WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Inclusv, an organization that advocates for diversity in politics and government, is calling on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to take immediate steps to radically revise their hiring and transparency practices in the wake of recent staff resignations due to a lack of diversity among the DCCC’s leadership team.

The DCCC is currently tasked with reelecting the most racially diverse Congress in history while vitriolic, racist attacks on Black and Brown Members of Congress are issued from the White House on a near daily basis. In this environment, it is imperative that the DCCC has a staff that reflects the diversity of their Members and the voters who will be called upon to power Democrats to victory next Fall. To address the concerns that many Democrats rightfully have about staff diversity, Inclusv is calling on the DCCC to take the following actions:

  1. Immediately implement an Advanced Rooney Rule as part of the hiring process for all senior staff positions: Under an Advanced Rooney Rule, the interview process would not be allowed to move to the next stage unless at least one Person of Color is one of the candidates being moved to the next round. All senior staff positions should be subject to this process, including those that were recently vacated.
  2. Embrace transparency by releasing staff diversity statistics on a yearly basis: In 2018 and 2016, the DCCC released internal staff diversity statistics. The DCCC should build upon this by formally adopting a policy to issue annual reports that track the level of diversity among all staff and within the senior staff ranks. In addition to listing current statistics, these reports should include goals and strategies that the Committee is implementing to continue diversifying its team by recruiting, retaining, and empowering staff of color at all levels.
  3. Commit to tracking and publicly reporting spending on minority-owned consulting firms: Consultants play a vital role in crafting strategies that persuade and motivate voters of color to turn out on Election Day. During the 2010 and 2012 Election cycles, the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent over half of their over $1 billion budget on consulting firms. A paltry $8.7 million or 1.7% went to minority business enterprises. During this cycle, the Democratic Party is estimated to spend a considerable portion of its likely $2-3 billion budget on consulting firms which are historically led, owned, or staffed by white men. To turn out voters of color it is crucial that the DCCC to diversify, track, and report on how it spends its money on consulting firms.

 

Statement from Eric Lundy, Inclusv Program Director:

“The recent staff shakeup at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee represents both an opportunity and a decision point for its leadership. They can choose to be leaders and revamp their hiring practices and commit to building an organization that truly embodies the rich diversity of the Democratic party, or they can choose to avoid the tough conversations around matters of race, in hopes that voters, activists, and donors of color won’t notice or care. In the Trump era, this is not an acceptable option.”

“Inclusv calls on the DCCC to seize this opportunity and demonstrate leadership for the party as a whole, by embracing equitable hiring and transparency practices such as the Advanced Rooney Rule to show that they value the talent and voices of all Democrats, and are eager to empower staffers of color to lead the Party into the future. To resist change would be a gross misjudgement of the current political environment, and sends a damaging message to the millions of voters of color who make up the base of the Democratic party.”

 

About INCLUSV – Founded in the spring of 2015, Inclusv is an initiative focused on building the bridge between talented businesses and  professionals of color and the campaigns and political organizations who want to hire them. Inclusv has helped drive the conversation around diversity in politics by securing the release of staff diversity statistics from the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns in 2016, and by issuing the first ever State Party Diversity Report in 2017. For too long organizations and institutions have been working on behalf of communities of color and not working with them. Inclusv works to change this problem to strengthen our democracy.