In the last five years, Sedgwick County joined hundreds of other employers in putting dollars into place to build its own diversity, equity and inclusion program.
The program, county leaders said, would emphasize respect for differences among the county’s 3,200 employees and help recruit a more diverse staff.
But even as the county hired a diversity and inclusion consultant and instituted training, skepticism about DEI among some elected county leaders lingered – especially as a nationwide tidal wave of conservative critique called the philosophy discriminatory or overly political.
“If truly DEI was about … treating people like they're equal – OK, that'd be all right,” said Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell. “I think that, unfortunately, the DEI has been flipped on its head, where there's almost a preference given to people who are different. And there lies the danger of DEI.”
Across the country, workplace diversity and inclusion programs grew more common following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Four years later, many companies are now dialing down DEI in the face of conservative backlash.
In August, Sedgwick County joined in. The County Commission, led by Howell, voted 3-2 in favor of cutting an unfilled diversity and inclusion officer position. The officer would have worked with each department on its unique DEI goals, such as recruiting a diverse workforce. The position was the only dedicated DEI funding in the budget.
Now, the future of the county’s DEI program is in flux. An unfunded, 15-person council made up of volunteer staff is responsible for carrying out a strategic DEI plan.
The county, Howell argued, has done enough DEI work already and does not have an outsized problem with bigotry – making a diversity and inclusion officer an unnecessary expense in a tight budget year. Plus, Howell said some of the program’s scaffolding is still in place: employee training and the staff council.
But proponents of the DEI program are frustrated by what they felt was a political decision. They fear the budget cut could signal to current and future employees that diversity is no longer a county priority.
About 86% of roughly 1,100 staff members who filled out an internal survey said they supported Sedgwick County’s efforts to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.
“I think a lot of people feel betrayed by what we did,” said Commissioner Sarah Lopez, the lone Democrat, woman and person of color on the commission. Lopez voted to keep the DEI officer.
“We've been making real progress on not just this effort, but really changing the culture in general at Sedgwick County to a place that people want to work. … I would just hate for this to undo some of the work that we've painstakingly done to make our organization a healthier organization.”
On Tuesday, Lopez lost her re-election campaign to Republican Jeff Blubaugh.
Where is Sedgwick County at with DEI?
The county brought on a DEI consultant in 2022 after trying and failing to hire a diversity and inclusion officer for several years.
Hicks-Carter-Hicks, the consultant, charged $114,000 to audit human resources policies, conduct focus groups of minority staff members and survey staff about DEI at the county.
The consultant told the county that many of its HR policies and procedures met DEI best practices; the county didn’t have any “red flags.” But employee surveys and interviews did surface areas for improvement, like concerns about favoritism and a lack of racial and ethnic diversity among county leadership.
“It was also mentioned that leadership in general is more homogeneous,” said Aaron Van Groningen, who worked for the consultant, in a presentation to county commissioners in May 2023.
“It was highlighted that it was important to have decision makers that reflect the community – that have that unique perspective to serve all constituents.”
In interviews with Hicks-Carter-Hicks, some staff noted instances of bullying or racist environments, Van Groningen said. He added that this was "not the norm" but encouraged the county to take a hard look at departments where reports arise.
Hicks-Carter-Hicks recommended the county create a strategic DEI plan, offer regular training, focus on recruiting a diverse array of job candidates and invest in a dedicated leader with DEI expertise.
Howell said the report’s findings and recommendations didn’t stand out to him as a reason to budget $100,000 for a dedicated DEI officer. He pointed to a 2021 anonymous survey of 186 ex-county employees, which garnered more than 1,500 written comments. About a dozen comments mentioned racism, discrimination or the negative treatment of minorities – which Howell says is a minuscule percentage.
“Zero would be – maybe it's a good goal, but is that reasonable to expect a zero?” Howell said. “I don't think that's going to happen.”
And he argued county staff is relatively close to representative of county racial demographics, apart from a significant shortage in the number of Hispanic employees. About 74% of county employees are white, while 66% of Sedgwick County’s population is white.
“It's not screaming to me, there's a problem,” Howell said.
Others feel differently. LaWanda DeShazer retired from the county in 2019 and is now a board member of Wichita’s Racial Profiling Advisory Board. She says a lack of diversity in the county’s leadership sends a negative message to young Wichitans.
“We talk a lot about keeping our talent force here in Wichita,” DeShazer said. “… And talent comes in all sizes, colors, shapes, ethnicities. And if our talent doesn't have the opportunity to rise in those upper level positions, they leave Wichita.”
And even one instance of discrimination can lead to a lawsuit. The county settled a racial discrimination lawsuit with an ex-employee for $22,000 in 2022.
“Inevitably, an organization is going to get sued for something, and so if we can do training to help prevent those things, then that's just being smart in business,” Lopez said.
What does DEI mean to Sedgwick County?
Diversity and inclusion initiatives can look different from one employer to another.
Language like “white privilege” or “systemic racism” have shown up in some diversity trainings around the U.S., drawing ire from conservative institutions or commentators.
But Lopez and assistant county manager Tania Cole said Sedgwick County’s DEI training – recently mandated for all employees – doesn’t address these concepts.
“It's about respecting your employee,” Cole said. “It's about respecting the people that we serve in the community. It's not about this, you know, ‘white privilege.’ It's about just the bottom line of respect, belonging, being inclusive, serving these people.”
A description of the training’s objectives include differentiating between equality and equity, discovering unconscious bias and identifying personal biases.
Only about 200 county employees still need to take the training, Howell said. Despite his misgivings about DEI, he thinks the county’s training program is appropriate.
“I know people who said they walked in, saying … they were not looking forward to it,” Howell said. “And they walked out saying, ‘This was actually pretty good.’
“It makes me feel better that if we're going to go down this path, we're hopefully doing DEI correctly.”
He added that the elimination of the diversity officer position won’t impact the training program, which will still be required for new employees.
Lopez said the county’s DEI program doesn’t mean it will hire staff based on demographic traits, either.
“We're going to hire whoever's right for the job, whether it be their education or their background experience or whatever that is,” Lopez said.
What’s left of DEI at the county?
County leaders point to several concrete policy changes they’ve made in the last several years to make the workplace more welcoming and inclusive:
- Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people, is now a paid holiday at the county.
- In January, the commission passed a policy expressing its intent to accommodate breastfeeding mothers.
- Last September, the county approved an eight-week paid parental leave policy.
As for future DEI work, without a diversity and inclusion officer, the 15-person council is shouldering many of the county’s remaining plans.
Nicole Gibbs, the county’s director of strategic communications, sits on the council. She said it’s staffed with volunteers from an array of county departments including COMCARE, the health department, human resources and public safety.
This year, the council drafted a DEI strategic plan like the consultant recommended, laying out mostly internal goals: communicating with staff about DEI-related events and resources, offering regular DEI training and surveying staff annually on DEI as a way to measure progress.
Recruiting a diverse workforce – a key part of the DEI officer’s job description – is not included in the current iteration of the council’s strategic plan. Cole said that might need to change.
“They (the council) may have some additional roles, … understanding that that position has been cut,” Cole said.
Existing departments like strategic communications or human resources can help carry out some of the DEI council’s goals. But if any require funding, the council would have to request it from the commission, Cole said.
Lopez said she worries the council may be hesitant to do so after this year’s budget decision.
“My real concern is: If they do this work and they come up with something, and then they present it, and then it gets shot down again,” Lopez said. “Well, then, are they going to even want to continue?”
