Last week, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and the Office of Human Resources and Management hosted the USDA-Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Roundtable in Washington, D.C.
The USDA-AAPI Roundtable brought together over 70 participants, including over 35 AAPI community organizations and leaders, 6 Congressional offices, 5 AAPI business leaders and chambers of commerce, 3 media outlets, various academicians and 25 USDA officials. Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu opened the event applauding USDA's efforts to establish partnerships between Congress and USDA to better increase AAPI outreach. USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan made introductory remarks discussing the need for diversity at USDA and the developments at USDA to address greater outreach to AAPI communities. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack provided keynote remarks highlighting USDA’s plan to increase diversity efforts to better reflect the face of America through the implementation of the USDA Cultural Transformation Initiative.
