Mayor Ginther Announces 30x30 Challenge to Address Systemic Racism in the Workplace
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, along with the Office of Diversity and
Inclusion, announced the 30x30 Challenge to ensure the City of Columbus is a diverse
and inclusive workplace, and to help the City and all central Ohio employers
eliminate systemic racism embedded in the workplace.
“As a leader and an employer of over 8,000 employees, the City
of Columbus is committed to workplace diversity, measuring results and holding
ourselves accountable. We’re first taking a look in the mirror and measuring
ourselves against these new goals,” said Mayor Ginther. “I have empowered the
Office of Diversity and Inclusion to lead this internal work, to raise the bar
for the City of Columbus and to set an example for other central Ohio
businesses and organizations.”
This announcement comes on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day,
emphasizing the need to develop a strategy to address systemic racism which is
concomitant to pay equity. The new 30x30 Challenge is a natural outgrowth of the
pay equity work of the Columbus Women’s Commission. In 2017, the Women’s
Commission launched The Columbus Commitment: Achieving Pay Equity to bring
Columbus employers to the frontlines of change. The Columbus Commitment is a
voluntary and employer-led pledge to advance best practices for building gender
equitable workplaces. Over 275 businesses and organizations have signed the
pledge.
The 30x30 Challenge will provide another tool for the City to
measure and eliminate racial disparities in the workplace, including how race
and other factors have contributed to the disparity in job opportunities and
pay for women. The 30x30 Challenge seeks to change the overall culture in the
workplace and sets bold new goals for the City of Columbus to strive toward, including:
• 30% workforce
diversity representation
• 30% growth in
supplier diversity spend
• 30% executive
leadership
• 30% board and
commission representation
The City is beginning the work of determining base line data and
will share its progress with the community.
“I know
that it is paramount that we treat racism like the systemic disease it is and
come together as a city to mobilize and to actively work on lifting and
empowering,” says Chief Diversity Officer Beverly Stallings-Johnson. “The Office
of Diversity and Inclusion continues to work with Mayor Ginther and the people
of Columbus to flatten the racism curve while enabling all of us to work
together to enable economic equality.”
About the City of Columbus Office
of Diversity and Inclusion
Under the leadership of Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and Chief
Diversity Officer, Beverly Stallings-Johnson, The Mayor’s Office of Diversity
and Inclusion (ODI) is responsible for supporting Mayor Ginther and his Cabinet
Leadership Team by leading diversity and inclusion management within the City
of Columbus. The ODI will focus on four pillars of diversity and
inclusion management: Workforce Diversity, Supplier Diversity, Commitment and
Communication are necessary for building Columbus into America’s Equal
Opportunity City.