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Message from the Governor’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence are the values that guide the work of the Governor’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODE&I). Our collective impact and success in furthering these principles especially in support of goal three of the ONE Virginia Plan depends on how we individually seek lifelong learning related to DE&I.
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Making business decisions through a DE&I lens will increase organizational effectiveness, team cohesion and strength, and provide an economic and social return on investment. Beyond recruitment and retention of top talent, operationalizing these values can help drive results toward each team’s core mission. As such, adopting DE&I-driven policies and practices is mission-critical for all Virginia teams.
In what follows, you will find a collection of resources including articles, books, podcasts, videos, and programs about a range of topics addressing different facets and dimensions of structural racism and inequity. Education is a necessary but insufficient first step toward mitigating structural inequity. However, it is my hope that our increased awareness in education will lead to structural change and get us closer to the original constitutional promise of equal opportunity for all.
We hope this information is useful as we seek collective impact to identify a positive path forward. As we learn together from these and other educational resources, we should consider ways to operationalize lessons to improve DE&I across Virginia teams.
We will update this guide as new content becomes available. We will also be adding discussion protocols and study guides for the resources. Please share these resources with others, and also share with us any resources we may have overlooked by contacting us at DE&IDirector@governor.virginia.gov.
A special note of thanks to Dr. Veleka Gatling, Director of Diversity Initiatives and the President’s Task Force for Inclusive Excellence at Old Dominion University for collaborating with ODE&I in the creation of these resources.
In Service to the Commonwealth of Virginia,
The Honorable Dr. Janice Underwood, Ph.D.
Chief Diversity Officer of the Commonwealth Office of the Governor
The Honorable Dr. Janice Underwood Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Office of the Governor 1111 East Broad St. Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 786-2211 she/her/herself/Ms./Dr.
