In 2018, I was named Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) for the City of Worcester, a role that reports to the City Manager and sits on the Executive Cabinet of his administration. I am the youngest female of color and first South Asian to hold this position. In my role, I work to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups who work and volunteer for the city. As the CDO, I create, execute and monitor the City’s diversity and inclusion programming and policies in the areas of hiring, leadership, career pathways and development, diversity inclusion and equity training, strategic planning, as well as recruitment and retention. In my role, I develop policies and programs to attract, retain and promote a diverse workforce for the organization; while performing outreach and building relationships with various community, academic, and business organizations to increase diverse employment opportunities for underrepresented groups.

I was born and raised to first-generation immigrants in Houston, Texas and I decided to bring a combination of civic consciousness, public service and skills of business management into the relatively new field of Diversity and Inclusion in the Northeast. I earned my master’s degree (MBA) in Management and Social Change at Clark University in Worcester and immediately took a position in the Human Resources Department of City Hall in 2017. I know firsthand that immigrants and people of color have been historically marginalized, and my ultimate goal is to bring the voices of the underrepresented to local government, who may otherwise not have the social capital to do so.