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Office of Global Michigan Director, Poppy Sias-Hernandez, Appointed to the USDA Equity Commission
February 10, 2022
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the newly established Equity Commission members, including Poppy Sias-Hernandez, Executive Director of the Office of Global Michigan. Sias-Hernandez will be one of the 15-member inaugural Equity Commission members focusing on historical discrimination, strengthening accountability, providing recommendations and advancing racial equity at the USDA.
"It's exciting to see Michigan's own Poppy Sias-Hernandez get appointed to the USDA Equity Commission," said Governor Whitmer, "Poppy has served the people of Michigan admirably for years, including as a member of my executive office, and I know she will be an important part of this commission's work to ensure equal opportunity for all in agriculture."
In 2020, Governor Whitmer appointed Sias-Hernandez as the first-ever Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer in the Governor's Executive Office. In addition to her role as the Chief EIO, she also serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Global Michigan.
"I am honored to be a part of this newly formed commission and look forward to making recommendations that ensure racial equity at USDA," said Sias-Hernandez. "We are committed to equity through strengthening inclusion and increasing diversity in farming communities. From farms to kitchen tables - equity and inclusion must be the guiding principles that make our food systems fair."
For more than 20 years, Sias-Hernandez's work of strategic change management has been at the intersection of public health, education, workforce development, diversity, equity and inclusion. Hernandez lives on Michigan's "west coast," along the shores of Lake Michigan, with her husband of 25 years and her two sons.
The newly established Equity Commission and its Subcommittee on Agriculture will hold its first public meeting on February 28, 2022. As authorized and funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the launch of the independent Commission delivers on President Biden's commitment to create an independent Equity Commission and provide it with the necessary resources to support its mission to address historical discrimination at USDA.
For more information about the USDA, visit usda.gov.
For more information about the Office of Global Michigan, visit Michigan.gov/OGM.
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