PERSON: Zakiya Carr Johnson

U.S. Department of State

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

Zakiya Carr Johnson is the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and leads the Secretary’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (S/ODI). She is a social inclusion, diversity, and equity expert and strategist with over 20 years of experience in shaping public policy across the government, development, and nonprofit sectors. Her experience includes seven years in the Department of State as a Senior Advisor (2010-2017), during which she launched and served as Director of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs’ Race, Ethnicity, and Social Inclusion Unit. Most recently, she served as a Senior Professional Staff Member for the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs leading policy in the Western Hemisphere, Diversity and Inclusion, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and Corporate Social Impact. Zakiya founded global consulting firm Odara Solutions and launched the Black Women Disrupt Initiative to strengthen and amplify the work of women entrepreneurs across the Americas and on the continent of Africa. She also served as co-chair for the White House Inter-Agency Committee on Gender-Based Violence Monitoring and Evaluation, Foundation Representative for Ecuador and Venezuela at the Inter-American Foundation, and Senior Technical Advisor for the Social Inclusion Trust Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank. Zakiya has spent her career building bridges of understanding between people and communities. She is a 2019-2020 Senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, an accomplished public speaker, mother of two, and proud alum of Howard University, who is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

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