Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Martha K. Hirst today announced the appointment of Diane Crothers in the new position of Deputy Commissioner for Citywide Equal Employment Opportunity. Previously, the City’s EEO position was coordinated by an Assistant Commissioner.  By elevating the office to the level of Deputy Commissioner, the new position will carry broader responsibilities and will report directly to the Commissioner. Crothers, who started at DCAS this month, previously served in executive and senior level EEO positions for the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor.

“The appointment of Diane Crothers and the strengthening of her office will reinforce our commitment to equal opportunity in the workplace,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The incredible diversity found throughout the five boroughs is what makes this City such an attractive place to live and work – and it’s what gives New York such an extraordinarily deep talent pool.  Our Administration has always been fully committed to ensuring that the doors of opportunity are open to all people, from all backgrounds.  This latest initiative will strengthen our efforts to recruit and retain the best and the brightest from the broadest possible population and it will help ensure that all people are given an equal opportunity to advance their careers and achieve big things for the people we serve.”

“I’m pleased that Diane Crothers will bring her wealth of experience in Federal government EEO matters to the City of New York,” said Commissioner Hirst. “Her appointment to this new position will further enhance our ability to provide support and assistance to citywide diversity initiatives and to ensure equal opportunity to all City employees.”

At DCAS, Crothers will undertake a comprehensive review of the functions of the Office of Citywide Equal Employment Opportunity, including strategies for applying innovative federal and private sector approaches to increasing diversity in the leadership ranks of City government.

“New York City’s continued success depends on its ability to attract, retain and motivate people from every background and community,” said Deputy Commissioner Crothers. “I look forward to working with New York City’s talented workforce to continue to build the most competitive, highly qualified and diverse City Government.”

Crothers previously served as Chief of the Office of EEO and Diversity for the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., where she coordinated the agency-wide consolidation of EEO data to aid recruitment and succession planning. From 1998 to 2005, at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, she served as Chief of the Regulations Branch, Deputy Director for Policy, and Deputy Director for the Northeast Region, based in New York. While at the U.S. Department of Labor, Crothers led a substantive revision of the major Federal affirmative action/equal employment opportunity regulation, which requires Federal contractors to ensure that applicants and employees are treated without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Crothers, a former trial attorney for the District of Columbia, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her Juris doctorate from Rutgers Law School in Newark, N.J.

The DCAS Office of Citywide Equal Employment Opportunity is responsible for developing the City’s EEO Policy for mayoral agencies, creating and monitoring enforcement strategies, and providing training to senior-level City officials and EEO officers. The Office publishes a handbook for City employees, “About EEO: What You May Not Know.” For more information about the City’s EEO policy, visit www.nyc.gov.