FHFA's 2021 OMWI Annual Report to Congress
After two full years of the pandemic, which has tested our collective resiliency, one clear lesson has emerged with direct implications for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Every organization must position itself to pivot in the face of widespread, unforeseeable, and systemic change. With change so all-encompassing, the hard decisions facing organizations must necessarily be driven by core values informed by employees’ input and experiences. Some of those decisions have already been made as organizations begin to implement hybrid work models, but others will have to wait as employees adjust to a post-pandemic work environment. Data will have to be collected, other evidence gathered, and metrics developed, all in service of developing policies and best practices that speak to a changed environment.
FHFA’s core organizational values pave the path for organizational discussions about the kinds of behaviors that typify or demonstrate those values. Agency leadership also determined that DEI as a standalone component of our core values was not enough. With employees’ input, leadership went deeper and made DEI, together with competence, the foundation for guiding the decision-making, culture, and behaviors in the business and activities of our Agency. These values are integral to how the Agency fulfills its mission and responsibly stewards its infrastructure.
Key takeaways:
- Minority representation in FHFA’s workforce grew by 30.2 percent with 323 minority employees in 2021 from 248 minority employees in 2017. This increase is also reflected across FHFA’s top six mission-critical occupations, as representation of minorities and women rose to 43.7 percent and 37.5 percent, respectively.
- FHFA executed 680 contract actions with a total spend of $72,888,707 (an increase from $70,322,529 in 2020), of which 271 contract actions were with minority- and women-owned businesses (MWOBs) for a total spend of $13,740,101. The 271 contract actions with MWOBs represent 39.9 percent of all contracting actions and 18.9 percent of the total spend by FHFA.
- The Agency’s DEI programming expanded beyond the mandated Special Emphasis Programs (SEP) to include the SEP events co-sponsored by Agency divisions and offices, DEI Author Series, and “Let’s Talk,” a series of 10 Agency-wide DEI listening sessions. OMWI’s transition to virtual SEP and DEI programming increased the accessibility and durability of the DEI education offered to FHFA employees.
View video introduction to this blog.
By: Sharron P. A. Levine
Director, FHFA Office of Minority & Women Inclusion