September 10, 2020 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the White House memo to examine diversity programs within the federal government, the Board of the International Career Advancement Program Fellows Association issued the following statement:
ICAP and its fellows are dedicated to ensuring that senior U.S. leadership is effective, innovative, and globally competitive. To achieve these goals, the U.S. government needs to draw on the full representative diversity and talents of all Americans. The memo issued by the White House is a troubling development that threatens the progress the U.S. government has made and undermines the ongoing work still necessary to ensure that public servants better represent the American people. The United States is in a critical moment as we address the persistent and pervasive issues of racism and white supremacy. Efforts to promote diversity and undertake long-overdue conversations on race should be embraced, not threatened.