FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2022 - Today, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chair Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chair Shelly Lowe announced that their respective agencies will create a Chief Diversity Officer position. The announcement was made at the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies hearing on fiscal year 2023 budget requests for the arts and humanities. Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) President Jennifer Dorning released the following statement on the establishment of Chief Diversity Officers for the NEA and NEH:

“The move to hire Chief Diversity Officers at the NEA and NEH is a win for creative professionals. DPE and its affiliated unions in the arts, entertainment, and media industries advocated for the creation of these senior positions because we know diversity is a strength and essential to the long-term sustainability of the creative sectors. We applaud Chairs Jackson and Lowe for moving quickly to create more inclusive arts, entertainment, and media industries through the work of their agencies.

In February 2021, we released our Policy Agenda for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Arts, Entertainment, and Media Industries, which includes recommendations aimed at creating diverse talent pipelines and incentivizing diversity in hiring in creative industries. We called for Chief Diversity Officers at the NEA and NEH because officers can boost the agencies’ capability to support performances and programs that offer underrepresented people an opportunity to develop skills, experience, and professional connections. 

We look forward to working with the NEA and NEH Chief Diversity Officers as part of our longtime engagement with these important agencies. We continue to call on Congress to fully fund the NEA and NEH at $331 million, or $1 per capita.”

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.