[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

The SEC's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion published a report detailing the progress of the Dodd-Frank Act to increase inclusion of women and minorities in SEC projects and funding.  For the full story, continue reading or click the link below.
 

OFFICE OF MINORITY AND WOMEN INCLUSION
ANNUAL REPORT

As Required by Section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010
This is a report prepared by the Staff of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Commission has expressed no view regarding the analysis, findings, or conclusions contained herein.
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April 24, 2013

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (“OMWI”), created pursuant to Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act, was formally established at the SEC in July 2011. OMWI is responsible for all matters relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activities at the SEC. Since its establishment, OMWI has grown from two full-time employees and an acting director, to nine full-time employees and two contractors as of March 2013. The permanent OMWI Director joined the office in January 2012.

The OMWI Director is required to develop standards:

• for the equal employment opportunity and the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the workforce and senior management of the SEC;
• for the increased participation of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the SEC’s programs and contracts; and,
• to assess the diversity policies and practices of entities regulated by the SEC.

Under Section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Act, OMWI is required to submit this annual report to Congress on specific actions taken by the agency and OMWI related to minority and women contracting awards, outreach programs, and employee and contractor hiring challenges.

Highlights of OMWI’s FY 2012 actions and successes are summarized below, and are discussed further in this report.

Contracting with Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses

• Total agency contracting awards to women-owned businesses increased by $21.7 million, from $7.8 million in FY 2011 to $29.5 million in FY 2012.
• Of the total $302.4 million awarded to contractors in FY 2012, $64.1 million (21.2%) was awarded to minority-owned and women-owned businesses.
• OMWI worked with key agency divisions and offices to expand the breadth of contracting opportunities available to minority-owned and women-owned businesses.
• OMWI worked with the Office of Acquisitions and Office of General Counsel to develop contract language for the written statement on the fair inclusion of women and minorities in contracting activities as required by Section 342(c)(2).

[SEC, 4/24/13]