The official diversity policy of National Commodore Vass states, "the Auxiliary is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment, a journey guided by the deeply held values of Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty, as America's Guardians, we understand that diversity is not a problem to be solved, but is an asset to be developed." The Auxiliary Department of Diversity and Inclusion has been stood up to respond to this need. Standing for Diversity, written by Kenneth Jacobs, Division Chief of Communication Services (DVC-UC) of the Auxiliary's Information Technology Group User Support & Services as well as the Diversity & Outreach Officer at the US Coast Guard Academy Admissions Office, shows how the Auxiliary will reach our goals.

Follow up:

Coast Guard Auxiliary National leadership has approved the creation of a National Diversity Department to work in support of its Districts, Divisions and Flotilla units throughout the country. "I want the Coast Guard Auxiliary to become the volunteer organization of choice throughout the country,” said Don Lloyd, Assistant National Commodore for Diversity and Inclusion. Providing diversity leadership tools across all levels of the Auxiliary will help to ensure we meet the goals and mission of our Strategic Plan for Managing Diversity.

As we continue the challenging work of building a diverse membership within the Auxiliary our focus will be on the development of a culturally competent organization of inclusion, understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embrace and celebrate the rich dimensions of diversity within our membership.

The very concept of diversity encompasses the values of acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, recognizing and celebrating individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or a wide range of other ideologies.

One of our goals includes creating a safe, positive, and nurturing environment, recognizing our differences, allowing members across all levels to contribute their time and talent by promulgating and fostering an organizational philosophy which values the ideas and opinions of everyone.

We must also develop partnerships with other stakeholders who support our mission. “I am excited to work with the Coast Guard Auxiliary future diversity leaders,” said CAPT Stephen Finton, Director of Admissions at the Coast Guard Academy, “COMO Lloyd is committed to Diversity and the collaboration required for success. Our future looks bright.”

Developing partnerships with outside organizations has played a key role in the Coast Guard Academy Admissions staff success in recruiting a more diverse corps of cadets. The incoming class in 2009 was 16% underrepresented minorities, jumping to 24% in 2010 and 35% in 2011. We can benefit from this experience by adopting a similar recruiting model.

Diversity is about inclusion and engagement, leaving no one behind. The challenge before us is real and crystal clear. The call for greatness in diversity has never been louder. The world is changing, as is our organization and we are about discovering our future and discarding old paradigms. Paradigms act as filters that screen an individual’s understanding, our incoming messages and experiences, while their effects can cause us to be misled and prevent us from seeing what is really happening.

The USCG Auxiliary sees diversity not as a problem to be solved, but an asset to be developed. Those of us who seek to serve in the Auxiliary’s newly created National Department of Diversity and Inclusion will be setting a course in uncharted waters. We are the pathfinders and we must hold the torch to light the way toward a better tomorrow.

Our watchwords: “Dependability, Integrity, Diversity.”