Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2020) – The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and its Chief Equity Officer Annie Holmes have been awarded the 12th Annual Diversity Leader Award from Profiles in Diversity Journal.
Diversity Leader Award winners “demonstrate a strong commitment to upholding and championing diversity values in the workplace” and have strategies to ensure that commitment across the company, the publication said in a release.
“Equity serves as an anchor for all of CCSSO’s work. Creating the role of chief equity officer was an important first step, but it was hiring Annie — whose expertise, dedication and passion for this work is unmatched — that has allowed us to be so effective in supporting our staff and state members,” CCSSO Executive Director Carissa Moffat Miller. “We know that diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations are more capable in all areas, but particularly as an education organization, we must focus on these areas every day, as we work to improve outcomes for all students.”
CCSSO was one of 16 companies to receive the award in 2020. The organization and Holmes also received the award in 2019.
“In a country where too much of a child’s educational opportunity can be limited by his or her by race, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, sexual orientation, family background or income, equity must be the central focus of all work in education,” Holmes said. “I am honored to receive this award for the second time and look forward to continuing this important work with state leaders and my CCSSO colleagues.”
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The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, Bureau of Indian Education, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks member consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and the public.
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