Pro-Equity Anti-Racism (PEAR) at DES

The pro-equity anti-racism (PEAR) effort is a statewide initiative to promote access to equitable opportunities and resources that reduce disparities and improve outcomes across state government.

DES PEAR statement

October 2022

On March 21, 2022, Governor Inslee signed Executive Order 22-04 implementing the Washington State Pro-Equity Anti-Racism (PEAR) Plan & Playbook and directing all cabinet agencies to develop and implement a PEAR Strategic Action Plan.

In the Executive Order, Governor Inslee shares a vision for building a PEAR ecosystem in the state of Washington and he articulates his intention that all state agencies do their part. At the Department of Enterprise Services (DES), we recognize that embedding the values of diversity, equity and inclusion into all aspects of our work is critical to fulfilling our mission of “strengthening the business of government.” It is also the right thing to do.

This work is a key priority for us. Although we cannot change the oppressive and discriminatory practices of the past, we have control over our current workplace culture and the services we provide to state and local governments.

The DES Leadership Team, working closely with the agency’s agency PEAR Team, is committed to building the capabilities and the capacity necessary to do this work in a meaningful way. While responsibilities vary widely across our many business lines, we know each of us must do our own work to ensure we are fully partnering with our customers and stakeholders.

We are also actively pursuing the following Service Line Investments

  • Build and deploy our PEAR Strategic Action Plan across all Leadership Operations & Services to support agency equity goals as well as goals of all the other state agencies we support.
  • Develop a community engagement strategy that will ensure agency and enterprise alignment and foster PEAR engagement and community partnership.
  • Create mechanisms to support small agencies to which DES provides services to help them develop the capacity to institute PEAR strategies that will have a positive impact on their customers and community members.

I look forward to continuing this journey with each of you, our partners, and the Office of Equity. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, our Chief Equity Officer Dr. Adrian Thompson, or any member of the DES Leadership Team with questions or ideas.

Sincerely,

Tara C. Smith
Director

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