President's Message on Diversity

Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion is an important priority at RAND. It's the right thing to do for our staff, and it strengthens our research and analysis.

RAND's mission requires us to count diversity, equity, and inclusion among our strengths.

We know a diverse staff and inclusive environment enable effective teamwork, which is a defining advantage in producing the facts and analysis that inform better policy and decisionmaking. At RAND, we empower our people to do their best work by cultivating a workplace culture where different views and perspectives are valued and respected, and where colleagues can enjoy a sense of belonging and feel confident bringing their authentic selves to their work each day.

In the conduct of our research and public engagement, we strive for thoughtful consideration of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This informs how we compose our teams, formulate our research questions, and design, execute, and communicate our research. It requires us to hire and retain staff, and develop external networks and relationships, that are diverse in terms of academic training, work experience, political and ideological outlook, as well as race, gender, ethnicity, and the many other attributes that make us unique.

I know that my background and life experiences do not reflect all the perspectives that RAND needs to succeed. By building a collective of broadly different experiences and backgrounds, we are generating better ideas, while avoiding groupthink and ideological or partisan leanings that can undermine the objectivity of our analysis.