Technology Magazine May 2021 | Page 45

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
LAUREN KNAUSENBERGER ON DIVERSITY

DID YOU KNOW ...

Lauren Knausenberger takes diversity seriously . On the one hand the USAF CIO is “ just choosing people that are really awesome and really passionate and really know their stuff ” but she balances this with a deep sense of what the modern workforce looks like . “ It ’ s absolutely true that if you can ’ t see it , you can ’ t be it . I see a lot of responsibility as the first female CIO in the department of the Air Force . I try to keep a diverse group of people . We talk a lot about making sure we can keep people included .”
The Black Lives Matter movement , in particular , shunted diversity into a prominent slot in the US Air Force ’ s agenda . “ It was important to keep a really open dialog and ask people ‘ how are you feeling ?’, ‘ what can we do to help ?’, ‘ what do you need to vent about ?’. I ’ m blessed to have a pretty diverse staff to lean on and ask . That includes women and people of color and of all different backgrounds .”
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