the tech industry, from manufacturing across the board in the 
United States of America. We know when we draw from the full 
talent of this country we are so much better.
    Tim Scott and I--again, in a bipartisan way--both 
understood that one of the biggest barriers to often getting 
folks in is just the experiences they start having as young as 
college students and for paid internship programs.
    We put forth a bipartisan bill for paid internships. I was 
very happy to see, even though the bill has yet to pass, that 
there was $10 million put in the last budget in the State 
Department.
    I would just love to hear how that is going and if there 
are some things that you might be able to tell me that we 
should be thinking about as we look forward to trying to create 
that pipeline of people seeing this as an experience and a 
possible profession.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you, Senator, for 
the question.
    I must take the question back for details to my colleagues 
in GTM, but I know that people are hard at work getting ready 
the program to start our paid internship program.
    One of the most important things is to have the money to 
continue it. We do not want to have it for one round of young 
people who need the money, who deserve the money. It is going 
to allow us to reach a wider array of Americans and bring them 
in to our organization and we do not want it for just a limited 
time. We need a steady, full pipeline. So that would be my 
request on that, but as additional information, I know, we are 
planning for the fall and people are hard at work.

[Editor's note.--The requested information referred to above 
follows:]

    We thank the Senate for the continued support for the Paid 
Internship program. We are excited to welcome the first cohort of paid 
interns this Fall after launching the program in the Spring of 2022. We 
received over 2,000 applications in less than a week after the 
application period was open for the initial pilot of 200 interns. The 
Department released the Spring 2023 vacancy announcement for the Paid 
Internship program at the beginning of July and we expect to welcome 
300 interns for that cycle. Our goal is to provide students 
opportunities to gain experience and insight into the business of 
diplomacy to advance U.S. interests worldwide. Providing interns 
meaningful assignments and mentoring are essential for a successful 
internship. Offering paid internships broadens the pool of participants 
to include those that may not be able to afford to travel and support 
themselves in Washington, DC or abroad for an unpaid internship, 
thereby reaching previously underserved populations of students. All 
internship and fellowship programs are, first and foremost, a 
recruiting tool and are not meant to fill staffing gaps. We work with 
each of our bureaus to reflect recruitment and policy priorities for 
the Department.

    Senator Booker. Yes. No, it is extraordinary. I know when 
the CBC started offering--the Congressional Black Caucus--
started offering paid internship programs here in the Capitol 
it made such a big difference because so many students do not 
apply for internships because they are not paid. So I 
appreciate you affirming that.
    Can I also ask you, one of the things that GAO's 1989 and 
2020 reports indicated is the State Department has not really 
been successful in identifying some of the barriers towards 
hiring when it comes to hiring and advancing women and 
minorities in the Department?
    The recent 2022 report acknowledged significant 
improvement, but that there is still a lot of work to be done. 
The recommendation from the Government Accountability Office is 
that the Department create a plan to improve its barrier 
analysis process.
    That is the challenge and, in your view, what has hindered 
the State Department with regard to identifying the barriers to 
hiring a diverse workforce in the first place?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you, Senator.
    Being diplomatic, I will say more resources and focus on 
actually doing it was necessary. It is one of the main tools 
that my office used.
    So we have four barrier analyses underway as we speak, and 
so we are going to take a hard look because that is how we find 
out what we need to do. We have got to have that. So my office 
focuses very much on barrier analysis.
    Senator Booker. Well, listen, I will submit some other 
questions for the record. I just want to say you all are great 
patriots.
    If this country is going to compete on the playing field 
that is an international global playing field right now, we 
cannot leave our best talent--some of our best talent on the 
sidelines or on the bench.
    So what you all are doing is making our country stronger 
and better in a more increasingly complex and challenging 
global world and I am deeply, deeply grateful for your work.
    I celebrate you both, and my office is here to help in any 
way we can.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Before I call on Senator Rubio, I was just struck. Our 
colleague made the declaration that equity is discrimination.
    So I thought that maybe I had in my schooling lost the 
concept of what equity was so I looked up--according to Oxford 
Dictionary, equity is defined as the quality of being fair and 
impartial, the freedom from bias or favoritism. So if equity is 
discrimination, then I assume justice, under that view, is 
inequality.
    Senator Rubio.
    Senator Rubio. Thank you.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley, the President's 
executive order--I think it is 13985--it provides a list of 
underserved communities and it mandates that executive agencies 
seek to promote equitable, fair, and impartial outcomes for 
those communities.
    I, too, believe not only is diversity our strength as a 
country, but if, in fact, our workforce does not reflect our 
population then it merits an inquiry into what are the 
impediments--are there any artificial impediments that are 
leading to that outcome.
    In the list of the underserved communities are groups that 
have historically faced discrimination in this country on the 
basis of their race, their religion, their gender, but it also 
includes a list of other groups: first-generation college 
students, which I happen to be; people with limited English 
speaking ability; immigrants; the elderly; former convicts; 
people from rural areas; military spouses; single parents. All 
good groups.
    I am just curious. If we include all the people that have 
been discriminated against historically plus all these other 
groups, who is not an underserved community?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for your 
question, Senator.
    I can tell you that my office looks at this two ways: a) 
that our responsibility is focused on those groups who have 
been historically underrepresented in the Department of State 
who are protected classes, and so that is a more narrow list of 
people than the first group that you mentioned.
    The reality is as we work to remove barriers to those 
groups we are, in fact, leveling the playing field for every 
group. We are focused on making merit-based decisions, so 
removing those artificial barriers.
    When we do things like ensure that people can interview for 
the Department of State via a virtual technique, while it 
might, indeed, help groups that are in the center of the 
country or from families that cannot afford a $1,000 plane 
ticket to fly to San Francisco or Washington, DC, it is also 
going to touch on other groups of people who also have that 
problem.
    In that way, we are able to hit that wide variety of----
    Senator Rubio. No, and I understand, but when you add to 
the--and I know you did not write the executive order, but what 
I am saying is that when underserved communities expands to 
include all these other groups, which are all--there is 
nothing--I understand the struggles or the challenges of each 
of these groups individually--it just seems like we have really 
narrowed the pool of people who we do not consider underserved 
to a very narrow category of people, which obviously begs the 
question what information--do we keep a list of, for example, 
the religious affiliations of all the employees? Do we keep a 
list of everybody's ethnicity?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. We collect limited 
information on demographic information and we have a number of 
employee organizations that group around many of these other 
characteristics that you have mentioned.
    Whether it be singles at State, working parents at State, 
veterans, none of those are protected classes per se, but they 
do have issues that employees talk about, work with our HR or 
global talent management to ensure that they have a level 
playing field and the ability to serve to the best of their 
ability when they are in the Department.
    Senator Rubio. I guess my point is I do not know how we can 
possibly make these efforts to help these groups--a broad array 
of individual groups that have been defined as underserved 
without collecting information about all these topics.
    Are they the first to go to college in their family? What 
is their religion? What is their race? How well do they speak 
English? Are they immigrants?
    I mean, that is the point I am trying to make. We are 
collecting a lot of information.
    My time is short. I did want to ask you, I am curious how 
U.S. interests were advanced by promoting a film festival in 
Portugal that highlighted ``Minyan'' which is a film about a 
17-year-old boy who has sexual relations with an adult 
bartender, and ``Saint-Narcisse,'' which is a film about 
incestuous twins.
    How would promoting--which was part of some sort of drag 
queen film festival in Portugal--how does that advance our 
national interest and how much taxpayer money was spent putting 
on this film festival?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    I will take it back to get an answer for you. I do not 
know.
    Senator Rubio. You are not familiar with this----
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I am not familiar.
    Senator Rubio. So you do not know how much we spend or how 
many State Department employees work--you are just not familiar 
with the topic?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I am not familiar with 
those films or that festival, Senator.
    Senator Rubio. Okay. Thank you.
    The Chairman. Do you handle festivals as part of your 
portfolio?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I do not.
    The Chairman. Okay.
    Senator----
    Senator Rubio. Well, does she handle--no, no, Mr. Chairman. 
That is not the point. The point is it is part of the 
diversity----
    The Chairman. The point is I just want to clarify for the 
record that she does not handle festivals. It is a legitimate 
question and I look forward for her to get back with the 
answer.
    Senator Rubio. She handles diversity and equity issues, 
which this was part of the diversity and equity initiative.
    The Chairman. But that initiative is not necessarily one 
that is diversity and equity. It may have been part of a State 
Department program----
    Senator Rubio. Actually, it was advertised as such, Mr. 
Chairman. It was advertised as such.
    The Chairman. Okay. Then I look forward to seeing the 
answer to that as well.

[Editor's note.--The requested information referred to above 
follows:]

    The United States strongly supports protecting and promoting the 
human rights of LGBTQI+ persons. We support freedom of expression and 
do not censor our grantee's content or products.
    In September 2021, through its competitive small grants program, 
U.S. Embassy Lisbon issued a $10,000 grant to the Queer Lisboa group in 
charge of running one of the most popular LGBTQI+ film festivals in 
Europe since 1997. The grant supported the screening of the iconic 1991 
LGBTQI+ film ``My Own Private Idaho'' amongst other films by Gus Van 
Sant and influential American LGBTQI+ filmmakers, bringing an American 
perspective and talent to the festival.
    This award made up one part of our overall Public Diplomacy 
engagement between the United States and Portugal, supporting our 
shared values on human rights and social inclusion of LGBTQI+ persons, 
while advancing our overall diversity, equity, inclusion and 
accessibility efforts.

    The Chairman. Senator Coons.
    Senator Coons. Thank you, Chairman Menendez and Ranking 
Member Risch, and thank you to our two witnesses today.
    I am so pleased that you are here. I think this shows 
intentionality and leadership by this Administration.
    I do not often make a practice of responding to comments by 
my colleague, the junior senator from Texas. It is not often 
productive, necessary, or even relevant to the conduct of 
hearings before this committee.
    Today, I feel I have to. He launched into a diatribe 
against the Administration, announcing that, in his view, the 
Biden administration is run by radicals and he cited as 
evidence for that directly your job roles, the fact that there 
is now a Chief Diversity Officer at the State Department and 
USAID.
    I have a little experience with this field from my time in 
the private sector. I actually spent 8 years at a global 
manufacturing company and a global manufacturing company that 
is a profit making enterprise, not a social service 
organization.
    Over several years, in consultation with McKinsey, its 
leadership concluded that the demonstrable lack of diversity in 
our company in who was being recruited and trained and hired 
and promoted and who made the key leadership decisions was 
having a demonstrably negative impact on outcomes.
    This was not some woke agenda. This is something that the 
vast majority of America's highest performing most profitable 
companies have also concluded.
    I just took a quick look here in the last few minutes 
online and I will tell you that the following corporations have 
chief diversity officers: 3M, Dell, Hilton, Nationwide, Wal-
Mart.
    The list can and should go on because a chief diversity 
officer is someone who is at the table in a C Suite in a 
company making recommendations, suggesting strategies for how 
to make sure that the most talented possible people end up 
working for that company.
    It requires intentionality, it requires strategic 
investment, if we are going to have the best possible Americans 
serving us overseas as diplomats and development professionals.
    Now, in the dozen years I have been blessed to have the 
chance to serve here in the Senate, I have also had the 
incredible opportunity to meet Foreign Service Officers and 
USAID development professionals overseas.
    These are very tough jobs. They are very demanding, and it 
requires our very best.
    So I simply wanted to ask both of you: How important is 
sustained effort at making progress in ensuring that the two 
agencies you help serve and lead are, in fact, recruiting and 
retaining and promoting our very best, which requires diversity 
in terms of the recruitment pool and inclusion in terms of how 
the cultures of the entities work and equity in terms of the 
opportunities in your workplaces.
    How important is it that we sustain our investment in paid 
interns, something that we in the Senate have seen in our own 
offices makes a critical difference in who we are able to 
recruit and retain in our offices?
    How important is it that we sustain the Rangel and 
Pickering and Payne Fellowships? How important is it that we 
have a chief diversity officer for State and USAID, not just in 
this Administration, but in the next and the next and the next?
    If I could ask one question of the two of you today, it 
would be how important is sustained effort around diversity, 
equity, and inclusion.
    Madam Ambassador.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you so much for 
the question.
    It is key, and the statistics that the chairman put up 
earlier about how minimal our progress has been over past years 
makes the case for me. That is why putting resources, personnel 
dedicated, experienced, knowledgeable to the issue and having 
the support from you with regard to continuing the paid 
internships is absolutely crucial.
    We are going to change those statistics, but it is going to 
come from sustained effort from the leaders, from the workforce 
itself, and I am certain that we can continue because we have 
done a climate survey. We know that the vast majority of our 
employees understand what we are doing and support it. We have 
got that knowledge already.
    We are going to change our organization, but sustaining it 
is absolutely key.
    Senator Coons. Ms. Diallo.
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you very much, Senator, for that 
question.
    At USAID, I believe that we have actually put in place a 
lot of initiatives and programs that will ensure that our DEIA 
efforts are sustained.
    For years DEIA has been critical to the workforce there and 
I do believe that beyond my tenure it will continue. We have a 
Respectful, Inclusive, and Safe Environments training, trained 
over 6,000 staff members across the agency and in our missions, 
and offered over 650 RISE training events and seminars.
    We are happy to say that our 2022 FS--Foreign Service 
Officer cohort was the most diverse to date with a breakdown of 
52 percent making up racial and ethnic minorities. This 
includes a higher percentage of Black, or African Americans, at 
18 percent, Hispanics at 18 percent, and Asians at 14 percent.
    Senator Coons. Thank you. Thank you both.
    I just, in quick closing, want to commend Administrator 
Power for coming to Delaware and signing an MOU with our HBCU 
Delaware State for research and also to open that opportunity 
channel and, frankly, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and I, 
and Secretary Blinken and I, have spoken about this repeatedly. 
It is important we sustain this effort.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for today's hearing.
    The Chairman. Senator Kaine.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the 
witnesses for the important work that you do.
    I hate it when people act as if there was no history before 
we walked into a room and pretend that the reality of 
discrimination against groups of people did not actually 
happen.
    Many groups of people--Irish--faced discrimination, but 
others have faced much more serious discrimination that still 
needs to be repaired and remedied. The discrimination was not 
accidental. It was intentional, and the discrimination was 
perpetrated by the State Department and by Congress.
    The actions that you are undertaking are not just about 
fairness, but they are also about something very fundamental, 
which is atonement for past problems that have dramatically 
reduced the diversity of the federal workforce.
    The federal workforce was integrated in the years after the 
Civil War, but when Woodrow Wilson became president in 1913, he 
issued orders to his cabinet secretaries requiring that the 
federal civil workforce be resegregated in ways that were 
directly contrary to African-American employees, and that 
turned the federal workforce from a model at the time into one 
that was one of the most harshly segregated at the time.
    That executive order hurt African Americans, and African 
American under-representation in federal employment persisted 
for decades as a result of an action of the President of the 
United States.
    What about the United States Senate? Joe McCarthy led a set 
of hearings in the 1950s attacking LGBTQ employees from this 
chamber, the greatest deliberative body in the world.
    Hearings were held, one of which was titled ``The 
Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in 
Government.'' Those hearings led to the issuance of a widely 
read report that falsely asserted that gay people posed a 
security risk. The report of the Senate found that gay people 
were unsuitable employees because, ``One homosexual can pollute 
an entire government office.''
    In response to the Senate hearings and Senator McCarthy's 
allegations, the Department of State increased persecution of 
LGBTQ people and more than a thousand Department of State 
employees were dismissed because of their sexual orientation.
    Now, I think it is important that we think about people who 
are not represented for any reason. If they are from rural 
America, if they are from a minority religion, it is all 
incredibly important, but when this body and this government 
has intentionally perpetrated policies that were hostile to 
African Americans or hostile to LGBTQ or hostile to anyone 
else, how dare--how dare--someone come and question your 
efforts to create an equitable and fair workplace where people 
who have been historically kicked around by the Federal 
Government can see progress moving forward that will make them 
have confidence that they will be reviewed fairly and on their 
merit, should they want to work for us?
    That is why the work that you are doing is so very 
important, to my way of thinking.
    Now, the GAO reports that have been done about the State 
Department, I want to just focus on one piece of it. Surveys of 
State Department employees tend to be more favorable about the 
State Department's recruiting efforts than about the State 
Department's retention efforts, and as you move further up in 
the hierarchy at the State Department, the challenges of 
representation of communities that have been discriminated 
against in the past tends to dwindle.
    Tell us about what you are doing on the retention side to 
make sure that high-quality diverse individuals who get over 
that tough hurdle and come into the State Department stay and 
make a career out of it.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Senator, thank you for 
the question.
    This is a very important aspect of it. You are right, we do 
better with recruiting than retaining. So we have stood up a 
retention unit. My office works very closely with them. They 
have begun exit interviews and we are getting qualitative 
interviews. So if someone says they are intending to leave, we 
are also delving in to the why.
    They are also going to be doing stay interviews, and I was 
just speaking this last evening about habitually doing it at 
year 19 because year 20 is when you are vested and can leave if 
you are age 50.
    So we are looking to ensure we understand what keeps people 
going and what is making them think about leaving so that we 
can correct it before they go.
    So a lot of attention is going to retention.
    Senator Kaine. Ms. Diallo, do you have any anything 
additional to add to that?
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator.
    Just to say that USAID has a very robust coaching program 
where we are providing executive coaching to our career staff 
and our retention data in 2022 actually shows that we are at a 
low at 4.2 percent, which is down from 7.7 in 2021. I believe 
that the efforts that we are doing to provide professional 
development and training is actually proving and serving that 
benefit.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you. Thank you.
    Chair Shaheen.
    Senator Shaheen [presiding]. Thank you, Senator Kaine. I am 
filling in for Senator Menendez. It just happens that I get to 
question next.
    Probably even more concerning, Senator Kaine, than the 
restrictions that you cited that the Federal Government has 
done over our history is the fact that there are some who want 
to return to those restrictive policies and they want to return 
to them not just in terms of the Federal Government, but across 
our society, and that is particularly concerning.
    Thank you both very much for being here and for what you 
continue to do on an ongoing basis.
    Last December, more than 200 Foreign Service Officers sent 
a letter to the Department expressing concern about access to 
reproductive services for women serving the country abroad as 
an FSO or their family members.
    Can you talk about the impact of that access to 
comprehensive reproductive services is having on women who--and 
their families who are interested in working for the State 
Department or USAID?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    I know that this is an issue. I know about the letter that 
was written and that our leadership has sent out reassuring 
messages to the workforce about the importance, and that our 
medical bureau is looking to provide details about what is 
available and how support will be provided, and I will ask to 
take the question back so that I can get you a fully informed 
response to what steps are being taken.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, because my second question was 
going to be is this something that your office is working to 
address. So I would be very interested in hearing that, and one 
of the things that I understand is that nearly 80 percent of 
medical officers at the Bureau of Medical Services are men--
predominantly white men.
    So that lack of diversity, obviously, has an impact on 
those people that are being served by that agency.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I would not disagree.
    Senator Shaheen. You do not need to respond to that. That 
is a declarative statement.
    In that same letter from last December, the FSOs also 
expressed concern about the inconsistent availability of rape 
kits, and the IG has previously noted that sexual harassment is 
likely underreported in the Department, that a key reason is 
the lack of confidence in the Department's ability to resolve 
complaints and that this inconsistent access to rape kits and 
lack of training by staff fundamentally undermines the ability 
of those who are assaulted to seek justice and accountability 
for any crimes committed against them.
    Can you talk about how you are responding to that kind of 
concern?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    It is extremely important. We are working, of course, with 
the Office of Civil Rights where our anti-harassment program 
currently sits.
    In my formal remarks, and I will repeat now, we need more 
funding because we need investigators to move the 
investigations open because we have informed our employees 
about the importance of reporting, of the importance of 
eliminating the behavior, but reports of harassment have gone 
up so there is increased credibility that we are serious about 
this. We need the money to increase the investigators so that 
we can get to the bottom and end the behavior. So yes.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. I am glad to hear that 
that is a focus of what you are looking at.
    One of the initiatives that I know is not directly under 
either of your portfolios, but that I think is important and 
helps address the gender aspect of what we are trying to do 
when we talk about inclusion is the Women, Peace, and Security 
Act, which was signed in 2017, and it asks us to prioritize 
policymaking through a gender lens, particularly when it comes 
to national security.
    Can either of you speak to whether your offices are looking 
at the WPS initiative and how that is being integrated in the 
State Department and USAID?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    I can say that my office does not specifically look at it. 
It is in the Office of Global Women's Issues, a wonderful 
office, and we have our new Special Representative for Racial 
Equity, who is taking over the agency equity plan.
    So that is where those issues lie, but of course we are 
cooperative and supportive because it is inside our 
organization as well as outside our organization.
    So I will leave it there.
    Neneh.
    Senator Shaheen. Ms. Diallo.
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator.
    We actually also, like the Ambassador, do not manage the 
gender program. However, we do have a senior gender coordinator 
and advisor who also reports to the administrator, and I will 
be happy to take your question back and--the question for the 
record.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Thank you both.
    Senator Markey.
    Senator Markey. I yield to Senator Murphy.
    Senator Shaheen. Senator Murphy.
    Senator Murphy. Thank you, Senator Markey.
    Senator Markey is next. I have yet to vote. So I was just 
going to sneak in one quick question, not take my full time.
    I appreciate it, Senator Markey.
    Ambassador Winstanley, I appreciate our work together. You 
and I, along with Representative Castro, chaired a task force 
put together by the Truman Center to make recommendations about 
innovation at the State Department and fostering diversity and 
inclusion, and enjoyed doing that work together.
    One of the recommendations that we made as part of that 
report was to revitalize the Office of Subnational Diplomacy at 
the Department of State. This is a capacity that the State 
Department had long ago. I think Secretary Blinken is committed 
to bringing it back, and we have bipartisan legislation here 
that would make it a permanent capacity at the State 
Department.
    What it, basically, does is allows an ability to organize 
state public servants, local elected officials, to represent 
the United States abroad.
    Now, that is just good diplomacy because China is doing 
that at scale. We are not, but it also is a really quick way to 
diversify the voices that are representing the United States 
abroad.
    The ability to create a more diverse permanent staffing 
pipeline can take some time, but you can very quickly make sure 
that we have a diverse set of voices representing the United 
States abroad if you have more state and local actors out 
there, even in brief bursts of diplomacy showing up around the 
world representing the United States.
    So just my only question to you is how does the effort to 
rebuild state and local diplomacy fit into this question of 
diversity and inclusion work?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you, Senator, for 
the question.
    I could not agree with you more and, certainly, having been 
in leadership positions around the world when we had state and 
local officials come to visit and sent them out where 
delegations are to speak, I know the value of those voices 
externally as well as internally.
    Not to take away anybody's thunder, so I know simply that 
we are moving forward with this and I will take your question 
back for further input from the Department, but I know we are 
moving forward.

[Editor's note.--The requested information referred to above 
follows:]

    The Department recognizes the role of subnational diplomacy in 
advancing U.S. values and priorities on the international stage, as 
well as the fact that state and local officials are increasingly 
interacting with and collaborating with global partners. As part of the 
Secretary's modernization agenda, the Department is committed to 
engaging state and local actors on a range of national security 
priorities, and this includes building inclusive recruitment pipelines 
and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility more 
broadly in our foreign policy.

    Senator Murphy. Great.
    Thanks, Senator Markey, for allowing me to jump in quickly.
    We have legislation that we can pass or include as part of 
an authorization bill to create this new office, but I think 
Secretary Blinken is intending to move forward, seeing it as a 
real benefit to our ability to be everywhere and anywhere 
around the world.
    Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Murphy.
    Senator Markey, I am going to leave the hearing in your 
capable hands since I also have not voted and I need to go do 
that.
    Senator Markey. Would I then conclude the hearing?
    Senator Shaheen. Senator Menendez is coming back.
    Senator Markey. He is? Okay. So I would then put the 
hearing into recess, I think, at that point. Thank you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you.
    Senator Markey [presiding]. So you have talked about the 
importance of using an evidence-based approach to identify 
barriers to equitable merit-based hiring and career outcomes.
    How is the Department of State collecting data on 
diversity, including on LGBTQ+ persons in the Department?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    We have our employee portal where employees can voluntarily 
provide information--demographic information--about themselves. 
We are working with--we have started working with the Census 
Department. We are working with another government agency to 
put together a pilot to break down the LGBTQAI+ nomenclature to 
ensure that we get it right, but that will allow people to 
identify themselves because we have already learned from our 
employees that often they do not provide information because 
they do not see themselves in the choices available.
    We are trying to expand those choices.
    Senator Markey. Ms. Diallo, currently USAID collects 
diversity data sporadically on 70 percent of the workforce. How 
would you suggest that AID modify its data collection process 
to capture--to ensure that you are capturing a more full 
picture of your workforce?
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator. I truly appreciate that 
question and the timing.
    We have actually designed our first annual DEIA survey, 
which will capture data across all hiring mechanisms and will 
establish a baseline of DEIA metrics.
    This data will be used to evaluate the composition of our 
workforce and identify any potential barriers in hiring, 
promotion, professional development, and retention practices. 
We are hoping to complete this--well, the design has been 
completed, but we are hoping to launch it pretty soon.
    Senator Markey. Beautiful.
    Ms. Diallo, in your testimony, you talked about the number 
of partnerships USAID has with minority-serving institutions 
and how you plan to expand and deepen these partnerships.
    I am encouraged by those steps. While there are specific 
fellowships and programs targeting diversity in USAID's Foreign 
Service, similar programs do not exist for the civil service.
    Would you recommend any specific programs or steps that 
would specifically target diversity in USAID's civil service?
    Ms. Diallo. Target diversity in USAID's civil service in 
terms of programs?
    Senator Markey. That is right.
    Ms. Diallo. I believe that we are very intentional with our 
professional development programs that we have. As you know, it 
is very difficult to target hiring diverse candidates in the 
civil service.
    However, we have programs and initiatives across the 
agency. We have 13 DEIA advisors currently and are hiring more. 
They are within--across our bureaus and missions and we are--
have over 50 DEIA councils who are working on initiatives and 
programs to actually help address that and the very, very 
robust employee resource groups as well.
    Senator Markey. Thank you.
    Thank you both for all your work. The more we can have your 
agencies look like the United States of America overseas, I 
think, the better the response we are going to get from the 
countries that we are dealing with.
    We are them and we are the product of their family members 
coming to our country and becoming citizens and, in return, 
that brings an extra level of sophistication.
    I know that being Irish, as we are on the 25th anniversary 
of the Peace Accords in Northern Ireland, I know how much 
interest Irish Americans took in trying to understand and solve 
those problems and it was, obviously, the Irish who had to 
solve them, but Americans can play a big role because they have 
a deeper understanding of the cultural, political, religious 
underpinnings of the countries from which their families came.
    I want to thank you both so much for all of your work, and 
I will just stop right here--oh, and yield back to the 
chairman.
    The Chairman [presiding]. Thank you, Senator Markey.
    Let me go through a couple of final questions.
    First of all, I just--I do not know the email that was 
exhibited, where it came from, who it is from, but I will say 
as a classification it might fall under the heading that if I 
am the one who had everything and now I have to create a more 
equitable set of circumstances, I do not like having to give up 
what I had, and there is some of that.
    I am sure that there will be some who will resent the fact 
that equity means that you do not get to keep it all, that you 
are not going to get 90 percent of the shot just because that 
you are from a certain class.
    Do you ever experience any of that?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    Yes, I am well aware that I have concerned colleagues about 
what the change may mean for them. I have been able to, 
certainly, in one-on-one conversations, town halls, and in the 
building in Washington, in Charleston, I was a couple of weeks 
ago, and around the world as I travel, I make sure that people 
can ask questions anonymously because those who have that sort 
of concern, I want them to voice it.
    We need to know it so that we can address it and reassure 
that what we are doing to increase equity is good for everyone. 
Though, as you say, some people will have to give up some of 
the marbles, as it were, there is no one in my organization 
that says, I want something that I did not earn. I want 
something that I did not get because I am the right person, 
that I am the best candidate for it, et cetera.
    Nobody admits to that. So once you put that out there and 
say then we are going to make this merit based, recognizing 
that that old boy and girls club that is so popular in the 
Department of State does not include a lot of people from a lot 
of different backgrounds.
    So increasing transparency, increasing accountability, 
helps everyone. It is not just underrepresented groups that get 
bullied in the Department.
    The Chairman. Let me ask you, if you are Black, Hispanic, 
woman, LGBTQ, and unqualified, will this help you get a 
position?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. It will not. It will 
not.
    The Chairman. Let me ask you a couple more specific 
questions so we understand and then we will bring this to a 
conclusion.
    What, if any, technical assistance or other support are you 
receiving to execute your plans from OPM's recently created 
government-wide Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, 
Accessibility led by Dr. Janice Underwood?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Yes. I have a texting 
relationship with OPM on these issues. She has been a great 
supporter. We are talking about what makes a highly effective 
Chief Diversity Inclusion Office, what are the resources that 
are needed.
    We are in those discussions and I think eventually OPM will 
come out with a plan of what--if you are going to be serious 
about this work what do you need with regard to staff, with 
regard to resources, with regard to counsel, information that 
way, where it should sit, et cetera.
    OPM has been very supportive and clear and exchanging 
information with us. It has been very helpful.
    The Chairman. Let me ask you, are you working, if at all, 
with NSC's Interagency Working Group on the national security 
workforce on addressing biases in security clearance processes, 
accommodating individuals with disabilities, among other issues 
the working group was charged with in the President's 
memorandum?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Yes. I will say at the 
beginning of my tenure I was having conversations with the NSC. 
I have not had discussions on that specifically. They just told 
me to get to work.
    The Chairman. I hope you will, and you have a very broad 
mandate, but very often not being able to have prolonged 
periods of time to get a security clearance is a hindrance to 
our success.
    We have some committee staff that we have the challenges of 
getting them up a security clearance so that they can be in the 
appropriate setting to help their member guide them through 
some of the issues that may exist.
    I can only imagine at State or at USAID that, in fact, if 
you cannot--I mean, if you cannot get a security clearance 
because there is something in your background that is 
different. Obviously, you cannot get it, but if it is because 
it is taking inordinate amounts of time to get it, it creates 
barriers to positions. I hope you will look at that.
    Given the series of concerning media stories on the 
experience of diverse political appointees, what role does your 
office play in working with the White House to support those 
willing to serve in this capacity at our government's highest 
levels to advance our country's global interests?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Yes. I work with 
colleagues in the Secretary's office to provide support to 
those political appointees within the Department of State.
    We are taking steps to make sure they understand how valued 
and supported and what the resources are within the Department, 
so I can speak for the State Department.
    The Chairman. Sometimes diverse appointees, ultimately, 
face the type of pressures from colleagues that others do not 
because they are viewed as less than even though they are 
eminently qualified, and so that is a unique challenge as well.
    Let me turn to budgets and resources. State's DMR McKeon 
noted that there was substantial funding in the Department's 
budget to support your efforts and implementation efforts 
throughout the agency at our budget hearing earlier this year. 
Administrator Power also indicated strong support for DEIA 
efforts at her hearing before the committee.
    This is a question to both of you. Have you been able to 
onboard permanent staff with the proper expertise to complete 
your mandate, including data analysts and legal counsel to 
assist in identifying, investigating, and eliminating barriers 
to workforce diversity?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Thank you for the 
question, Senator.
    We started off with nine and then moved it up to 12 full 
time equivalents. We, I believe, are filling our last position 
shortly of that 12, but we also have detailees.
    I can say with great gratitude that there are a number of 
people in the Department who are able to do details or ``Y'' 
tours who are interested in the mission of this office.
    We have very strong staff. Everybody is overworked. We are 
looking very much to bring on additional data scientists, and 
so I think in my formal remarks I did ask for continued support 
because the barrier analysis is our main tool. We cannot 
convince anybody of anything if we do not have the data.
    The Chairman. So is the budget--I am asking you. This is a 
direct question and in hearing.
    So is the budget as has been presented to the Congress as 
it relates to your mission going to allow you to do that? Or 
would you not be able to do that under the existing budget that 
is being proposed?
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. Understood. I certainly 
would say that we are going to make significant progress with 
the budget that we have, but recognizing that the Secretary is 
one who decides, and OMB and the White House, where the money 
goes. We make our case and we are going to do great work with 
the budget that we get.
    The Chairman. I appreciate you are going to do great work 
with whatever you get. I am sure you will do that. The question 
is, is what you will get necessary to meet the mission and I am 
not clear that that answer is yes.
    How about at USAID?
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator, and we thank you for the 
$9.5 million that we have currently for fiscal year 2022 and we 
have made a request for $20 million for fiscal year 2023 for an 
increase.
    As we have just launched the DEIA strategic plan, as we are 
moving forward into implementation, we will be better able to 
assess the appropriate funding level and we will be glad to 
come back to you.
    The Chairman. Okay. We would be glad to hear from you.
    Let me ask you how, in your capacity as CDIO, are you 
working to increase transparency, fairness, and accountability 
around promotions--particularly, you mentioned that you now sit 
in on those--and other processes, given findings just this 
May--May 2022--of the Inspector General report that friends and 
family members of State Department personnel were selected to 
serve on Foreign Service selection boards, in addition to long-
standing reports of bias in hiring, overseas assignments, and 
promotion. This is May 2022.
    Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley. I am going to ask to 
take that question back for GTM to provide a detailed response. 
I will say that the Department accepted the recommendations of 
the Inspector General and that we are making changes as a 
result. The specifics, I would like to make sure I do not 
misspeak. I will take that question back.
    The Chairman. I would like a detailed answer to that 
because it is May 2022. We established a year ago a chief 
diversity officer. In May of 2022, I do not expect to read a 
GAO Inspector General's report that suggests that.
    I look forward to seeing how that, ultimately, shakes out 
and we will be looking for your written response.
    Ms. Diallo, USAID's workforce comprises more than 10,000 
people, approximately 70 percent of whom are not direct hires, 
e.g., example, Foreign Service nationals, personal services 
contractors, institutional support contractors, just to mention 
some.
    Diversity data are not consistently collected on nondirect 
hire personnel, which, in my mind, leaves us with an incomplete 
understanding of USAID's workforce.
    Given that persons who serve as contractors make up such a 
large portion of the agency and often have an advantage in 
their knowledge of the agency when applying for direct hire 
positions, is it important to understand the demographic makeup 
of the nondirect hire population?
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator.
    You are absolutely correct. It is definitely important to 
understand the demographic makeup of our nondirect hires and 
through this DEIA survey, which we hope to launch very soon, we 
hope to capture that data of our nondirect hire staff.
    The Chairman. So are you beginning to collect data related 
to DEIA issues related to nondirect hires?
    Ms. Diallo. Yes, that is what we hope to collect in this 
survey.
    The Chairman. Lastly, my understanding--well, two final 
questions.
    USAID has highlighted four agency programs over the years--
the Donald Payne International Development Fellowship, 
Development Diplomats and Residents, the Pathways Internship 
Program, and Partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions--
aimed at increasing workforce diversity primarily within the 
agency's Foreign Service.
    However, the Payne Fellowship is relatively small and the 
only program that guarantees a position at the conclusion of 
the program, and it also does not target the civil service 
where Latinos are notably underrepresented.
    How might these programs be strengthened and what other 
initiatives are needed to expand diverse recruitment and 
retention efforts, especially to address under representation 
in USAID's senior ranks?
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you for that question.
    Since I began in March, we have doubled the candidates and 
participation of our--or at least the goal is to increase the 
participation of the Donald M. Payne Fellowship Program. So I 
believe we currently have 15 and we are hoping to double that 
to 30 in the next coming fiscal year.
    As I mentioned earlier, we are working considerably with 
minority-serving institutions. Since I began, we have actually 
moved the coordination of all minority-serving institutions 
under my office where I will be overseeing with my team the 
coordination efforts on establishing MOUs, partnerships with 
these minority-serving institutions, as well as holding four 
conferences this year, where we will--are expanding it beyond 
the HBCU and HSI, but also to include tribal colleges and 
universities as well as Hispanic-serving institutions.
    The Chairman. One final question to you.
    USAID reportedly is in a legal battle with a group of women 
that alleges they were hired at salaries lower than those of 
their male peers. According to reports, and I will quote, ``The 
specific goal of their suit is to have their salaries adjusted 
retroactively with back pay from 3 years before they made the 
complaint, which is the legal limit. If they win, the women 
could receive the back pay as well as related adjustment to 
their retirement packages.''
    Now, has USAID--I am not going to ask you about that 
specific case, but has USAID studied pay equity related to both 
sex and to race and ethnicity? If so, what conclusions have you 
drawn?
    Ms. Diallo. Thank you, Senator.
    USAID takes very seriously the issue of pay equity, and I 
was made aware of the issue you are discussing and I believe 
that they--our HR colleagues have undertaken a robust pay 
equity analysis, and I believe I will be presented with that--
the initial findings this week and will be happy to come back 
and report back to this committee.
    The Chairman. Yes, I would like to know, but I assume that 
while HR may be, let us say, taking the lead on that that it is 
a legitimate question of equity, at the end of the day, and 
that it should be reviewed to determine whether there are 
institutional biases.
    I am not saying that they are. I am just saying that it is 
something worthy of being looked at to determine whether there 
are institutional biases in which women are being paid less 
than other counterparts in the same field.
    Okay. With the thanks of the committee for your work and 
your testimony, I will have a few other questions that I will 
follow up for the record. I want to get your ideas about DFC 
and other entities that do not have something in this regard.
    We thank you for coming before the committee to give this 
testimony, tremendous insights, and an opportunity for us to 
build upon the work that we collectively want to see happen.
    Without objection, I would like to introduce a statement 
for the record from the Government Accountability Office.
    So ordered.

[Editor's note.--The information referred to above can be found 
in the ``Additional Material Submitted for the Record'' section 
at the end of this hearing.]

    The record for the hearing will remain open until close of 
business on Wednesday, July 27. Please ensure that questions 
for the record are submitted no later than that date.
    With that, this hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:47 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
                              ----------                              


              Additional Material Submitted for the Record


     Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
                  Submitted by Senator Robert Menendez

    Question. What, if any, technical assistance or other support are 
you receiving to execute your plans from OPM's recently created 
government-wide Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and 
Accessibility (ODEIA) led by Dr. Janice Underwood?

    Answer. The Department complied with all technical specifications 
from OPM on drafting its DEIA Strategic Plan and submitted the plan on 
OPM's due date of March 23, 2023. OPM has not provided agency-specific 
technical assistance on the execution of the Department's DEIA 
Strategic Plan, given that it was under review until July 25.

    Question. In addition to the State Department and USAID, several of 
our smaller international affairs agencies are implementing DEIA 
practices and addressing inequities. For instance, close to 40 percent 
of the Peace Corps and Millennium Challenge Corporation workforces are 
made up of diverse racial and ethnic groups, and they have also 
introduced diversity plans. How, if at all, are Chief Diversity 
Officers from other agencies exchanging best practices to strengthen 
efforts?

    Answer. The Department's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer 
(CDIO) leads bimonthly meetings with counterpart CDIOs from the other 
foreign affairs agencies covered by the Foreign Affairs Act of 1980--
USAID, Agriculture, and Commerce--to discuss efforts and exchange best 
practices. The CDIO's staff maintain relationships and contact with 
counterparts from other agencies to discuss policies, practices, and 
procedures that affect employees from other agencies serving overseas, 
such as the Department of Defense.

    Question. How, if at all, are you working with the NSC's 
Interagency Working Group on the National Security Workforce on 
addressing biases in security clearance processes, accommodating 
individuals with disabilities, and employee retention, among other 
issues the working group was charged with in the President's 
memorandum?

    Answer. The Department of State is an active participant in the 
National Security Memorandum on Revitalizing America's Foreign Policy 
and National Security Workforce, Institutions, and Partnerships (NSM-3) 
Working Group. The Department has required those involved in the 
security clearance process to take training to reduce potential bias 
and improve equity in assessments/evaluations. Foreign Service 
Recruitment has improved accessibility through implementation of 
virtual Oral Assessments for Foreign Service Specialists and launched a 
Volunteer Recruiter Corps comprised of nearly 500 employees, with 
representation from a number of employee organizations which 
participated in almost 150 recruitment events. Our Access Center 
provides state-of-the-art resources, support, and accommodations for 
applicants and employees with disabilities. In addition, the Department 
launched a Retention Unit that has already begun conducting in-depth 
exit interviews in addition to existing exit surveys, will conduct 
surveys of why employees choose to stay in the Department, and will 
develop the Department's first ever Retention Strategy. The Department 
also developed, published, and has begun implementing our comprehensive 
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Strategic Plan.

    Question. Given the series of concerning media stories on the 
experiences of diverse political appointees, what role does your office 
play in working with the White House to support those willing to serve 
in appointments at our government's highest levels to advance our 
countries' global interests?

    Answer. The Secretary's Office of Diversity and Inclusion works to 
ensure every office in the Department of State contributes to a 
welcoming, inclusive environment. Political appointees add to the 
diversity and richness of our policy conversations, and it is important 
everyone feels empowered to contribute their perspective and voice to 
the policy decisions made within the Department.

    Question. What FY23 and FY24 budget needs do you have to execute 
any programming that would assist in implementing the DEIA Strategic 
Plan?

    Answer. We have an acute shortage of personnel to investigate and 
process allegations of discrimination and harassment, leading to 
unavoidable delays in the timeframe from a complaint's filing to 
resolution. We understand State's ratio of investigators to workforce 
size is among the lowest for a federal agency. For FY23, we requested 
seven additional full-time equivalencies (FTEs) to allow more timely 
processing of complaints. Based on casework needs, these FTEs would be 
apportioned between the Office of Civil Rights, the Office of the Legal 
Advisor, and the Bureau of Global Talent Management. Additional 
personnel resources in FY24 would further expedite investigations and 
ensure greater accountability.
    With the new emphasis on data and evidence-based decision-making, 
we are also seeking resources for data analyses, the development of 
outcome measures, and monitoring and program evaluation. Our goal is to 
improve how we monitor implementation of our 5-year Diversity, Equity, 
Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan and launch barrier 
analyses based on anomalies in data patterns revealed by the 
Department's first-ever Demographic Baseline Report that suggest 
possible problems in equal opportunity across our different demographic 
groups. Resources in this area would also allow us to address the 
finding in the Government Accountability Office's July 2022 Report on 
Additional Actions Needed to Improve Workplace Diversity and Inclusion, 
which noted that ``State does not have performance measures and has not 
taken sufficient actions to enhance accountability for its workplace 
DEIA goals.''

    Question. Media and others have raised concerns about transparency 
in promotions and other processes as barriers to retention.
    Are the employees responsible for violating ethics standards by 
selecting friends and family members to serve on Foreign Service 
Selection Boards (FSSBs) as reported in the May 2022 Inspector General 
report still employed at the Agency? If so, how, were they reprimanded?

    Answer. The OIG found that seven of the approximately 150 public 
members who served during the 7-year period reviewed were personally 
known to Department employees who worked in the office that manages 
Foreign Service Selection Board processes, which is inconsistent with 
the Department ethics standards. The Department is reviewing 
information regarding the OIG findings and has already begun to take 
actions to ensure accountability.

    Question. What is the Department's plan to implement the 
recommendations of the OIG report on the recruitment and selection 
process for public members of the Foreign Service Selection Boards?

    Answer. To ensure that public members selected have the skills and 
experience most appropriate for service on the Foreign Service 
Selection Boards (FSSB), the Department updated the Foreign Affairs 
Manual (FAM) criteria and implemented new procedures in the selection 
of public members for the 2022 FSSBs, including panel interviews of 
candidates, a scoring rubric for each criterion, and multi-layered 
oversight and approval of the process.
    To ensure the work of the FSSBs is conducted in a manner that is 
fair, transparent, and objective, the Department issued a new written 
policy regarding public member referrals and recusals applicable to all 
Department personnel and FSSB members beginning with the 2022 FSSBs.
    To enhance the efficacy of public member recruitment and the 
efficient use of resources, the Department updated its recruitment 
processes, effective with the current 2022 FSSBs, sending recruitment 
letters to over 90 organizations. The Department is also reviewing 
alternatives to the current procurement vehicle and payment structure 
for contracting public members to serve on the FSSBs.

    Question. What did the Department learn from its various Foreign 
Service bidding and assignments pilot programs last year and what 
efforts are now underway to centralize these programs to make sure 
application and notification timelines, job qualifications and 
selection standards, and communications to Foreign Service employees 
are coordinated, clear, and consistent?

    Answer. Various offices and bureaus have enacted pilot programs to 
address DEIA issues and to create more transparency and equity in the 
bidding process. To assess bidders' experiences with the new 
initiatives, the Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM) conducted a 
survey in 2021 following the 2022 bid season. The survey received 1,200 
responses, from which were generated initial recommendations and best 
practices for all bureaus to implement for future bidding seasons. GTM 
provided these recommendations to bureaus to encourage more consistency 
in bidding practices across the Department. The recommendations 
included steps such as bureaus sharing interview criteria and 
timelines, using standardized interview questions and platforms for 
references, conducting panel interviews with scoring rubrics, and 
notifying candidates who made the ``short list'' for hiring. These 
recommendations enhance transparency, encourage better communication, 
and limit confusion over differing bidding requirements across bureaus. 
Following the coming 2023 bid season, GTM will conduct another 
assessment of the impact of DEIA programs for bidders and continue to 
refine its recommendations to State Department bureaus and hiring 
offices.

    Question. What are the specific activities of the recently created 
retention unit? How is it addressing retention issues for women and 
members of racial and ethnic groups at mid-career and senior levels?

    Answer. The Retention Unit (GTM/RU) in the Bureau of Global Talent 
Management is taking a holistic look at retention issues across our 
workforce at various points in careers. The RU is analyzing data from a 
variety of sources, including exit surveys, exit interviews, and 
focused discussions with the wide range of the workforce, including 
women and underrepresented employees. The Secretary's Office of 
Diversity and Inclusion is a key partner that supports this effort 
through a contract project that specifically explores retention issues 
among historically underrepresented groups of employees. The RU's 
extensive data collection and analysis effort, which includes both 
quantitative and qualitative data, will help pinpoint retention 
challenges and inform the Department's first comprehensive retention 
strategy.

    Question. In recent years, Rangel, Pickering, and other programs 
established to address racial and ethnic underrepresentation at the 
agency have been expanded to include other groups. What is being done 
to review traditional recruitment and hiring practices to better 
understand what barriers exist and are preventing different segments of 
the American population from entry through the traditional processes 
before widening the pool of participants for programs established to 
address racial and ethnic disparities?

    Answer. The Department continuously reviews and seeks to improve 
hiring procedures and methodologies, as required in the Foreign Service 
Act. On April 26, we announced a change that began with the June 2022 
Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), which combines candidate results 
from the FSOT and Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP), providing a 
more holistic view of each candidate. We instituted these changes to 
meet the Secretary's goals to modernize American diplomacy, win the 
competition for talent, and ensure that all applicants can present a 
full picture of their qualifications. The announced changes are 
enthusiastically endorsed by me and are part of a broader package of 
reforms to accelerate and improve the hiring process. In addition to 
the Pickering and Rangel programs, the Department has other established 
Fellowships that focus on certain skill categories and enhance 
diversity, such as the Foreign Affairs IT Fellowship (FAIT) and the 
newly announced William D. Clarke Diplomatic Security Fellowship. 
Additionally, the Department is in the process of transitioning all 
student internships to paid, as part of the Department of State's 
continued efforts to diversify the ranks of its employees by 
encouraging applications from populations traditionally 
underrepresented in the Department and that reflect the diversity of 
the United States. This paid internship program will help remove 
barriers for traditionally underrepresented students who may not have 
the financial means to accept an unpaid internship.

    Question. At the hearing, discussions on improving recruitment and 
retention indicated that additional personnel in the Offices of Civil 
Rights and Global Talent Management could assist in addressing a number 
of issues, including addressing a backlog of complaints and 
investigations. What are the personnel needs of OCR and GTM? How would 
additional personnel assist in addressing DEIA issues including 
recruitment and retention?

    Answer. Within State Department, we have an acute shortage of 
personnel to investigate and process allegations of discrimination and 
harassment, which leads to unavoidable delays in the time from a 
complaint's filing to resolution. We understand State's ratio of 
investigators and processing staff to workforce size is among the 
lowest for a federal agency. For FY23, we requested seven additional 
full-time equivalencies (FTEs) to allow more timely processing of 
cases. Based on casework needs, these FTEs would be apportioned between 
the Office of Civil Rights, the Office of the Legal Advisor, and the 
Bureau of Global Talent Management. Additional personnel resources in 
FY24 would further expedite investigations and ensure greater 
accountability, which is an important retention issue.
    The Department established a Retention Unit in January 2022, within 
the Bureau of Global Talent Management, to pinpoint retention 
challenges and develop the Department's first retention strategy. 
Working in partnership with the Secretary's Office of Diversity and 
Inclusion (S/ODI), the Retention Unit is examining a broad range of 
issues that potentially affect retention, including DEIA challenges and 
accountability. The Department's DEIA Data Working Group, led by S/ODI 
with participation from the Retention Unit and GTM's recruitment team, 
is collecting and analyzing data pertaining to the life cycle of our 
employees, including in the areas of recruitment, selection and hiring, 
professional development, awards recognition, retention, and promotion. 
For FY24, we requested four FTEs to permanently staff the new Retention 
Unit.

    Question. What is the status of assignment restrictions reform? 
Will there be changes to the assignment restrictions appeals process?

    Answer. Pursuant to the passage of the Section 5311(c) of the 
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of Fiscal Year 2022 in 
December 2021, the Department drafted revisions to the Foreign Affairs 
Manual (FAM) to implement the new assignment restriction review and 
appeals process. The new review and appeals process will mimic the 
process for those seeking an appeal of a security clearance denial or 
revocation. Following approval of the FAM revisions, the Department 
will engage employee unions to comment on the implementation of the 
updated policy. Once that process is complete, the assignment 
restriction appeals process will fully reflect the mandates of the 
NDAA. Additionally, the Department has returned to the original, 
narrower scope of assignment restrictions by decoupling them from a 
different matter, assignment preclusions. Assignment preclusions, which 
are governed by 3 FAM 2424.5 (Dual Nationality), fall under the purview 
of the Bureau of Global Talent Management and reflect the Department's 
rule that members of the Foreign Service may not be assigned to posts 
in states of which they are nationals, as host governments will 
generally not accord privileges and immunities to their own nationals.

    Question. The Department appointed its first Special Representative 
for Racial Equity and Justice, Desiree Cormier Smith, in June 2022. 
What role, if any, will Special Representative Smith have in regard to 
State's DEIA internal workforce issues? How, if at all, will your 
office coordinate with her?

    Answer. As Secretary Blinken has said, a more diverse, equitable, 
inclusive, and accessible Department leads to a stronger, smarter, and 
more creative foreign policy with a workforce better equipped to pursue 
U.S. national security interests and 21st century foreign policy 
challenges in a world that grows ever more complex. My office is 
charged with building a State Department that has a diverse and 
inclusive workforce that is equitable and accessible for all our 
employees and the American public we serve. Special Representative for 
Racial Equity and Justice (SRREJ) Cormier Smith's mandate is to ensure 
the Department's foreign affairs work advances the human rights of 
members of marginalized racial and ethnic communities, including 
indigenous communities, and combats systemic racism, discrimination, 
and xenophobia around the world. Our work will complement SRREJ Cormier 
Smith's by focusing on how State's workforce abroad, in its full 
diversity, can further the SRREJ's work to advance racial equity and 
justice in our outward-facing foreign policy, including the SRREJ's 
lead in implementing the Department's Agency Equity Plan.

    Question. What steps are you taking to institutionalize DEIA within 
the Agency's own operations to ensure it has strong support, 
leadership, and accountability at State under future Administrators?

    Answer. We are strengthening DEIA in State's internal workforce, 
which includes our internal workforce at our missions abroad. We are 
focusing on what we can put into motion that will lead to systemic 
change. Concurrently, we are working to change the culture of our 
institution so that every single employee feels invested in advancing 
DEIA work. One way to ensure that DEIA is a core part of our everyday 
work is to make it a metric for promotion and career advancement. My 
office has collaborated with GTM to launch a standalone EER precept 
that requires employees to demonstrate how they are advancing 
diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This precept will be 
in effect for the 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025 rating cycles.
                                 ______
                                 

              Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions 
                  Submitted by Senator Robert Menendez

    Question. Has USAID collected recent disaggregated demographic 
data? If so, how do trends for women and racial and ethnic groups 
compare to the 2020 GAO findings of disparities in senior levels in the 
civil and foreign service?

    Answer. Yes, USAID has collected disaggregated demographic data as 
recent as 2021. The latest data show that USAID has made some progress 
since the 2020 GAO report which found that promotion outcomes at USAID 
were generally lower for racial and ethnic minorities than for Whites 
in early to mid-career. When controlling for factors such as 
occupation, GAO found statistically significant odds of promotion in 
the Civil Service (CS) were 31 percent to 41 percent lower for racial 
or ethnic minorities than for Whites in early and mid career. In the 
Foreign Service (FS), average promotion rates were lower for racial or 
ethnic minorities in early to mid-career, but differences were 
generally not statistically significant when GAO controlled for various 
factors.
    The percentage of women in senior level CS at USAID increased from 
53.3 percent in 2015 to 58.9 percent as of the end of fiscal year 2021. 
Similarly, the percentage of women in mid-level CS increased from 63.9 
percent to 64.5 percent as of the end of fiscal year 2021.
    Asians, Hispanics/Latinos, and other racial and ethnic minorities 
\1\ all increased as a share of mid-level CS staff from 2015 to end of 
fiscal year 2021, with Asians increasing from 6.4 percent to 9 percent, 
Hispanics/Latinos increasing from 6.1 percent to 7.5 percent, and other 
racial and ethnic minorities increasing from 2.6 percent to 3.5 
percent. Blacks/African Americans, in contrast, declined as a 
proportion of mid-level CS staff from 43.2 percent in 2015 to 40.9 
percent in 2021.
    Trends for racial and ethnic minorities were similar in the senior 
level CS. Asians increased from 7.6 percent to 8.6 percent, Hispanics/
Latinos increased from 4.9 percent to 6.4 percent, and other racial and 
ethnic minorities increased from 1.4 percent to 2.5 percent. African 
Americans/Blacks remained largely consistent at just over 22 percent 
(22.4 percent in 2015 and 22.2 percent in 2021).
    In the Senior Foreign Service (SFS), the overall percentage of 
females increased from 47 percent to 52 percent from 2017 to April 
2022. In the three SFS grades, females make up 65 percent in the Career 
Minister (most senior), 33 percent at the Minister Counselor grade, and 
56 percent at the Counselor (least senior) grade. In grade FS-01, the 
percentage of females has decreased slightly from 45.7 percent to 45.3 
percent.
    In the SFS Minister Counselor grade, the 2017 to 2021 5-year 
average shows the promotion rate was 26 percent for males and 24 
percent for females. In the SFS Counselor grade, while the promotion 
rate for females steadily increased from 5 percent to 19 percent, the 
promotion rate for males increased at an even higher rate of 7 percent 
to 30 percent; the 5-year average promotion rate for males was 20 
percent and for females 11 percent. In grade FS-01, the promotion rates 
for females were significantly higher than males in all years except 
2019. The 5-year average promotion rate was 20 percent for females and 
10 percent for males.
    The percentage of racial and ethnic minorities in the total FS and 
SFS count increased from 26 percent to 32 percent from 2017 to April 
2022. The diversity of the FS and SFS staff has increased over time as 
is evident in the differences in diversity between cohorts hired 
recently as compared to those hired 20 or more years ago. The current 
17 Career Ministers began their USAID careers between 1983 and 2001. 
The most recent cohorts hired have been the most diverse and over time 
are being promoted up through the ranks. The 2022 FS hires were 52 
percent racial and ethnic minorities, which includes a higher 
percentage of Black or African Americans (18 percent), Hispanic or 
Latinos (14 percent), Asians (14 percent), and Two or More (5 percent) 
than previous cohorts.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



    In the SFS, the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities 
increased from 14 percent to 19 percent from 2017 to 2022. For 2022, in 
the three SFS grades, racial and ethnic minorities make up 12 percent 
in the Career Minister (most senior), 17 percent at the Minister 
Counselor grade, and 21 percent at the Counselor grade. In grade FS-01, 
the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities increased from 21 
percent to 23 percent. In the total FS and SFS, the 5-year (2017-2021) 
average promotion rate for racial and ethnic minorities and Whites is 
the same at 20 percent. The overall promotion rates for racial and 
ethnic minorities were slightly higher than Whites in 2017 and 2018 (+3 
percent) and slightly lower than Whites in 2020 and 2021 (^1 percent). 
In 2021, the overall promotion rate was 22 percent for racial and 
ethnic minorities and 23 percent for Whites.
    In 2021, racial and ethnic minorities made up 30 percent of the 
total FS and SFS workforce and received 30 percent or 62 of the 205 
promotions, while Whites made up 70 percent of the workforce and 
received 70 percent or 143 of the promotions. For the SFS in 2021, the 
promotion rate was 40 percent for racial and ethnic minorities and 19 
percent for Whites. In the SFS Minister Counselor grade, the annual 
changes in the small numbers of racial and ethnic minorities and Whites 
created big swings in promotion rates from 0 percent to 50 percent. The 
2017 to 2021 5-year average shows the promotion rate was 20 percent for 
racial and ethnic minorities and 27 percent for Whites. In the SFS 
Counselor grade, the promotion rate for racial and ethnic minorities 
varied from 0 percent in 2019 to 40 percent in 2021. In this same 5-
year period, the average promotion rate for both racial and ethnic 
minorities and Whites was 17 percent. In grade FS-01, the promotion 
rates for racial and ethnic minorities varied from 3 percent to 19 
percent and were higher than Whites in all years except 2019. The 5-
year average promotion rate was 13 percent for racial and ethnic 
minorities and 15 percent for Whites.
    USAID reports annually on the demographic makeup of its permanent 
and temporary U.S. Direct Hire (USDH) employees as required by the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Management Directive 
(MD)-715. The USDH workforce is analyzed by race, ethnicity, sex, and 
disability status, for participation rates (and inclusion rates for 
disability status), across the employment life-cycle including grade/
rank, salary, mission critical occupation, awards (time and money), 
separations (e.g., resignations, removals), etc.
    USAID's annual MD-715 Report and Workforce Tables are available 
here: https://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/organization/independent-
offices/office-civil-rights/md-715-reports

    Question. Reports suggest a lack of robust competition and 
transparency around hiring of non-career PSC and FSL appointments has 
exacerbated DEIA concerns, including lack of inclusion opportunities 
due to limited solicitations and inside tracks for positions. What 
actions are being taken to ensure that the hiring processes for all of 
USAID's many mechanisms are fair, competitive, transparent, and 
inclusive? Are you collecting data on DEIA issues related to non-direct 
hires (e.g., Foreign Service Nationals, Personal Services Contractors, 
and Institutional Support Contractors), including any demographic data? 
If so, what are the demographic trends?

    Answer. USAID is taking steps to increase the competitiveness, 
fairness and transparency of hiring processes for non-career U.S. 
Personal Services Contracts (PSCs) and Foreign Service Limited (FSL) 
appointments to help achieve our goal of having a workforce that 
reflects the rich diversity of the United States population.
    USAID partnered with the Department of State on the Joint DEIA 
Agency Priority Goal for Hiring Persons with Disabilities and Persons 
with Targeted Disabilities to guide the hiring of FSLs. In pursuit of 
this goal, USAID will expand inclusive and equitable recruitment, 
hiring, and retention practices that contribute to increased diversity 
in the USAID workforce across demographic groups. USAID will increase 
recruitment, hiring, and retention in an effort, by September 30, 2023, 
to bring the number of employees with disabilities to at least 12 
percent of our workforce, with 2 percent of our workforce being persons 
with targeted disabilities.
    Updates to procedures for FSL hiring have been proposed and are 
under discussion with the American Foreign Service Association. These 
include requiring job opportunity announcements to be advertised 
externally as well as within USAID, requiring hiring offices to use 
standard position descriptions developed by USAID's Office of Human 
Capital and Talent Management (HCTM) for Foreign Service occupational 
series, requiring minimum qualifications for positions to be advertised 
and verified by an HCTM Human Resource Specialist, and for the hiring 
office to document the selection procedures in a memorandum submitted 
to HCTM when requesting an appointment letter.
    USAID has added a statement to solicitations for all types of 
personal services contracts (cooperating country national (CCN), third-
country national (TCN) and United States National) encouraging all 
individuals, including those from disadvantaged and underrepresented 
groups, to respond to the solicitation and stating that all individuals 
will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria in the solicitation.
    In addition, later this year, USAID will launch the Agency's first-
ever annual DEIA Survey, which will help to establish a baseline for 
measuring longitudinal progress on the Agency's DEIA goals, while also 
contributing to government-wide data collection to both inform DEIA 
efforts across the federal workforce. The survey will provide the 
agency a more robust picture of the workforce through the collection of 
expanded demographic data, in particular sexual orientation and gender 
identity data, which is currently not collected. This survey will 
complement data USAID collects on workforce composition both 
domestically and abroad with the goal of including all hiring 
mechanisms. The survey will provide data to enable USAID to take an 
evidence-based approach to reducing any potential barriers in hiring, 
promotion, professional development, and retention practices. Responses 
from staff will be voluntary and data collected will be published on an 
Agency-wide DEIA dashboard with scorecards for Missions, Bureaus and 
Independent Offices. Over time, the annual survey will help monitor and 
report on DEIA program effectiveness, enable continuous program 
improvement, and inform DEIA policy decisions.
    HCTM's Office of Workforce Planning, Policy, and Systems Management 
(HCTM/PPSM) is working to increase transparency and improve general 
knowledge around workforce data. The office recently created and 
released to the Agency a data visualization tool to highlight the 
makeup of USAID's workforce in FY 2021. This is the first in a series 
of data visualization tools HCTM/PPSM is releasing to provide the 
latest workforce trends to staff. Future visualizations include 
highlights of a soon-to-be-released Foreign Service Promotion report 
and a Pay Equity analysis.
    While USAID voluntarily collects demographic data (race, ethnicity, 
sex, disability status) from U.S. Personal Services Contractors as well 
as from U.S. Direct Hires (USDHs), the data is analyzed on an ad-hoc 
basis. Although the Agency is mandated by the Equal Employee 
Opportunity Commission to annually produce a report analyzing the 
Agency's demographic makeup across the employment life-cycle, the data 
analysis requirements are for USDH only. As the Office of Civil Rights 
Special Emphasis Programs becomes operational, the Agency will be able 
to expand workforce demographic data analysis.

    Question. In recent years, Payne and other programs established to 
address racial and ethnic underrepresentation at the agency has been 
expanded to include other groups. What is being done to review 
traditional recruitment and hiring practices to better understand what 
barriers exist and are preventing different segments of the American 
population from entry through the traditional processes before widening 
the pool of participants for programs established to address racial and 
ethnic disparities?

    Answer. USAID's DEIA Strategic Plan was developed based on the 
results of an internal equity assessment. The Plan outlines a framework 
for envisioning, creating, and sustaining a diverse workforce and an 
inclusive workplace. The Plan includes priorities such as, 
implementation of a DEIA Agency-wide survey; creation of a monitoring, 
evaluation, and learning plan for DEIA data collection; and completion 
of a pay equity analysis meant to remove or reduce any potential 
barriers to entry for employment at USAID.
    To expand recruitment efforts and reduce any potential barriers to 
employment, USAID's Development Diplomats in Residence (DDIR) work 
closely with the recruitment and selection process and actively 
participate in webinars to advertise Agency internships and 
fellowships. DDIRs also serve as mentors to Donald M. Payne Fellows.
    The DDIRs conduct outreach to a diverse number of colleges and 
universities for career fairs and faculty consultations country-wide. 
The DDIR Program also establishes partnerships with career development 
centers in universities and colleges, primarily Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions 
(HSIs).
    In addition, in August 2022 USAID began issuing guidance to 
operating units to make the contractor selection process more DEIA-
sensitive, better aligning the process to hiring guidance for U.S. 
Direct Hires.

    Question. Has USAID studied pay equity related both to sex and to 
race and ethnicity? If so, what were the findings and how are they 
shaping agency hiring and promotion practices?

    Answer. Yes, we have studied pay equity. From 2015 to 2021, our 
data found an overall decrease in pay disparities across different 
races and gender. (The results shared below do not include the Office 
of the Inspector General.)
    In the Civil Service, the Black/African American, Hispanic, and 
Other race workforce combinations had relatively lower average salaries 
from FY 2015 to FY 2021, but had higher base pay average growth rates 
at 3.6 percent, 3.7 percent, and 3.6 percent respectively compared to 
overall civil service at 2.9 percent. This caused less variation in the 
average base pay between race groups by FY 2021, but significant pay 
inequity still existed in FY 2021 for the Black/African American, 
Hispanic, and Other race workforce. For the Foreign Service, from 2015 
to 2021, the base pay average growth rates were 2.1 percent, 3.2 
percent, and 2.1 percent, respectively for these workforce 
combinations.
    Civil Service gender base pay inequity, favoring men, also 
decreased over this period with a relatively stable downward trend 
reducing the pay gap. However, the Civil Service gender base pay gap is 
still wide enough to indicate further steps must be taken to ensure pay 
equity, especially for minority women. Foreign Service gender base pay 
inequity, favoring men, has remained consistent with some year-to-year 
pay gap volatility from FY 2015 to FY 2021.
    These findings have been reported to the Diversity, Equity, 
Inclusion, and Accessibility Office (A/DEIA). Eliminating pay inequity 
is vital to creating and maintaining a diverse workforce across race 
and gender is a priority of A/DEIA. DEIA goals are the following:

   Enhancing diversity throughout the Agency, Agency leadership 
        will proactively address internal systems that potentially 
        inhibit inclusive diversity efforts and access throughout the 
        USAID employee life cycle; will develop, implement, and enhance 
        a range of policies, programs, practices, and systems to 
        improve and increase diversity; and will develop and implement 
        broad outreach strategies to attract talent from diverse 
        sources.

   Enhancing inclusion and equity for everyone in the 
        workplace, Agency leaders will champion and enable staff 
        participation in initiatives that work toward the betterment of 
        the Agency's efforts in DEI and actively engage with these 
        groups to operationalize their recommendations and efforts. 
        Agency leadership will establish and enhance training and 
        capacity-building opportunities for all staff, including 
        managers and supervisors, on diversity fundamentals, bias, and 
        principles of inclusion--all of which contribute to a 
        respectful, safe, and inclusive work environment that enhances 
        retention.

   Achieve strengthened accountability for promoting and 
        sustaining a diverse workforce and an inclusive Agency culture. 
        To achieve this goal, the Agency will consistently apply DEI 
        principles across program and management operations; all 
        leaders at the Agency will be required to show evidence of 
        their support for DEI at USAID; performance management efforts 
        at the Agency will promote accountability to create and sustain 
        a diverse and inclusive workplace at all staff levels; and, 
        finally, Agency efforts to promote DEI will be informed by 
        workforce data and principles of transparency.

    Question. In addition to the State Department and USAID, several of 
our smaller international affairs agencies are implementing DEIA 
practices and addressing inequities. For instance, close to 40 percent 
of the Peace Corps and Millennium Challenge Corporation workforces are 
made up of diverse racial and ethnic groups, and they have also 
introduced diversity plans. How, if at all, do you work with Chief 
Diversity Officers from other agencies to exchange best practices and 
strengthen efforts?

    Answer. USAID, Department of State, Department of Commerce and USDA 
meet on a quarterly basis to collaborate and coordinate on issues 
affecting our workforce, share best practices and find ways to 
collaborate on major events and DEIA-related topics across the Federal 
Government. Additionally, USAID and Department of State also meet on an 
ad hoc basis to discuss matters such as the incorporation of DEIA into 
the employee performance cycle and foreign assistance programming.

    Question. In 2020, GAO made several recommendations on improving 
USAID's capacity to perform key EEO functions. These included timely 
processing of EEO complaints and investigations, regular analysis of 
workforce demographics for trends, and regular submission of required 
MD-715 reports. (GAO-20-477). What is USAID's current capacity to 
perform these key EEO functions? After USAID's reorganization and 
establishment of your position, how does your office interface with the 
Office of Civil Rights in carrying out these and other EEO 
responsibilities?

    Answer. In FY 2020, OCR established internal timeliness standards 
and procedures to process Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)complaints, 
including using a database to generate reports and conduct analyses. 
During the last two fiscal years and in FY 2022, 100 percent of 
complaints have been processed and investigated within mandated 
timelines. The EEO Complaints Team within OCR's Complaints and 
Resolution Division has three staff members. The Team manages a cadre 
of 24 EEO Collateral Counselors responsible for conducting EEO 
counseling at the pre-complaint stage. The Team also counts on the 
services of a contractor with the capacity to conduct EEO counseling, 
mediation, and EEO investigations.
    OCR's operating budget increased from less than $600,000 in FY 2017 
to almost $3.2 million in FY 2020, which allowed for increased 
staffing. In FY 2021, the Agency established an Affirmative Employment 
Division and hired staff to provide oversight and guidance on the 
Agency's EEO Affirmative Employment responsibilities. Increased staff 
enabled OCR to conduct analyses of its workforce data and undertake 
efforts to identify triggers; analyze potential barriers to EEO in 
Agency policies, practices, and processes; develop action plans to 
reduce any potential barriers; and monitor the Agency's performance to 
achieve greater EEO results. As a result, USAID was able to meet its 
obligation for timely submission of its fiscal year 2020 and 2021 MD-
715 Reports.
    OCR and the Office of the Chief DEIA Officer work closely together 
using the data analysis conducted for the MD-715 reports to advance 
DEIA at USAID. The acting Director of OCR and the Chief Diversity 
Officer hold weekly meetings to discuss and address DEIA-related 
matters and develop proactive strategies that engage Agency leadership 
at all levels, including overseas mission leadership.

    Question. What, if any, technical assistance or other support are 
you receiving to execute your plans from OPM's recently created 
government-wide Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and 
Accessibility (ODEIA) led by Dr. Janice Underwood?
    In addition to the State Department and USAID, several of our 
smaller international affairs agencies are implementing DEIA practices 
and addressing inequities. For instance, close to 40 percent of the 
Peace Corps and Millennium Challenge Corporation workforces are made up 
of diverse racial and ethnic groups, and they have also introduced 
diversity plans. How, if at all, are Chief Diversity Officers from 
other agencies exchanging best practices to strengthen efforts?

    Answer. In March 2022, USAID's Office of the Chief DEIA Officer 
submitted the Agency's 2022 DEIA Strategic Plan and met with 
representatives of OPM to discuss implementation of the plan. Following 
the release of DEIA Strategic Plan in July, the Chief DEIA Officer will 
meet monthly with Dr. Janice Underwood, the Director of DEIA at OPM.
    In addition, USAID, Department of State, Department of Commerce and 
USDA meet on a quarterly basis to collaborate and coordinate on issues 
affecting our workforce, share best practices, and explore ways to 
collaborate on major events and DEIA-related topics across the Federal 
Government.


----------------
Note

    \1\ Other REMs include Native Americans and Native Alaskans, Native 
Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and those identifying as two or more 
racial/ethnic categories.
                                 ______
                                 

     Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
                  Submitted by Senator James E. Risch

    Question. Please describe the purposes of conducting remote 
interviews. Are remote interviews intended to increase geographic 
diversity at the State Department in the long-term or are they a 
temporary practice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

    Answer. Our overarching goal is to make the test accessible to as 
many qualified candidates as possible from across the United States, 
and we recognize that the requirement to test in-person, whether in 
Washington, DC or even many other locations across the United States, 
may be cost prohibitive to some. Therefore, the Department is moving to 
transition Foreign Service Officer assessments to fully virtual 
platforms by July 2023, and in February 2022, the Director General 
approved a permanent shift to virtual oral assessments (remote 
interviews) for all non-law enforcement Foreign Service Specialists 
(FSS). Virtual oral assessments are now possible for FSS candidates 
from most locations in the world.

    Question. Does the State Department plan to hold remote interviews 
after the President declares the end of the COVID-19 public health 
emergency?

    Answer. Yes. After successfully assessing specialist candidates 
using virtual platforms during the pandemic, the Department permanently 
transitioned all non-Diplomatic Security Service specialist assessments 
to virtual effective February 2022. We are now working to do the same 
for Foreign Service Officer candidates. In addition to making the 
hiring process more accessible, we anticipate this will shorten the 
assessment timeline from approximately 9 months to 4, as well as 
shorten the assessment day to 4 hours. We will be able to offer 
assessments both in the mornings and afternoons to accommodate for time 
zones beyond the East Coast, and we will minimize any advantage a local 
candidate might have compared to candidates from outside Washington, 
DC.

    Question. How many Diplomats-in-Residence did the State Department 
add in its recent expansion?

    Answer. The Department has added one Diplomat in Residence (DIR) 
position, which will be encumbered beginning Summer 2023. We have 
restructured and expanded our Recruitment Division to enable greater 
efficiencies and improve our strategic outreach nationwide. In our 
phased approach, we have shifted portfolios to provide additional 
support, including the Plains States and Midwest, community colleges, 
TRIO students, and Minority Serving Institutions. In Summer 2023, we 
will add greater focus on the Pacific Northwest and Allegheny regions 
with Diplomats in Residence placed in Seattle and Pittsburgh, 
respectively. We have also added a Recruiter Coordinator position for 
additional oversight and support of our frontline recruiters.

    Question. Where are the new Diplomats-in-Residence located across 
the country?

    Answer. The additional Diplomat in Residence (DIR) position and 
geographic restructuring of the DIR program allows the Department to 
better serve communities nationwide. In a phased approach over the next 
12 months, DIRs in large urban centers with high volume demand will 
have smaller territories, allowing them to better reach underserved 
urban populations and rural communities in their territories. The 
placement of Diplomats in Residence in Seattle and Pittsburgh in Summer 
2023 will enable improved support of communities in the Pacific 
Northwest (Alaska, Oregon, and Washington) and the Allegheny region 
(Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia), territories that are currently 
covered out of San Francisco, Detroit, New York City, and Washington, 
DC. Coupled with additional administrative support and outreach support 
from Retired Employee Annuitants (REA) who previously served as DIRs, 
this gives our current DIRs the ability to better focus on their 
regions and connect to various population centers.

    Question. Does the State Department believe this number is 
sufficient to recruit a geographically diverse class of Foreign Service 
Officers? Should this number be increased, especially throughout 
America's interior?

    Answer. The Department continues to recruit from geographically 
diverse communities throughout the country. This is evident from the 
last Foreign Service class that onboarded in July, which was made up of 
individuals that came from 39 out of 50 States and the District of 
Columbia. Even so, our reach can only go so far with 17 Diplomats in 
Residence, and increased support would be welcomed in order to reach 
additional candidates throughout the country, particularly those from 
traditionally underrepresented groups and geographic locations in the 
Department.

    Question. How is the State Department working to expand geographic 
recruitment beyond the Diplomat-in-Residence program?

    Answer. The pandemic has allowed the Department to change the ways 
we reach diverse audiences. In the recruitment industry, it is widely 
accepted that hybrid recruitment efforts, including virtual and in-
person engagement, will continue because many candidates appreciate the 
flexibility and organizations are able to reach a broader pool at lower 
costs. Already, we have implemented dedicated virtual career fairs that 
offer the advantage of reaching a national audience that reflects our 
strategic priorities while avoiding competition at third-party 
organized career fairs with employers with greater brand recognition. 
We have made a specific budget request for DoS dedicated virtual career 
fairs for FY23 and FY24, which will allow the Department to expand 
geographic recruitment even further and reach a much broader and 
diverse audience.

    Question. What percentage of Universities did the State Department 
visit for recruitment purposes in 2021? Does the State Department plan 
to increase this number in 2022 and the coming years?

    Answer. In 2021, the Department was able to visit 448, or 11 
percent, of the nearly 4000 colleges and universities located in the 
United States with our small team of 16 Diplomats in Residence and five 
Washington, DC based recruiters. A review of the school affiliations of 
the 4,600+ Foreign Service Officers hired from the beginning of FY 2010 
to date indicates that they have graduated from over 745 schools 
located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We 
expect to continue to expand this outreach as we implement additional 
methodologies such as nationwide virtual events and career fairs.

    Question. How will better geographic recruitment promote greater 
diversity of views and experience within the Foreign Service?

    Answer. Recruitment capitalizes on its network of contacts 
throughout the country to share information and ensure target 
populations know of our student program and career opportunities and 
are prepared to apply. This level of recruitment has allowed for 
greater representation within Foreign Service classes. For example, in 
the last Foreign Service class that entered service in July 2022, the 
Department welcomed 186 new Foreign Service personnel representing 39 
out of the 50 United States and District of Columbia. This provides 
greater perspectives from across the country.

    Question. Does the Department value the skills that our veterans 
have developed through years of service to our country?

    Answer. The Department values the skills of not only veterans, but 
also active military (National Guard and Reservists). In fact, veterans 
make up 18.7 percent of the Department's workforce as compared to an 
estimated 7 percent of the U.S. adult population. We believe these 
numbers show just how much the Department values the skills our 
veterans have to offer. The Department recently established a Veteran 
Support Program (VSP) to guide and support the Department's more than 
5,000 military veterans and current Reservists/National Guard. The VSP 
will assist these employees in navigating the benefits afforded to them 
by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs 
because of their status as a Federal Government employee and their 
service and sacrifice to our nation. The creation of the Department's 
VSP, only the second of its kind in the Federal Government, is a 
reflection of the Department's commitment to veterans and our 
dedication to retaining them as valued employees.

    Question. Is the State Department working to increase veterans' 
preference in the Foreign Service?

    Answer. The Department strives to recruit, retain, and sustain a 
diverse, talented, and inclusive workforce that reflects our nation, 
including those who have served in our military. In fact, 18.7 percent 
of the Department's workforce are veterans (17.1 percent of the Foreign 
Service and 20.6 percent of the Civil Service) compared to an estimated 
7 percent of the U.S. adult population. We believe these numbers show 
how strong the Department's commitment to veterans is. The Department 
dedicates one of its national recruiters to veteran recruitment in the 
Foreign Service and trains a national platform of 22 Diplomats in 
Residence and Washington, DC-based recruiters to increase the number of 
veterans hired by the Department and to provide guidance and advice to 
veterans, disabled veterans, and transitioning service members. Once on 
board, the Department of State's newly established Veteran Support 
Program (VSP) provides support for military veterans and current 
Reservists/National Guard at the Department and assists them in 
accessing the benefits afforded them by the Department of Defense (DoD) 
and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
                                 ______
                                 

              Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions 
                  Submitted by Senator James E. Risch

    Question. USAID is badly in need of reform when it comes to hiring. 
With over 20 different hiring mechanisms, the agency doesn't even know 
how diverse it really is (or isn't).
    How are you working with Human Capital Talent Management to 
streamline USAID's opaque and arcane hiring mechanisms to ensure that 
the agency has the right skills available to it in the right place at 
the right time?

    Answer. One of the key elements to transforming USAID's workforce 
is aligning the work needs with the right staffing resources. The 
Global Development Partnership Initiative (GDPI) is one of the key ways 
USAID is transforming its workforce. The ultimate objective is for 
USAID to grow the permanent FS to 2,500 and the CS to 2,250 by FY 2025. 
GDPI also includes an increase of 206 CCN/FSN positions by FY 2025.
    The initiative seeks to change USAID's workforce composition and 
shift away from an overreliance on the use of term-limited, non-career, 
and often non-U.S. Direct Hire (NDH) mechanisms to more permanent 
staffing mechanisms that are not limited in duration.
    The GDPI initiative will strengthen USAID's organizational 
performance capacity by providing opportunities that expand talent 
acquisition offerings to broader segments of our diverse nation, 
recognizing the importance of the composition of the workforce in 
alignment with the requested staff resourcing. This 3-year initiative 
will begin in earnest in FY 2023, but was jump-started thanks to 
bipartisan support in Congress with the FY 2022 Operating Expenses (OE) 
appropriation.
    Through GDPI, USAID is prioritizing the core capacities and 
functions required for our organization to operate, which includes 
ensuring we have the human resources to support the employee's entire 
lifecycle, contracting staff to ensure the effective delivery of our 
projects, and other core functional needs for any organization to 
operate effectively. USAID's increased permanent staffing will also 
focus on gender and inclusive development, climate change, democracy 
and anti-corruption efforts, a more permanent humanitarian assistance 
workforce, and global health security.
    As USAID expands its permanent workforce, the Agency is also 
pursuing equitable benefits for contract staff. USAID is a global 
agency with staff from several dozen hiring authorities, and needs to 
invest in a permanent workforce to create more opportunities for 
positive and sustainable development outcomes, and to meet our DEIA 
goals. Through GDPI, USAID will use data and modeling to help identify 
work needs and where to optimally place the most limited resource: CS 
and FS employees.

    Question. How are you working to establish a baseline against which 
diversity can even be measured?

    Answer. The Government-wide DEIA Strategic Plan released in 
November 2021, specifically outlines a priority to ``improve the 
collection of voluntarily self-reported demographic data about the 
federal workforce by taking an evidence-based approach to reduce 
potential barriers in hiring, promotion, professional development, and 
retention practices.''
    USAID's workforce comprises various hiring categories, including 
U.S. Direct Hires (USDHs), Personal Services Contractors (PSCs), and 
Institutional Support Contractors (ISCs). Of our entire workforce of 
approximately 11,000 individuals, more than 5,500 are PSCs with almost 
1,500 ISCs, comprising around 64 percent of our entire workforce.
    This Fall, USAID will launch the Agency's first-ever annual DEIA 
Survey, which will help to establish a baseline for measuring 
longitudinal progress on the Agency's DEIA goals, while also 
contributing to government-wide data collection to both inform DEIA 
efforts across the federal workforce. The survey will provide the 
agency a more robust picture of the workforce through the collection of 
expanded demographic data, in particular sexual orientation and gender 
identity data, which is currently not collected. This survey will 
complement data USAID collects on workforce composition both 
domestically and abroad with the goal of including all hiring 
mechanisms. The survey will provide data to enable USAID to take an 
evidence-based approach to reducing any potential barriers in hiring, 
promotion, professional development, and retention practices. Responses 
from staff will be voluntary and data collected will be published on an 
Agency-wide DEIA dashboard with and scorecards for Missions, Bureaus 
and Independent Offices. Over time, the annual survey will help monitor 
and report on DEIA program effectiveness, enable continuous program 
improvement, and inform DEIA policy decisions.
    Implementation of the DEIA Survey, consistent with the Federal 
Employee Viewpoint Survey, will be conducted in accordance with 
guidance from the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC), U.S. Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM), and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

    Question. How does USAID's ``localization'' strategy fit into the 
agency's diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility goals?

    Answer. Localization is the process and actions that USAID will 
undertake to ensure our work puts a diverse group of local actors in 
the lead, strengthens local systems, and is responsive to local 
communities. Our motto of ``Nothing about them, without them'' leads 
the way in our localization agenda and is an embodiment of our 
commitment to inclusive development and broader DEIA principles.
    As with all of USAID's initiatives, USAID approaches localization 
with a DEIA lens. It is important that USAID equitably engages a 
diverse group of local actors to ensure that our partner base and the 
stakeholders we engage are representative of the populations the Agency 
serves and supports, and that our localization efforts do not reinforce 
legacies of marginalization or exploitation in a particular country, 
region, or community.
    USAID's Equity Action Plan, which resulted from an external equity 
assessment that identified gaps in advancing equity with underserved 
communities, including racial and ethnic equity, details five 
priorities to increase equity in USAID programming and partnerships. 
One priority area focuses on lowering internal and external barriers 
for USAID awards and a second focuses on incorporating racial and 
ethnic equity and diversity into policy, planning, and learning. The 
Agency's localization initiative supports both priorities of the EAP.

    Question. USAID is a lead agency in advancing the Global Fragility 
Act and, especially when considering the work of the Bureau for 
Humanitarian Assistance and the Bureau for Global Health, a major 
logistics operator in fragile contexts.
    Would you agree that American service members have unique skill 
sets that closely align with many of USAID's core functions?

    Answer. Yes, U.S. military service members have skill sets that 
align to USAID core functions. USAID recruitment efforts are 
effectively sourcing veteran candidates eligible for employment 
consideration, including by. The Agency is committed to and 
acknowledges opportunity exists for improved selection and hiring of 
veterans for career opportunities.

    Question. Would you also agree that USAID needs to do a better job 
recruiting veterans with these specialized skill sets in order to 
enhance diversity and strengthen program execution?

    Answer. USAID continues to engage the Department of Labor's 
Workforce Recruitment Program as a resource for providing candidates 
with disabilities for employment consideration and has also prioritized 
the use of Schedule A and Disabled Veteran non-competitive hiring 
mechanisms.
    Recent outreach efforts have focused heavily on our Service 
Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) community as this is the 
area where we have faced the most challenges. We have partnered with 
the American Legion, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the 
Department of State, among others, to enhance our SDVOSB engagement.
    On August 29, 2022, USAID's OSDBU staff attended the 103rd American 
Legion National Convention in Milwaukee, WI where OSDBU participated on 
a Veteran Small Business Federal Contracting panel to discuss ongoing 
efforts to increase contracting opportunities for SDVOSBs. This event 
gathered small business owners, government leaders, and members of the 
banking industry to explore solutions to the most pressing matters for 
veteran small business development.
    Additionally, on September 6-9, 2022, USAID's OSDBU participated in 
the 34th National Defense Industrial Association's (NDIA) Annual Navy 
Gold Coast Small Business Procurement conference. NDIA's Department of 
the Navy Gold Coast Event is a premier Navy procurement conference. 
Gold Coast provides a forum to educate, guide, and assist businesses, 
large and small, in support of the warfighter mission within the 
Department of the Navy and throughout the DoD. The event provided 
relevant topics delivered by government and industry experts.
                                 ______
                                 

     Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
                Submitted by Senator Benjamin L. Cardin

    Question. In your view, do the OIG's findings indicate potential 
barriers that may make it more difficult for members of 
underrepresented groups to be recommended for promotion in the Foreign 
Service?

    Answer. The OIG found that seven of the approximately 150 public 
members who served during the 7-year period reviewed were personally 
known to members of GTM's Office of Performance Evaluation (GTM/PE) 
staff. However, the OIG did not find that the results of the Foreign 
Service Selection Boards on which those public members served, or the 
results of any other Boards for the years reviewed, were negatively 
affected or otherwise invalid, nor did the report recommend any further 
review or actions regarding past boards. In addition, earlier this 
year, the Department conducted a review of the composition of our 
Selection Board panels over the last 5 years. The demographic analysis 
of the over 500 career Foreign Service members who served on the Board 
panels during this period showed that they were highly diverse, with 
the percentage of panelists from underrepresented groups generally 
exceeding the percentage of reviewed employees from such groups. There 
is no indication that the composition of the Selection Board panels is 
a barrier to promotion for members of underrepresented groups.

    Question. In your capacity as CDIO, please describe how, if at all, 
you are engaging with stakeholders throughout the State Department to 
ensure that the process through which FSSBs consider candidates for 
promotion is fair and consistent.

    Answer. As of April 2022, all foreign service personnel will need 
to demonstrate concrete contributions to advancing DEIA to strengthen 
their case for promotion. As CDIO, I advocated for a foreign service 
precept dedicated to DEIA and am now working with colleagues in Global 
Talent Management to ensure that employees and promotion boards are 
aware of the change and have a common understanding of how to implement 
the new precept. For example, in June we collaborated with GTM and the 
Foreign Service Institute on a webinar focused on the new precepts to 
field questions from the workforce.

    Question. Please describe how, if at all, this change to the core 
precepts may affect any existing barriers to members of 
underrepresented groups advancing in the Foreign Service.

    Answer. The new DEIA precept was drafted by the Bureau of Global 
Talent Management in concert with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion 
and AFSA. It describes the kinds of efforts in which each employee can 
demonstrate, through specific actions, their contributions to fostering 
greater diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, both 
internally in the Department and in their external foreign policy 
engagements. For example, exhibiting cultural awareness, achieving 
goals through inclusive teamwork, showing support for workplace 
flexibilities, organizing programs and events to discuss actionable 
ways to advance DEIA, and working to ensure the workplace is accessible 
are all ways in which an employee at any level can demonstrate a 
commitment to the principles of DEIA. Employee performance, which is 
the basis for promotion, will be measured in accordance with this and 
other precepts.

    Question. What is the status of assignment restriction (AR) reform?

    Answer. Pursuant to the passage of Section 5311(c) of the National 
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of Fiscal Year 2022 in December 2021, 
the Department drafted revisions to the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) to 
implement the new assignment restriction review and appeal process. 
Following approval of the FAM revisions, the Department will engage 
employee unions to comment on implementation of the revised review and 
appeal process. Once that process is complete, the assignment 
restriction appeal process will fully reflect the mandates of the NDAA. 
Additionally, the Department returned to the original, narrower scope 
of assignment restrictions by decoupling them from a separate matter, 
assignment preclusions. Assignment preclusions, which are governed by 3 
FAM 2424.5 (Dual Nationality), fall under the purview of the Bureau of 
Global Talent Management and reflect the Department's rule that members 
of the Foreign Service may not be assigned to post in states of which 
they are nationals, as host governments will generally not accord 
privileges and immunities to their own nationals.

    Question. When will the Department announce changes to the AR 
appeals process and how will this be communicated to all employees, 
including those who are waiting to join A-100 and those still going 
through the appeals process?

    Answer. The Department has drafted an All Diplomatic and Consular 
Posts (ALDAC) cable to announce upcoming changes to the assignment 
restriction review and appeals process, which the Department will 
release once employee union engagement regarding the FAM changes is 
complete. Additionally, the Department will continue to collaborate 
with the Office of the Registrar to reach those awaiting A-100 and 
employee unions and employee organization groups in communicating these 
updates to their members. Those with assignment restrictions and those 
who are seeking an appeal through the revised process have been 
provided a dedicated point-of-contact.
                                 ______
                                 

              Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions 
                Submitted by Senator Benjamin L. Cardin

    Question. Collection of DEIA Data. The Inspector General report on 
USAID issued in March opens with, ``For nearly 30 years, USAID has 
worked to improve the efficiency and efficacy of its strategic 
workforce planning, yet despite these attempts, human capital 
management has remained one of the Agency's top challenges.'' USAID's 
internal workforce is comprised of a hodge-podge of hiring mechanisms, 
with over 1100 Personal Service Contractors (PSCs); 400+ non-career 
``Foreign Service Limited'' appointees; thousands of institutional 
support contractors (ISCs) in addition to the approximate 1,800 career 
Foreign Service Officers and 1,600 Civil Service employees. Yet, USAID 
has no current published DEIA data for any mechanism. This lack of 
strategic workforce planning, data, and mishmash of hiring mechanisms 
adversely effects overall HR efforts, including understanding and 
addressing DEIA concerns.
    What is USAID doing to build the systems, staff, and accountability 
to collect DEIA data, check data accuracy, publish data and incorporate 
and use DEIA data appropriately to advance DEIA goals? What are the 
timeframes?

    Answer. In addition to the publicly available MD-715 reports, USAID 
has been steadily improving its human resources (HR) data quality and 
analysis, along with our workforce planning capacity. Through the 
development of the Talent Analytics tool, access to HR data has 
expanded across the Agency, focusing first on HR and workforce planning 
professionals in the Agency, and with continuing efforts to expand even 
further to share dashboards and reports with internal and external 
audiences. For example, USAID recently completed its most comprehensive 
analysis of foreign service promotions, including demographic data, and 
will be releasing the results of that report in the near future upon 
the completion of the review to ensure privacy protections. USAID has 
been creating and testing demographic data reporting and dashboards for 
the past 2 years in our effort to increase transparency, while ensuring 
individual privacy is protected.
    Later this year, USAID will launch the Agency's first-ever annual 
DEIA Survey, which will help to establish a baseline for measuring 
longitudinal progress on the Agency's DEIA goals, while also 
contributing to government-wide data collection to inform DEIA efforts 
across the federal workforce. The survey will provide the agency a more 
robust picture of the workforce through the collection of expanded 
demographic data, in particular sexual orientation and gender identity 
data, which is currently not collected. This survey will complement 
data USAID collects on workforce composition both domestically and 
abroad with the goal of spanning all hiring mechanisms, and will 
provide data to take an evidence-based approach to reducing any 
potential barriers in hiring, promotion, professional development, and 
retention practices. Responses from staff will be voluntary and data 
collected will be used to publish an Agency-wide DEIA dashboard and 
scorecards for Missions, Bureaus and Independent Offices. Over time, 
the survey will help monitor and report on DEIA program effectiveness, 
enable continuous program improvement, and inform DEIA policy 
decisions.

    Question. Pay equity. USAID reportedly is in a legal battle with a 
group of women alleging they were hired at salaries lower than those of 
their male peers. According to reports, ``The specific goal of their 
suit is to have their salaries adjusted retroactively with back pay 
from 3 years before they made the complaint, which is the legal 
limit.'' If they win, the women could receive the back pay as well as a 
related adjustment to their retirement packages.
    Has USAID studied pay equity related both to gender and to race and 
ethnicity? If so, what conclusions has the agency drawn and how are 
those shaping agency hiring practices?

    Answer. Yes, USAID has studied pay equity. From 2015-2021, data 
found a decrease in pay disparities across different races and gender. 
(The results shared below do not include the Office of the Inspector 
General.)
    In the Civil Service, the Black/African American, Hispanic, and 
Other race workforce combinations had relatively lower average salaries 
from FY 2015 to FY 2021, but had higher base pay average growth rates 
at 3.6 percent, 3.7 percent, and 3.6 percent, respectively, compared to 
overall civil service at 2.9 percent. In the Foreign Service, the 
average base pay growth rates are 2.1 percent, 3.2 percent, and 2.1 
percent, respectively, which is slightly below the FS average of 2.7 
percent. Pay equity gaps related to gender also decreased over this 
period on average.

    Question. Why is USAID battling these women in court, rather than 
providing the back pay they apparently deserve?

    Answer. USAID unfortunately cannot comment on ongoing litigation. 
USAID may speak more generally regarding any pay disparities among its 
Senior Foreign Service Officers. Among this group, USAID reviewed pay 
data and identified some pay disparities, which exist for both women 
and men. The Agency reviewed in detail the cause of these disparities 
and found the cause is not gender-based. Rather, the disparities are 
the product of an incongruence between the FS and SFS pay systems that 
the Agency worked to rectify upon discovery. USAID is sensitive to 
concern over gender-based pay disparity and has taken actions to 
prevent any such disparities before they arise by, for example, 
eliminating salary history from its Contractor Biographical Data Sheet 
in 2019 and launching a pilot program in 2020 in which it stopped 
relying upon salary history when setting pay for new Foreign Service 
Officers.
                                 ______
                                 

     Responses of Hon. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley to Questions 
                    Submitted by Senator Cory Booker

    Question. How do you plan to recruit a diverse labor force for 
years to come when the political consensus for civil service 
protections, particularly for policy-focused civil servants, is under 
threat?

    Answer. The Department is committed to making recruitment decisions 
based on merit and ensuring that all personnel practices are carried 
out consistent with all laws and regulations. The Department welcomed 
the protections afforded to Civil Service hires through the 2021 
Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce (E.O. 14003), and 
through this Executive Order, the Department is mandated with the task 
of protecting, empowering, and rebuilding the career Federal workforce. 
The Department takes full advantage of all available hiring authorities 
and has taken several steps to expand outreach to ensure that it can 
attract a diverse labor force.
    For example, the Department began hosting nationwide virtual career 
fairs promoting all Department careers and student programs, including 
career gateway programs into the Civil Service. During these fairs, we 
hosted presentations on Civil Service and student program application 
processes, highlighted different Civil Service career tracks, and 
featured Department employees who shared their experiences with 
Employee Organizations providing community, support, and advocacy for 
our diverse workforce. Similarly, we consistently raise awareness of 
and promote Civil Service careers in our nationwide outreach through 
events organized by our Diplomats-in-Residence and Washington, DC-based 
national recruiters.
    The Department includes diversity distribution lists when posting 
Civil Service vacancy announcements, which ensures that the 
organizations listed in the distribution lists automatically receive 
notifications when Civil Service announcements are posted to USAJOBS.
    The Department is also committed to attracting diverse and 
exceptionally qualified candidates for Senior Executive Service 
positions. When advertising Senior Executive Service positions 
externally, the Department considers applications from all U.S. 
citizens to ensure the widest applicant pool.
                                 ______
                                 

              Responses of Ms. Neneh Diallo to Questions 
                 Submitted by Senator Chris Van Hollen

    Question. USAID's workforce comprises more than 10,000 people, 
approximately 60 percent of whom are not direct-hires (e.g., Foreign 
Service Nationals, Personal Services Contractors, and Institutional 
Support Contractors). Diversity data are not consistently collected 
among this group of nondirect hire personnel, leaving USAID with an 
incomplete understanding of its workforce.
    What suggestions, if any, would you make to USAID in its data 
collection and analysis on non-direct hires?
    How might their inclusion in these exercises change USAID's 
decision-making with respect to diversity, equity, inclusion, and 
accessibility efforts?

    Answer. Later this year, USAID will launch the Agency's first-ever 
annual DEIA Survey, which will help to establish a baseline for 
measuring longitudinal progress on the Agency's DEIA goals. It will 
also contribute to government-wide data collection to both inform DEIA 
efforts across the federal workforce. The survey will provide the 
agency a more robust picture of the workforce through the collection of 
expanded demographic data, in particular sexual orientation and gender 
identity data, which is currently not collected. This survey will 
complement data USAID collects on workforce composition both 
domestically and abroad with the goal of including all hiring 
mechanisms, and will provide data to take an evidence-based approach to 
reducing any potential barriers in hiring, promotion, professional 
development, and retention practices. Responses from staff will be 
voluntary and data collected will be used to publish an Agency-wide 
DEIA dashboard and scorecards for Missions, Bureaus and Independent 
Offices. Over time, the annual survey will help monitor and report on 
DEIA program effectiveness, enable continuous program improvement, and 
inform DEIA policy decisions.
    While USAID voluntarily collects demographic data (race, ethnicity, 
sex, disability status) from U.S. Personal Services Contractors as from 
U.S. Direct Hires (USDHs), that data is analyzed on an ad-hoc basis. 
Although the Agency is mandated by the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission to annually produce a report analyzing the Agency's 
demographic makeup across the employment life-cycle, the data analysis 
requirements are for USDH only. As the Office of Civil Rights Special 
Emphasis Programs becomes operational, the Agency will be able to 
expand workforce demographic data analysis.
                                 ______
                                 

      Statement for the Record, Government Accountability Office, 
                          Dated July 26, 2022
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