US State Department Names Former Ambassador as First Chief Diversity Officer

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday named Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley as the State Department's first chief diversity officer, a position created to make the U.S. diplomatic corps more representative. 

The appointment is part of the Biden administration's efforts to put diversity, equity and racial justice at the top of the national agenda after nationwide protests against police brutality and racial bias last year.  Introducing Abercrombie-Winstanley, Blinken said the department and the country were at a "moment of reckoning" on racial equality, referring to the Black Lives Matter movement and attacks against Asian Americans.  Abercrombie-Winstanley, a career diplomat since 1985 who served as U.S. ambassador to Malta, will report directly to Blinken, he said.