Women And People Of Color Make Up Close To Half Of Biden Transition Team

Updated September 7, 2021

Although we've known the 2020 presidential election's projected results for over a week now, it appears that President-Elect Joe Biden is no closer to receiving the intelligence briefing information he'll need as president as when they were announced.

As NPR reported, this has to do with the fact that President Donald Trump has refused to concede the election and — more importantly — cooperate with Biden's transition team in terms of setting aside office space, releasing funds the team can usually expect, and facilitating cooperation with government agencies.

But while it seems that this team must go it alone for the time being, reports suggest that its roster will "look like America" as Biden has promised.

As Biden is in the process of choosing the members of his cabinet and the White House senior staff, his transition team of about 500 people have their sights set on his Inauguration Day.

As CNN reported, about 46% of this team are people of color, which is specifically true of 41% of the team's senior staff.

In addition to this figure, the team's roster data also indicates that 52% of the team in general and 53% of its senior staff are women.

As one transition official put it, about 40% of the team "represent communities historically underrepresented in the federal government."

According to CNN, this doesn't just refer to the presence of people of color on the team, but also members of the LGBTQ+ community and people living with disabilities.

As Transition Team co-chair Ted Kaufman said, "As we continue working full-speed ahead to Inauguration, our diverse group of leaders and staff are reflective of America — upholding President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris' belief that through diverse voices we can develop and implement a policy vision to tackle our nation's toughest challenges."

This mindfulness of diversity also extends to the team's advisory boards, particularly the one tasked with supporting Biden's COVID-19 response.

As CNN reported, nine of the 13 members of this advisory board are people of color while five are women.

As for the total make-up of the team's advisory boards, 43% of them are people of color while 52% are women.

These transition team statistics reflect a promise Biden made at a June 27 town hall hosted by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote that his administration would "look like America."

During Biden's appearance, he said, "My administration is going to look like America. Not just my staff, the administration. From the vice-president straight down through cabinet members to major players within the White House and the court. It’s going to be a reflection of who we are as a nation."

h/t: CNN

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