New Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Office standing up at Hanscom

  • Published
  • By Lauren Russell
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Senior leaders announced today that a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office will be standing up here March 1.  

Building from Hanscom’s Diversity and Inclusion Cell that has been in place since 2016, the DEI Office, with a full-time chief, will focus on all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion on the installation in accordance with the president’s executive order on advancing racial equity  and the acting secretary of the Air Force’s directed racial disparity review.   

Steve Ober, who has been heading diversity and inclusion efforts for Hanscom and will now lead the new office, acknowledged the weight of his new responsibility in a video message to the base.

“We all recognize the divisions in our country right now, and I would be foolish to assume those divisions don’t exist here at Hanscom,” said Ober. “However, I’d like to think each of us came to work for the Air Force because we felt we had a higher calling to support our country.”

The DEI office will include a full-time manager, affirmative program and disabilities managers, and four special emphasis program managers. The team will oversee workplace diversity and climate, training and education, and DI messaging and awareness.  

Base leaders said that while Hanscom has taken a proactive approach to D&I over the past several years, they will continue to push the workforce toward total equity of personnel recruitment, retention, promotion, and advancement.

 “We will be taking a thorough review of our diversity representation and analyzing what’s needed to ensure equality is upheld and barriers are broken down,” said Col. Katrina Stephens, installation commander.

For additional information, contact Ober at Stephen.Ober@us.af.mil.