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capping the price of russian oil. and providing additional funding to ukraine low income countries. >> nice to meet you. >> all right. i am not holding a microphone. i do not know to do with my hand. at is making everything awkward. welcome and thank you for being here today. we have a great panel and discussion and plenty of time for questions. let me introduce myself my name is elliot williams. i am principal at the raven group, a consulting firm in washington. a legal analyst at cnn. relevant to this panel, i am a foreigner -- i am still black as far as i know. [laughter] that is what they tell me. i am reminded however, as a former senate staffer as well.

i was brought into the united states senate in spite of my disclosure. we will talk about that. the topic is on black agency, and diversity in the united states congress. avenues can be opened lifting up, bringing in and retaining. i think it is often lost in this discussion how we returned to better staff. it is a panel of all the people here. let's run through. we are joined by dr. mood, director of the office of diversity and inclusion at the u.s. house of representatives. the director personnel at the right house we like that place. we are joined by mike lynch, the chief of staff for senator chuck schumer. and director for the senate policy, democratic policy and communications committee. david strickland, the honorable david strickland. former staff director at the u.s. senate commerce committee

on commerce in science and technology. i literally have the words on the paper. i did not working in the senate. the former administrator of the national highway traffic safety administration. at general motors. the joint centers on dr. branson, senior research to talk about the subject matter. dr. branson and will start with you as the home team for a lack of a better way to put it. the joint center has been a leader on this issue for a long time. we worked great with the group and on the hill. big picture, what has your work shown and highlighted about all the things we talked about. recruitment, retention.

>> at shown that diversity has always been a challenge. especially key positions on the head. we've been doing with the senate report 2016. we had another house report in 2018. last week we published a report highlighting the same problem people of color makeup 14% of the population, but i will report shows on the house side that people of color makeup 18% in key positions chief of staff. one-handed is encouraged, and 2018 that percentage was at 13.7. four percentage points increase, but at the same time it pales in comparison to that 40% of people color makeup in this country. there is a lot of work that needs to be done. encouraging when institutional changes happened since we been engaging in this since 2016. dr. mood now. with the establishment of the

democratic diversity on the senate side that mike lynch hit a major role in for disclosing the democratic side. as it relates to diversity. other republicans have yet to launch a former initiative. one of the goals we have is that there will be a bipartisan effort on the senate side that doctors moods and castro on how it works in terms of work together in a bipartisan manner. to show to the american people this is an issue that is important. >> let me give -- get to mike lynch on things you talked about there. number one, we have seen progress, 300% increase in diversity and top senate staff. this is the time you put in place, the rooney rule, they heard about in terms of who is interviewed and brought up her jobs. certainly since the joint center started doing this work, but to pick up on your point, african

americans account for 13% of the population. only 5% -- 5.6% of staff. 3% of top senate. something is not connecting yet. my question for you is what challenges are you finding at this point to increasing diversity among staff? >> i appreciate everyone coming. i remember meeting with spencer to go over to finding what a top staffer was. there was one office, i will not name that was trying to say every person of color on staff was a cop staffer no matter the position. we strive to not going to -- going with that attitude. we start of the diversity survey to see where we were. our first 22 thousand 17 finished our sixth. we're the first time -- first

time with been keeping records that 40% of democrats senate staffers are people of color. we have more people of every category, hispanic, african-american, asian is calendar, asian pacific islander. everyone is more individual. that is how we try to build up the senate. that does not get to the top staff question. one of the first things we found, when we were trying to figure out how to increase the top staff roles is it is a pipeline. where the legislative doctors come from? it comes from the eights and councils. we do chief of staff come from? there's a. a few years ago, it was almost all the staff were calm's directors. i came from a state director. ld's are sort of the new wave of things. you have to keep filling those rules.

we have seen a good increase. we have more -- 20% of the chiefs of color. two of them are black. i think 28 percent of directors and 26% of ld. we had growth. it is slow. we have taken a bunch of approaches. we worked directly with senators, both myself and schumer who is invested in this. when we hear an opening, we talked to the members directly. we brought resumes on the senate floor. i solicit many of you for trying to get something. sometimes work but it does not. it feels like we need to break through. make sure everyone is thinking about it the same way. >> the same, what sort of challenges are seeing in that? what challenges are you finding it diversity among staff.

also, what initiative do you have in place for doing that? >> great question. first i want to say my pronunciation her hers. for those visually paradigm a black woman. have straight hair wearing a black suit with a drupal -- blue dress. with that being said i think the biggest thing is we are modeling the mission that this is an initiative started with the committee. 115th congress we have now transition to office. we are now a team of 10. full-time employees with everything inclusion. many of my team actually helped to stand up for office alongside our normal director. i think with that same spirit, if you have been in eia, such as my fellow before. we are finding is that there

have been a surge of 100% emplacements the last two years in the weeks of the pandemic and social justice. that statistic has been matched they keep their jobs within three to five years. it is not exhaustive nature, but also these positions are not fully resourced and do not report to the top. that means i think one of the biggest parts of this offices is we are properly positioned for success. we are part of the top leadership positions. my position as a fair level position. this is all public information. we got a workable budget to get the work done. our office has working service operating spirit research and analytics in training and programming. we just spoke -- we focused our mission to help offices. that includes members, committees and core offices to

create and cultivate in diverse this workforce that is reflective of the people. i want to give you statistics. we only have been around for two years. it is important to measure our success. in two years time, my team praise we assisted 1500 candidates. we'd conducted over 730 consultations. after this consultations we shared 200 -- 2200 resumes. for candidates after receiving services, we have been able to track 430 jobseekers successfully landed on capitol hill. >> a brings me to our second capability which is researching analytics. there -- you guys were the thought leaders are analyzing the state of representation on federal landscapes. we thoroughly understand the importance. we look at that avenue of what you managed. we are tracking the same things. our office established three studies. one was diversity of the other was workplace.

. and compensation of diversity. two more things. we trained in programming, but i think it is important to note, because we leverage our program to engage in strategically -- relationships. we hosted our inaugural part of the white house initiative conference. we brought over 120 scholars from 60's hcb use. it is important to see yourself in the capital and connect you empowering managers in the offices that can lead to real careers. the next step, about people in this room we are partnering with. from that congressional black caucus -- caucus, african-american federal executive association and local hbcus as howard university to be able to be intentional about how black people can have agency to not only be attracted to jobs but is sent. i think that is one of the biggest things that is important. we say we need more black

staffers, we need more diversity. we go to go straight to hbcus. sometimes the black talent and community colleges rpd realize how black programs under communities get lost in the fog. we are making sure to garrett -- grow relationships there. if anybody ever tells me they are struggling to find diversity. it is because you cannot find them. it is probably the ones you're not looking or not looking in the right places. when i decreed reasons we made our mission is we need the people where they are. we talked about the interim office. we believe it is -- nine >> this is not a criticism of the senate. help make me into the middle manager i am. [applause] i do not think it is a secret that going back decades the diversity in congress among membership.

in the house. most members of the black caucus come from the house. my question. i do not know the answer. and did that bring desperate complacency and attracting top a black or brown talent? has the house actually been a leader in recruiting and retaining diverse staff along? >> for me. i do not know if i can answer that question. i think it is about leadership commitment. i think we -- this work predates myself. i think we are seeing is it takes the person to have a good intention. it takes in the next step to be very intentioned. i will say that i cannot speak for the house in the chamber that i have been appointed to. i have seen great intentionality. i would say we are seeing great

flexibility in allowing me to lead. when i was interviewed for this process with myself and a couple other notable dia experts. we had a transparent conversation. the administration the speaker's house, and other side of house, which had been growing a relationship. they trust the direction we are going. i try not to compare we are all on different journeys. but i will say, i will to my hat to the leadership i report to to get their money with her mouth is. >> we do not have anybody from the judiciary. there is another branch of government. let's talk about the white house and how the white house is it has done. i would love to hear your thoughts on the approach of resident biden's administration of attracting talent, employee, diversity and hear some of your introspection on what you're hearing right here. >> i have to shout out. we have been doing this work for

two years. we really appreciate the partnership, the resumes, the support. and for holding us accountable. that matters. i have to say i am proud of the work we have been able to do our team covers about 4500 political position across the administration from the cabinet, staffers on down. and the results, the president asked us to building administration that looks like america. i think we did that. 50% identifies people of color. 50% are women. if you look at the breakdown by race. 18% are african american. we see at senior level, secretaries, four deputies. we got to governors and the federal reserve. we have joshua my missing? graph we have a supreme court -- court justice. i think the things we like.

one document this very well. of the talent is there. once her and says i cannot find you a diverse candidate for extra. i said you are not looking hard enough. the second thing we learned from our approaches we have done a couple things to institute how we think about building inclusive teams. the first thing is we try to challenge assumption and preconceptions about what would qualify. just because a position has been helped by certain type of person, historically. does not media needs to be filled that way. the example i use is juno jones who is our first chief of department of lovebird. the history of people with phd's and macroeconomics. if you limit to your candidates to phd's in economics. that shrink dramatically. we have someone who is an expert in understanding research and workers, and the impact of academic on workers of color. she was fantastic in the job.

what makes someone qualified? what is the profile we are looking for? what traits matter. we really created a robust interview process. someone gets multiple interviews for position. we looked in the private sector that is the more portnoy's removed bias from the system. the third thing is document is talking about. we look at data analytics and tried to understand every step in the process from how we are building to how people are interviews, to how they are going through the vetting. who ends up in the seats. where are we losing talent, and what lines of difference are we losing people? we look at the departures, promotions to understand if there's any intentional or unintentional biases? all those things of been helpful in building and and maintaining a really inclusive diverse team. >> david someone who is balance between senior and junior roles. senior role on the hill private

sector. i would love for you to talk about your experience as a staffer and how that translated to various aspects of your advancement in different sectors. >> as part of the data, i think i outrank all of you. spencer and i were section mates in law school. i seen spencer before he was spencer. [applause] [laughter] thank you for the opportunity, and to be perfectly honest with you. i think you have to be first. i will start with a quick anecdote and i'll talk about my experience. i got my job in the senate congress committee in 2001. my mentor wanted me for this job and african-american way. very close to senator holly who hired me. he had a difference of opinion between the staff director, who

wanted somebody that was caucasian. and he hired me. they got to a stalemate, he did my soon to be job and his job as chief counsel for a year and a half. to get me on the committee. you have to be purposeful. you have to sacrifice to be able to find that pool of people to give the minute. that was my beginning. luckily, i had a mentor who allowed me to make mistakes and learn, and grow. he gave me opportunities to work with the senator. he gave me exposure. he gave me protection. then my nine years on committee, i was fortunate enough to be seen as worthy to run federal agencies. i did that for four years. my dream was to go back to senate commerce committee and be a staff director. maria cantwell, who i worked

with in 2000 on a number of issues. when she became ranking member of the check, was like i want gave sharepoint to run my committee. the reason i want him to run is he can handle the pressure. he knows the tactics. i know he has the same belief about building the kind of teams i want. you have to have a leadership at the house level, but the senate level to teach these values. to be blunt, eating members to execute on it, and you need members to empower staff to execute on it. and my three years running commerce committee, i hired seven senior-level people of color and women. it took me a long time to get the right people in those rules. people invest in me. waited for me. i spent the same effort and i will say whether you think the bills i manage will are there. i think my team is one of the

most exemplary teams in the senate. i worked very hard to build that type of team. rex let me ask you the softest softball question you will get all week. it is important. can you talk about the path to success that begins with whether it is the first job in congress, or the senior job as a staff manager. i would assume that doors open up after. i would love for you. if you have anything from your experience. >> absolutely. the first thing -- as a more senior staffer. the old man in the back of the office. when i was on sin side. it was have to reach out and tell people your story. my pathway was having a truly opportunities to do the work. it is like doing the research, having opportunities communicate -- to communicate with other constituencies and outside

parties, being a part of strategy. you have to build that pathway to earn the trust. ok, here is a road and figure something out. you will have to learn to build skill sets. i think really strong managers and the senate and house are those staff directors and chiefs that really do take time to invest in their people and have a systemic pathway for improvement and growth. when you see somebody that needs an opportunity to do more. there's drafting. do that. partner with them. work on it. it will take me three hours to do that. you got to spend the extra three hours to do it. that three hours turns into months or years. let's work on your back. that is what i would tell people. make those investments. as you build those skill sets, i

call the senate the confidence. once people realize you're good at something, they throw more stuff at you. that is what you want. you tell people to manage time, but take this opportunities to stretch yourself. you have to find a point where you're not comfortable. as those things.com, over time. especially in the senate. we will come to find you have a multitool capacity, that becomes very attractive to private sector. they realize they can is not do staffer stuff. you actually have a real hard skill set, more than opening a door and getting a member meeting. you can do those other things that if you're doing consulting, clients find valuable in terms of what you don't have to do. then, even for my position and general motors, it is like there are not a lot of people that have a technical regulatory background and a heel background like me. they made the unfortunate

decisions to make me one of the top 200 executives. that is about stretching and having this moment of making people feel a little uncomfortable. but supporting them as they go through. >> can i say firsthand as somebody may contest this. management. those abundantly clear -- i was never going to be a senior senate staffer. there is no question of the rule that job played in the making of my neck's decade. i think that is the case for people at more junior levels. these are incredibly consequential roles. but the person muttering the panel is my former boss and the esteemed folks. it cannot be understated how important these rules are, even at a junior level for things, outside of congress. >> i do not want to comment on the private sector. if that is our biggest challenge. i will say that part of the

intentionality mentioned here is the inclusion. that has been one of the harder things to change the culture of the senate. have more junior staffers on cause. even if they're not participating. let them listen and work. if you hire counsel, let them do chief counsel work. he didn't want to be ld for a chief of staff who is a former ld because they want to do your job. we had to turn that around so that everyone gets to do more, gets to stretch a little bit. gets in the room,. you remember the first time in a room. you learn something. we try to get offices to expand that. just to get opportunities for people. >> i went up bump off one thing. i think it is part of the pitch for young people to going to public service. it is not the highest level. it is hard work. it is very long hours. i think my best sales pitch has

been you are in the room was some of the most consequential decisions that affect the country. once you have an opportunity to lean it and do that, there is no accomplishment that is bigger or better than that. that is one of the things i've been lucky to get people to come and do this work. >> have a question on that point. this idea that diverse applicant pool may not be the applicant pool that grew up with the internships, jobs. tell us about some of the challenges in that area, and what you have done to overcome some of that. you touched on a little bit earlier. it is relevant because not everybody is into internships and to those of the things that we do jobs. >> i will borrow from my other

talking points. i grew up on the hill. i grew up with the department of congruent -- commerce, 15 year career, and i landed in this role because of my competencies and my background. i tried to navigate it myself. the second i landed there you were still leaning into a one-dimensional recruiter -- recruitment approach. you talk about making cultures, it is so i never worked on help because i have been in those networks to know how to apply that a vacancy was there. one thing in our office is intentional about doing is bidirectional recruitment. we returned from puerto rico, where we attended the annual convention so we can meet people where they are. part of that intentionality and saying no one is around. you are expecting them to come to you. we're talking about equity, sensibility. we need to give up social media

platforms to reach people. we need to not focus on the district, but the g8 -- geographic dispersion where the people are. an example is our team is preparing to partner with a representative in the san diego area to do a community outreach and engagement activity at community college to reach people. i think when we think about intentionality, i have the homework for us all. i sent in email two weeks ago before we were going to be on same panel. these panels cannot be the only time to connect. we have to have relationships and being connection with each other. not work collaboratively, but strategically to break down so people like me no other opportunities onnot only opportu belong there. this is the people's house, your house, we are reflective of all dimensions of diversity in this country. >> on the literally the question

of pay, attracting talent is not a zero cost endeavor and often people may not be people of color, i'm saying that in the most generic a possible but i think you know what i am getting at. sort of the same question i'm asking repeatedly in different contexts, but what initiatives and challenges have you seen there? >> we have new salary thresholds for staff, we have paid internships. i know this might not be paid, that compensation packages, i also look at benefits. we are leaning into more hybrid work environments i can also help people that identify with low socioeconomic statuses, people that are caregivers or

identify as disabled. i would say we've made significant strides but i will also say, most of those changes are new paid internships are new. we think about research and data analytics, that is the next frontier. >> i don't know mra is an acronym. >> i agree the difference between now and two years ago in compensation packages, benefits have increased, the paid internships, and it is all helping. the house and senate did different pay increases but they were substantial on both sides. and the starting salary on the hill was much different than even three years ago. in some cases, almost double even for a up front desk person. it is really important on entry

but becomes really important in retention as you are trying to compete with the private sector or other places. you need your legislative assistance to be making money so they can develop into that further. >> can i just say, in addition to the other compensation and packages we were talking about, i think an important thing happening on the hill right now is a program, $833 per month. that was a dealmaker for me. >> same for me. >> becoming a doctor was a lot of money and there was a huge benefit we are also offering. >> immeasurable. as it was for me. >> as david pointed to before, you come to the hill, you are not going to make the most money , but you have to have those experiences to make up for whatever cap that is. if we can increase the pay and

ins clearances -- pay and experiences, then we really get somewhere. >> the period leading up to and after the midterms can be quite consequential for increasing diversity. can you talk about that, why right now is the moment and how some of your work has touched on that? >> we are about 25 days from the midterm and right after the election we have a number of new members. it is a crucial time to bring awareness, especially to voters who recently participated in elections, to let them know that yes, you participated, but if you want to see change that is inclusive and dismantling rishel disparities and things like that, part of what we have to do is hire diverse staff. something we do right after an election is raise awareness through checking the data and information and making sure we are transparent about what

offices have diverse candidates in key position, and we compare that to the diversity within their district and state. if you come from a diverse state or district. you want to make sure diversity in these key positions are diverse as well. we will launch a campaign in the coming weeks to talk about that and highlighting that because it is so important. >> david, a question for you. i think many of the people, almost everybody in this room would say there is no one way to be a person of color in america. people approach problems differently, see the world through different eyes. that said, i would love to hear you talk about the impact of diversity on policymaking and how having diverse staff actually -- you don't have to agree with the premise although i think you will -- how having diversity in your staff has an impact on the policies that come

out of congress and the white house. >> it is everything. i will be blunt. when you are in the room and you have people that have the same experience, same socioeconomic level, you have a sameness of thinking because you see the world in a particular way. when you bring in different voices, you bring in women, people of color, people of different economic strata, you get perspectives on problems you may never have gotten without having that voice in the room. you will not have a universal on all things, but it gives you the perspective even if you have a stafford that has a different experience, they know people that have -- a staffer that has a different experience. they know people that have other experiences and they pulling people through meetings and things like that. my experience was way different than some of my colleagues. i grew up in atlanta, georgia. my mom grew up in right field, georgia. my grandparents until the 1970's

were sharecroppers. the notion that david strickland looks like he went through -- my experiences were very different in terms of how programs reached people of lower economic strata, how you reach rural people. other people, if you come and you are lgbtq, and your experiences. it really does enrich the experience. it isn't just the three or four people that may be involved, those three or four people from their experience ring and another three or four people, and you have a force multiplier in trying to find policy solutions that really are as close to being for everybody then you would if you had a sharp but less diverse group of people. >> quick story related to that. we are not going to turn this into storytime from elliott and micah come but this is important to what we are talking about. -- elliott and mike,, but this

is important that we are talking about. i wrote an op-ed about experience we had. we were privy to in overheard a senator -- i will not name the individual -- a senator making a comment that needed some cleanup afterward. he called all of the black staffers in the room. strike one, that is sort of messed up. needless to say, when i got on the phone with the senator, it is great that you are calling, but if you were in a room with all white people, i don't know if anybody would have checked you. this was 15 years ago and even then it was a different period. the mere fact that the presence of lack people in the room monstrously changed how the senator behaves, and number two, the guilt of the individual felt having said something pretty racist in mixed company, and

number three, how they dealt with it, you can't tell me that whether or not more black folks or black or brown senators in the room -- i told him that, i said the mere fact you have one black senator colleague, who went on to do interesting things. this black senator -- i don't remember his name, obama? [laughter] diversity matters. >> i have one economic strata story i want to share. a senator that will remain nameless decided he had a wonderful idea for a piece of legislation which is that credit cards should have limits. [laughter] i was like what? yeah, it is irresponsible all these people having credit cards with no limits. i am like you, your card has no limits. [laughter] everybody else's card has got limits. >> there we are.

storytime. [applause] let's talk about sort of -- the first two years of the biden administration and now we are headed into lord knows what the next two years will look like, i will be candid about that. in any presidential administration, the gun goes off and everybody is hot with energy. what happens now and what do you anticipate for the next two years of your time or six years, but particularly the next two years in terms of increasing and improving and building on staff diversity? >> thank you for the question. first of all, we will be hiring every day in this administration, it has never stopped. we are about 80% staff, but it is constantly turning, people move up, leave the administration, there's always opportunity. i want to shout out to my colleagues. rick, wave your hand, both went

to morehouse and a recent senate staffer, we stole him from senator warnock, you can have him back. and sourcing candidates from community kind of -- community colleges. not only is this near and dear to dr. b's heart, but a great source of talent, people who have associate degrees and they can serve in the administration. we are constantly recruiting. we are at this exciting point in the administration where we are building stuff. thanks to our colleagues in the senate we have these new programs to deploy and execute. if you want to build things, it is a great time in the administration. that is my plug. the second thing, we talked earlier but i want to double down on retention and supporting people once we hire them. if we do what we've been doing since the beginning, disrupt assumptions about what makes someone qualified for a job, sourcing candidates from new pools of talent, many of them

will come into the administration not having ever worked in that agency before. most of these agencies like the hill are funny places. the systems are weird, the hierarchies are different, there is all kinds of politics. if we don't support them from day one and invest in their growth, we won't be successful and they will leave. that's not a good look for us and it is bad for the american people. we spend a lot of time think about retention, support, management, feedback, making sure managers actually manage. that will be a huge source of our attention in the next couple of years. >> we are not partisans here. i do want to ask a question, i will start with mike, do we know why and can we explain why only senate accredits -- senate democrats have a diversity office? that is my understanding. and what efforts might there be to have a senate white office? >> i cannot tell you why the republicans do not have one. i will say jennifer to casper,

former chief of staff for senator scott from south carolina, she has worked very hard on her side of the aisle to make some progress there, but it has not seemed to have been the interest. maybe someday we can have a senate white office like they do in the house, but it will take me a while -- i would run almost a parallel program to make sure that hopefully it doesn't happen -- a parallel program, and hopefully doesn't happen anytime soon, but the republicans take over. i just would want to protect that because of my trust on the others, it is a little wilted. >> it is a different question in the house because you have the house wide body, i'm not sure if there's anything you would add.

>> no, my deputy is republican and we work hand-in-hand for that is the mission of our office. we have biweekly meetings on both sides of the aisle and we understand that this work, we will take everybody. my approach to my work is not to make people feel included by excluding others. i might be one of the first directors that made sure i had weekly meetings for the minority because i need you to see yourself in this work. it might be my role but it is about responsibility. >> because we are down with equity here, i believe every person has gotten two questions and a follow-up thus far. i will give you the floor, and if you have any talking point of yours we did not get out before we open it. >> there are a of things you mentioned. the question about why has there been so much progress in the house versus the senate side, i

think in part because of the diverse membership right now. the house is about 26% people of color elected to office, higher than the number of people of color in high positions. it is very hard to get a person of color elected to a statewide office. that's what the political science research says. however, it should not just be on people of color to actually higher people of color to top positions. that is to me, i think in doing the work and research, why there is such a difference. i think the others could speak to the biggest difference, and the most progress has been where there have been senators and house members who made it a point to say i want my office to be diverse and this is important to me personally. it really is on members of congress to make this an important point for them. that is where we will see the most progress. >> can i say one quick thing?

in the work i do, i have my own philosophy and it helps people understand the work, which is diversity is the gala -- delegating our differences. if we look at capitol hill right now, we are focused on the d. we need to focus on inclusion, equity and now accessibility piece. i don't want you to come to the hill and don't feel safe, you don't feel seen, you don't feel like people are investing in your upward mobility for your career. we talked about being able to make mistakes, that is important, have someone hold your hand. the second is, yes, i am black but i am more than that. i want you to see a public administrator, someone who holds a doctorate, the intersections of my full self. for my office, we really do want

that child of a returning citizen doesn't have broadband access to bring the full perspective. we want the first generational student that doesn't know how to tie a tie meeting. we are looking for your full self because that will produce better public policies. we believe all of the full experience of employees matters. >> excellent. we have time for a few questions from the audience if anybody -- i see a microphone coming. let's start here. >> hi. when you think about institutions that close generational wage gap, improve benefits, improved workplace safety, and improve morale and connection between workers, you think of unions. the house recently passed a

resolution to enable the congressional workers union to -- looks like there could be as many as 10 offices soon to be union offices. that changes the dynamic between the house and the senate. i wanted to ask, reactions in terms of that union capability giving the staff of policymakers agency, but also to ask about the chances of the resolution in the senate. >> i think the entire title of this panel is about agency. i will say for myself, i have felt empowered as an employee and i understand the need. i also hope, when we talk about roles and responsibilities, i hope the members in the offices, the chiefs of staff, create an environment that is diverse, inclusive and accessible where you don't feel like you have to demand a certain things, because it is just part of our culture. if you spoke to most dia

professionals, our ultimate goal is it is no longer used because it is so fully threaded in the fabric of an organization that we no longer have to tokenized these letters. >> i would agree on that front. we have to get the chiefs of staff and communications directors and the senators to work to create a working environment where people like to work there. so you're not having that sort of conflict. i don't think the prospects of passage of a resolution in the senate would be very high. we had no interest from republicans so far. we will keep working on it that is where we are. >> i see a microphone floating over there. >> hi everyone. i am a visiting law student. i am really excited to be here

first of all, and i can attest to a lot of the work that senator schumer and the senate diversity initiative is doing. i was his deputy, i worked with him every day. one of the things i wanted to ask and i'm not sure if it was addressed because i stepped out for a couple of minutes, is i feel very fortunate and blessed to have been able to work in both chambers of congress as well as the white house for dr. b, but i don't see those opportunities for my friends, who didn't it -- who had to take the unpaid internships, they are now working professionals, but they want to work on policy. i feel that a lot of the people, a lot of the diversity initiatives catered to college

students or people who are already in the mix and giving them a pipeline upward because they are already there. i am wondering what can be done or what is being done to engage working professionals, people who are teachers and want to work on education policy, people who are nurses and want to work on health care policy, people who started their own businesses and maybe want to take a step away and get on the commerce committee. what can be done to integrate working minority professionals in this space so they can also have the experiences i had? >> hook that as an iv up to dr. moon's armor. [laughter] >> we were talking about intentionality. our team, we have had our few strategic trips since my appointment but next year we have our calendar ready. we will not only dutch

institutions. -- institutions. you're talking about how you can find black women like me? go to essence, they have a career fair. maybe thinking outside the box and being innovative, but it is rooted in meeting people where they are. i am a delta and i plan on approaching all of the members of the national panel. give me a table at the national convention, let me work. even in this room, i asked everybody in this room, we are prepared for the 118th congress, we need diverse talent. use your network and have them send their resume. it requires attention and being out in the community and it also requires thinking outside of the box about multiple forms of dimensions of diversity.

i appreciate your question a lot. >> can you give that address again? >> i sure can. find us when this is over, we are looking for resumes. >> i agree and i think it is an interesting aspect of the journey that congress is on. when we started doing these surveys, not that long ago, there were plenty of offices that said i only hire someone from inside my state. i am not from new york and i work for senator schumer. we had to break through that barrier. but you can break through that barrier, but you can also work with those offices to find -- ok, if you can only find people from your state, let's talk to these three organizations or these three locations in the state and bring them into it. it is expanding the network. everybody has mentioned this. i can't just go to my friends to find people up it you have to

ask other people and expand it and go where people are, what you said. it is a journey we are on and i see progress every day. the only way i can get through each day is to see progress and feel like we are getting someplace. those are the next steps. >> time for one more. >> good. -- good afternoon. i just want to be an echo timber of positive news. -- echo chamber of positive news. i am a core witness of the graduates efforts and the core intentions of making sure diversity is there at our agriculture -- at agriculture. i wanted to let you know as a footsoldier, as an intentional tone master in this, i take it

very seriously, especially with my political leadership. i just wanted to say thank you to your team for pushing that narrative and making sure agriculture is diverse. >> great. before we go, what we spent a lot of time doing today, as is often the case on panels, generally they talk about a problem, we've got to confront a problem, and not a ton of times, talking about solutions and steps. i would love in this lightning round before we go, what is an action item that you can provide to the folks in the room, that wonderful email address, but if you have a second one, you are more than welcome. what is an action item that folks in the room can take with them or take back for whatever it might be? retention, recruiting, support -- whatever it might be. i wanted to hear everybody given

example. >> you can follow our work on our website and see our research. i encourage people to contact their member of congress and ask about their diversity statistics, especially key positions. you can follow the work we're doing in the coming weeks to track the information, not only track new and returning members but to see hiring in key positions. you can follow that work and share the information with your member of congress in terms of how well they are or are not doing. >> follow us on all platforms. we have a newsletter where we put out updates, and opportunities for people interested in careers, to have a resume review or mock interview so we can help prepare you. working on capitol hill is different. i say that at some of the three months on the job.

but i really want to be very intentional about saying this, the reason why we can benefit from being in connection with one another on an ongoing basis, if you have 10 resumes that are fantastic, i don't want you to come to me and say i have really great -- i want you to come to me and say i have really great candidates for you. >> and i am relieved my organization is a majority minority organization that things about these issues daily in our work and our values but also recruitment and retention. you are critically important. >> i agree with keeping in

connection. there is a natural poaching that happens between the house and senate, then the administration comes in. i was really worried about our numbers overall, i've got to tell you. >> i have robbed five senior staff this year. five. >> right i started in the house and moved to the senate. it happens all the time. our role has to be bigger than that, it cannot just be shifting people from one to the other. we have to grow to pool and find new people. that is what we seek to do. i also just want to note, the burden of making a more diverse senate is not on the people in this room, it is on the offices of the senators and the chiefs of staff. and the burden to keep pushing that and reminding people, it is much more on people's minds and it was five years ago and i appreciate that.

it is a constant reminder and a constant effort that has to happen. your burden, which i will point to paul over here that has been doing this to me for years, is to keep pushing me. to make sure this is on the front of people's minds in the senate. >> i love that. >> i will be very quick. the one thing i have learned now, being in a large organization that is focused on diversity, especially if you are an engineering corporation. i encourage people that are alumni of senior staff positions in the house and senate, make yourself available to build that network. i'm always available to take calls from folks and i get them all the time, to talk about my experience, my path, and funneling resumes to offices. just because you have left the institution doesn't mean you are not still serving the institution. that is my advice, continue to serve the institution even on

the outside. >> there is a perception that in order to get a political appointment in the administration you have to be incredibly wealthy and get like five members of congress to write letters or stakeholder groups. sure, we get a lot of incoming recommendations from members of congress and stakeholder groups and we prioritize them and they matter a lot because we know they've been vetted and vouched for by someone we trust, that said, is not the only way we hire people. every week we have decision means, we go through candidates recommended, and my favorite moments are when we find someone who literally just wanted to apply on the website and has a great resume and we needed someone with just that right combination of experience and we find them in the database. which is now like 125,000 people. encourage people to apply. sure, use their networks and connections and talk to people in the administration to learn what kind of jobs are out there and what they might want to do, but we are really looking everywhere for talent.

there is not just one way to come in. please apply. >> thank you very much to our panel. return to the main assembly room for the afternoon reception. thank you for being here and thank you to our guests. [applause] ♪ >> on friday, rubcan sarah huckabee sanders and democrat chris jones go head-toeain a debate for the arkansas

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>> american history tv, saturdays on c-span 2, slowing the people and events that tell the american story. on the presidency, revealing the life of first lady martha washington, from her surviving personal letters, with an author. and a research editor at the university of virginia. 8:00 p.m. on lectures in history, a talk about american churches and religion during world war i. how american pastors, ministers and rabbis spoke about the great war before and after the u.s. entered the conflict. exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturdays on c-span 2. find the full schedule on your program guide or watch any time at c-span.org/history. >>