Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office for Civil Rights has launched a pilot survey of staff on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In a memo sent to CFPB employees Monday, Melissa Brand, who heads the office’s civil rights office, wrote that the survey results will help the federal Office of Personnel Management formulate a coordinated policy for the entire government on the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity. .
The memo was sent to all CFPB employees with the subject: “Making Every Person Count: Take the SOGI Pilot Survey to Promote Inclusion for All.” The memo, obtained by American Banker, said the survey would be “anonymous and voluntary.”
“Your participation will literally help ensure that every person at CFPB (and ultimately across the federal sector) counts and has the opportunity to express their identity in a more inclusive, authentic and accurate way,” Brand wrote. “The survey results will also help the CFPB’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Office for Minority and Women’s Inclusion (OMWI), Office of Human Capital (OHC) and CFPB senior leaders assess better equal employment opportunity and the diversity, equity, needs and challenges related to the inclusion and accessibility of our employees, including LGBTQIA+ employees.”
CFPB employees were provided a link to a list of frequently asked questions about the survey. Brand noted that the survey had a question at the end asking for the division in which the employee worked. “This is just to measure overall survey participation,” he wrote.
The survey’s pilot project was approved by CFPB deputy director Zixta Martínez, Brand said in the memo. Employees have from Monday through February 3 to answer the survey questions.
The CFPB and the Office of Personnel Management did not respond to requests for comment.
