The new OMB Request for Information on “Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through Government” — why it’s important and how to participate
Join regulatory experts for a webinar on May 27, 2021 to learn more about the recent OMB “Request for Information” on “Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through Government,” why it’s important and how to participate by submitting a comment.
Hosts:
Keenan Austin Reed
Black Women’s Congressional Alliance
Marci Harris
POPVOX Foundation
Noralisa Leo
Representative Democracy
Speakers:
Katherine Archuleta
Former OPM Director
Katherine Archuleta’s career has been built on her commitment to bring voices to the table that have been historically and intentionally pushed away. From her earliest days in offices of Denver’s first Latino Mayor, Federico Peña, to her work for President Barack Obama as the Director of the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), she has integrated her values of inclusive leadership in every part of her work. As OPM Director, she directed the Federal government’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan in collaboration with the White House and all federal Departments – working closely with her own staff and government leaders to design steps to increase the recruitment and hiring of women, racial and ethnic minorities and millennials for federal service. She worked closely with advisory groups and ERGs to identify and support pipelines for recruitment and supported the efforts of government and non-profits to provide professional development trainings to increase leadership diversity in departments and agencies throughout the country. Recently, Katherine was asked to join Braintrust for Representative Democracy, joining other practitioners and experts in DEIB to bring their experience, insight and understanding to offer institutions – in particular Congress and public institutions – leadership and tools as they work to strengthen DEIB in their offices. Katherine serves a senior consultant for the Latino Leadership Institute’s Insight to Inclusive Leadership training program.
Chandra Middleton
Ph.D Candidate, Anthropology
UC Irvine
Chandra L. Middleton is a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. She returned to graduate school after a decade as an attorney in Washington, DC, where she worked with the National Center for Victims of Crime and the Environmental Law Institute. She uses her legal expertise to ethnographically study participatory environmental governance in the United States, focusing on how career government employees use administrative and environmental law to engage the public, specifically through “notice and comment rulemaking.” She has furthered her interest in regulatory processes as a graduate student researcher with the Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion and the Filene Research Institute’s Center for Emerging Technology; in this capacity, she studies financial and regulatory technology. She has an MA in anthropology from the University of California, Irvine; a JD and a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Lewis & Clark Law School; and an AB in anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a member of the DC Bar, the American Anthropological Association, and the Law and Society Association.
Rachel Augustine Potter
Assistant Professor
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
Rachel Augustine Potter is assistant professor of politics at the University of Virginia. From 2005 to 2007, she worked as a desk officer at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the White House clearinghouse for agency regulations.
Her research interests include American political institutions, regulation, public policy, public administration, and the influence of separation of powers on bureaucratic decision-making. Her book, Bending the Rules: Procedural Politicking in the Bureaucracy, addresses why some government agencies are successful in the notice-and-comment rulemaking process, while others fail.
Dr. Potter received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, where she was the recipient of the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship.
Stephanie Rodriguez
Federal Partnership Director
Tech Talent Project
Stephanie Rodriguez is the Federal Partnership Director at Tech Talent Project. An immunologist by training, Stephanie brings a data data driven approach to science and technology workforce development, equity, and policy Stephanie served as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation advancing the computer science equity portfolio at the agency, and then took that focus to the Afterschool Alliance as STEM Policy Director, ensuring access to STEM engagement in the out of school space. Most recently, Stephanie was VP of Policy and Engagement at AnitaB.org, a global nonprofit advancing women technologists into positions of power and host to the largest convening of technical women in the world, the Grace Hopper Celebration. In this role, Stephanie developed and led the workforce equity policy portfolio, managing Hill and Executive branch relationships around issues including but not limited to government hiring of diverse technical talent.
About the RFI:
The Biden Administration Office of Management and Budget is seeking comment on “effective methods for assessing whether agency policies and actions (e.g., programs, services, processes, and operations) equitably serve all eligible individuals and communities, particularly those that are currently and historically underserved.”
“OMB seeks input, information, and recommendations from a broad array of stakeholders in the public, private, advocacy, not-for-profit, and philanthropic sectors, including State, local, Tribal, and territorial areas, on available methods, approaches, and tools that could assist in this effort.”
OMB seeks input in the following areas:
1. Equity Assessments and Strategies. Approaches and methods for holistic and program- or policy-specific assessments of equity for public sector entities, including but not limited to the development of public policy strategies that advance equity and the use of data to inform equitable public policy strategies.
2. Barrier and Burden Reduction. Approaches and methods for assessing and remedying barriers, burden, and inequities in public service delivery and access.
3. Procurement and Contracting. Approaches and methods for assessing equity in agency procurement and contracting processes.
4. Financial Assistance. Approaches and methods for assessing equity in the administration of agency grant programs and other forms of financial assistance.
5. Stakeholder and Community Engagement. Approaches and methods for accessible and meaningful agency engagement with underserved communities.