$78K DEI survey asking for employees’ sexual orientation paused after supervisor shares with constituents

The Prince William County Government removed an online survey asking employees about their gender identity, sexual orientation, and whether or not they feel valued at work after Supervisor Yesli Vega shared the survey with her constituents.

The 21-question survey (see it here) cost taxpayers $78,000, or about $3,700 per question, and was conducted by DiversityMBA/Learning Solutions, according to an email from Maria Burgos, the county’s equity and inclusion officer.

Vega represents the Coles District and sent a link to the online survey in her constituent email on Sunday, February 26, 2023:

As this survey is taxpayer-funded, our office wanted to share and ensure that all who work for the county or identify as working for the county are included and have the opportunity to participate and provide feedback.

While some may note that some of the questions are intrusive and some of the answer options aren’t particularly inclusive, a few questions do provide an opportunity to write-in your own answer.

Again, this is a great opportunity to see how your hard-earned tax dollars are used and to catch a glimpse into the current environment of the Prince William County Government.

Burgos said the county government unpublished the online survey after Vega’s constituents received the email. Burgos said she plans to repost the survey soon.

From Burgos’ email obtained by PLN:

[DiversityMBA/Learning Solutions] will identify specific lines of inquiry (including but not limited to: organizational behaviors, practices, and procedures that impede inclusion in the following areas: policies and practices in relation to recruitment/selection, performance management, pay and numeration, talent identification as well as understanding leadership development, employee levels of inclusion, and career structures).

DiversityMBA/Learning Solutions has collected over 100+ documents around these lines of inquiry. They are synthesizing the PWC Employee survey, and the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument results conducted by each department.

They are now completing the last areas of organizational assessments with the inclusion survey and department interviews. Since your office released the survey link to the public, we closed the survey and will reopen it for all employees once we can ensure this instrument of measure has not been compromised.

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors created the county’s office of equity and inclusion in 2021. Burgos worked in the county school division in a similar role before she went to the county government.

While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices have become commonplace in government and educational institutions across the U.S., some jurisdictions are scrapping them. Earlier this month, The Roanoke Times reported the Roanoke County Public School division eliminated its DEI position.

In Prince William County in 2022, the county school division declined insidenova.com an interview with its DEI officer. The publication sought to learn more about her job duties and its work within the state’s second-largest school division.

Prince William County Public Schools created its DEI office in 2021, giving it a $2 million budget. The project was heralded by Superintendent Dr. LaTayna McDade, who came to the county from Chicago Public Schools in 2021.