Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative taps former Ohio jobs director for new leadership role
A longtime attorney who recently led Ohio’s employment and human services department has been tapped for the top role leading Charlotte’s major racial equity initiative, officials announced Thursday.
Kimberly Henderson has been named executive director of the Employer Office of Inclusion and Advancement, which will implement the $250 million Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative.
The initiative is the business community’s effort to decrease racial disparities and address years of laws and policies that disadvantage Black and brown residents in Charlotte, leaders said when it was announced in November.
It will focus on investments at Johnson C. Smith University, increasing diverse leadership in the city’s biggest employers, bridging the digital divide and revitalizing key areas of the city that have been historically ignored or disadvantaged.
Henderson was most recently director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and served in Gov. Mike DeWine’s cabinet. She left the post in March, according to local media.
“I am honored to partner with community and faith-based organizations, higher education institutions, business, and local government to help advance this transformational initiative,” Henderson said in a statement announcing her hire.
“Our mutual effort to promote economic opportunity for the Black community and other people of color in Charlotte has the power to impact future generations and lift the entire region.”
The new position will be through the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. Henderson will lead the effort to boost employer commitments to diverse hiring and promotion, as well as work with leaders in the other areas of focus, according to the announcement.
“Kim’s strong track record of service to communities and others, and her proven ability to convene and organize transformational civic ideas, is exactly what we need in this important moment for Charlotte,” initiative co-chairs Mike Lamach and Malcomb Coley said in a statement.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 3:43 PM.
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