Burlington, VT— Following a national search, Howard Center is very pleased to announce that we have hired Catarina Campbell as the agency’s first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
With degrees from Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, Campbell comes to Howard Center from the University of Vermont’s Women and Gender Equity Center where they most recently served as Program and Leadership Coordinator. A former director of the Pride Center of Vermont’s SafeSpace AntiViolence Program, Campbell was selected from a group of finalists following a series of interviews and community forums with Howard Center leaders and staff.
“Catarina will continue to expand our proactive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and racial justice initiatives and brings their strong leadership, strategic planning, and team development skills,” said Bob Bick, Howard Center’s CEO. “We formalized our DEI effort several years ago and our trustees recently added racial justice as a pillar of our strategic plan. Catarina’s hiring is the next step toward ensuring a welcoming, inclusive, equitable, and diverse environment at Howard Center for our staff, the people we serve, our partners, and the community.”
Campbell will lead Howard Center’s DEI team and agency efforts to increase awareness and support of DEI and racial justice values across the agency. “I have deep admiration and respect for each person who works at Howard Center; the work done here requires so much commitment and compassion. I am excited for us to co-create a community culture where all can belong and thrive,” they said.
Howard Center first established a Diversity Coordinator position in 2006 and created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department in 2017. The department implements key initiatives including staff affinity networks, monthly roundtable discussions, and cultural competence trainings. The new position will help Howard Center recruit and retain a more diverse workforce and implement agency-wide efforts to ensure high quality programming for all members of the community.
With a staff of more than 1600 in 60+ locations, Howard Center is the state’s designated agency for Chittenden County and the largest community-based service agency in Vermont.