NCUA took a significant step in making the agency a more inclusive organization with the launch of its new Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion Council.

“For the NCUA to carry out its mission effectively, every staff member should be respected, and diversity and inclusion should be truly fostered,” NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood said during his remarks at the council’s kick-off meeting earlier this month. “Providing a safe and sound system of cooperative credit is an honorable calling. I want the NCUA to have a work environment where every employee can bring their true and authentic selves to work each and every day.”

Publicly announced by Hood during the agency’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit in November 2019, the council’s mission is to build an organizational culture where shared values, beliefs, and behavioral norms around the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, engagement, and leadership align with the NCUA’s strategic priorities to optimize the agency’s performance.

The council is comprised of 18 employees across the agency’s business lines, in both supervisory and non-supervisory roles.

The council’s first activity is an agency-wide survey to examine the NCUA’s current organizational culture and to identify areas for improvement.

“I commend NCUA’s Chief Human Capital Officer and Director of the Office of Human Resources, Towanda Brooks, and Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Director, Monica Davy, for their leadership on the council,” Hood said. “Fostering the NCUA’s culture is not an endpoint. Instead, it is an ongoing process, and it is made up of taking the right steps to meet challenges and respond to a changing environment on a continuous basis. The NCUA Board and the entire leadership team are all committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive culture where every employee feels valued and respected.”