D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed Amber Hewitt to be the city’s first chief equity officer Friday.
Hewitt, who served as the director of health equity at Families USA, is charged with developing an infrastructure in city government that will ensure policy decisions and District programs are evaluated through an equity lens.
“The Chief Equity Officer will collaborate with District agencies, residents, and external stakeholders to make meaningful progress toward a more equitable city. Among her first responsibilities as the Chief Equity Officer will be to conduct an equity analysis of the District to establish government-wide priorities and to build a team to support the implementation of these priorities,” according to a news release.
Hewitt, who is responsible for seeing through Bowser’s vision of achieving racial equity in D.C., will lead the Office of Racial Equity in the Office of the City Administrator.
As Director of Health Equity with Families USA, she was responsible for “developing strategic policy priorities to advance health equity and reduce disparities in health outcomes, health care access, and health care quality,” the news release stated.
Prior to working for Families USA, Hewitt served as an American Psychological Association and American Association for the Advancement of Science health policy fellow in the Office of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker.
Hewitt previously taught undergraduate and doctorate-level courses in psychology, social justice, multicultural counseling and diversity issues at the University of Akron and Loyola University Chicago.
