Washington, D.C. — Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam today announced the agency’s first Strategic Plan to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA Plan). This two-year DEIA Plan represents a critical step forward in aligning our organization with a collective DEIA vision that not only provides genuine support for our valued team members, but ensures the CFTC is a source of future leaders.

“As we embark on this transformative journey, I look forward to seeing the opportunities that lie ahead and the positive impact this DEIA Plan will have on our agency and the broader financial community,” said Chairman Behnam. “The changing derivatives and financial markets require us to think, work, and operate differently than we have before. I am grateful for the dedication of our Chief Diversity Officer Tanisha Cole Edmonds, her team, and our entire workforce in motivating this new, transformative direction.”

“As the CFTC’s Chief Diversity Officer and Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, I am honored to join Chairman Behnam in presenting the CFTC’s first DEIA Strategic Plan,” said Tanisha Cole Edmonds. “I am equally proud to call this DEIA Plan ‘our’ Plan because it is the result of an agency-wide, collaborative effort. Throughout the strategic planning process, much care was taken in thoughtfully engaging stakeholders from all levels across the agency to listen and understand lived experiences, exchange ideas, and seek buy-in.”

The CFTC’s DEIA Plan, aligned to the CFTC’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, focuses on the following six goals: Inclusive Workplaces, Partnerships and Recruitment, Paid Internships, Professional Development and Advancement, Data, and Equity in Procurement and Customer Education and Outreach. Each goal includes objectives and strategies/actions to achieve the goal, and identifies the agency division(s)/office(s) that will lead and contribute to the implementation of the goal. An internal DEIA Executive Council will support and guide the implementation of the DEIA Plan.

See full plan: Strategic Plan to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility