Interviews & Profiles

A Q&A with Chad Dion Lassiter

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Executive Director, who will be a panelist at City & State’s 3rd Annual Diversity Summit, talks about how DEI can impact individual companies and the economy at all levels.

Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter

Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter Commonwealth Media Services

Chad Dion Lassiter’s work on race relations and social policy speaks for itself. As executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Lassiter oversees the legislatively delegated authority in investigating complaints of unlawful discrimination and developing diversity, equity and inclusion measures to implement across state agencies. In addition to his role with the commonwealth, Lassiter is also a co-founder and president of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice’s Black Men at Penn – the Ivy League’s first Black male group of social workers. 

City & State spoke with Lassiter, a panelist during the Diversity Summit’s second panel, ahead of next week’s event to discuss his role and what the conference has to offer. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

For someone who has never gone to a conference like the Diversity Summit, what can they expect to see and get out of the event?

First and foremost, individuals will be in a space where there’ll be learning from experts, thought leaders, people who have practical experiences, people who can share with them some of the complexities with regard to small business, procurements and things of that nature. I think they can expect to get a blueprint or template on how to navigate being in the DIY space for small businesses, and to participate in an exchange of ideals and concepts. 

One of the things about the summit is that it’s not just a panel; it’s a networking event as well. Individuals have an opportunity to interact not just with the panelists, but others in the room – procurement officers, minority business owners, individuals who are social entrepreneurs and individuals in state government. It’s a collaboration of individuals coming together to provide information to a targeted audience. The audience also comes with a dearth of experience as well to actually push the panel with regard to questions and comments. It’s always been something I look forward to whether I’m a panelist or not. 

We’ve heard from previous attendees about the business connections they made last year. What else can the Diversity Summit provide besides the scheduled discussions?

The exchange of ideas. One of the things I enjoyed about it last year is that it wasn’t just the panel talking to the audience and the audience talking back. It was an exchange of ideas. It was individuals who were in the audience who were also sharing best practices, things that are working, things that need to be revamped and things that need to be analyzed. People were applying a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats framework to some of the challenges and some of the barriers with procurement – a lot of the red tape. 

The other thing to look forward to is you have a Secretary of the Department of General Services that just got confirmed unanimously – 49 to 0 – who’s going to be bringing the keynote speech. And then the panel itself is comprised of a diverse cadre of individuals who have multiple perspectives and multiple experiences that they can also share. For me, the overall thing is for us to reach a consensus on how we can better serve individuals in that market space as it relates to small businesses, as it relates to contracts, as it relates to procurement, and as it relates to making sure that people know what to do, like: “What are the resources, who should I talk to when the red tape is so exhaustive?”

What do you hope to bring to the conversation – and to get out of your panel discussion?

Given that the Human Relations Commission is the top civil rights enforcement agency in the commonwealth, it’s important for individuals to know that we actually move things forward in the space of diversity, equity and inclusion, and by addressing all forms of discrimination. Primarily, our Pennsylvania Human Relations Act protects the citizens of Pennsylvania in the discriminatory areas of employment, education, housing, commercial property, and public accommodation. I look to learn from the audience and learn from the panelists, but also to share my expertise in the space of fostering justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as equity and belonging in the workplace. 

We’re always doing training for other commonwealth entities, whether that’s, for example, the Department of Corrections, Labor and Industry and others – but we also do training ourselves. We do the training within PHRC to make sure that we’re doing the things that we need to do to make sure that our workforce is diverse and that people feel welcome in the PHRC. We bring in the Anti-Defamation League and they train us on unconscious bias to make sure that we’re treating people with dignity and respect. 

Lastly, I look forward to talking about how diverse workforces move the commonwealth forward. Pennsylvania under this governor is in a unique position to be a leader in the global market economy. I think Pennsylvania is going to lead the nation in a lot of key spaces under this governor, his cabinet and all the wonderful people that make up multiple small businesses, government entities and educational entities in our great commonwealth.  

City & State’s third annual Diversity Summit takes place June 15 at the Hilton Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. For more information, including tickets, click here.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.