From the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority’s press release:
The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) announced today the selection of Sidney Childs as the agency’s new Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Officer, marking the first time in the agency’s 84-year history that such a position has been created.
Childs, who serves as the Associate Provost for Student Affairs/Dean of Students at Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) in Michigan, will begin his new role for CMHA on Monday, Aug. 30. He will advise CMHA’s board of directors, executive team and staff on diversity and inclusion matters that require cross-functional analysis and research, including recruitment, retention, talent management, workforce planning, and employee and community engagement efforts.
“We are delighted Mr. Childs has decided to join our CMHA team,” said CMHA Board Chair Stanley E. Harris. “His skill set, core values, experience, knowledge and lessons learned throughout his career are uniquely suited to mesh well with the opportunities and expectations specific to this new position.
“We will look to Mr. Childs to help us ensure diversity, equity and inclusion are valued and deeply embedded in CMHA’s organizational culture and that he will prioritize creating a sense of belonging within our agency,” Harris said.
Diversity, equity and inclusiveness is a pillar of superior organizational performance, noted CMHA President and CEO Charles Hillman. The CMHA workforce demographic more than compares favorably with the diversity of Franklin County’s population: CMHA’s workforce is comprised of eight nationalities and is 60% female/40% male, 61% Black, 29.7% White and 9% other ethnicities; Franklin County’s gender and racial makeup, according to census data, is 51.2% female/48.8% male, 66.8% white, 23.8% African American, and 11.5% other ethnicities.
“CMHA recognizes the real benefit of inclusion as a management strategy is to successfully bring together diverse groups of ideas, identities and information to strengthen employee engagement and find solutions to difficult challenges within communities,” said Hillman.