Worcester Diversity Officer Wanted 'More Progressive' Workplace: Letter

WORCESTER, MA — The city of Worcester has released a tranche of documents related to the recent resignation of chief diversity officer Stephanie Williams, including a resignation letter where Williams outlined her reasons from stepping down.

In a Feb. 21 resignation letter, Williams did not blame any particular person or department for her decision to leave — but she made clear that Worcester city government wasn't taking diversity as seriously as she wanted, calling it an "extracurricular activity," the letter says.

"[T]here are personal boundaries that conflict with the current culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion being an extracurricular activity without embracing all that a properly experienced [chief diversity officer] can do," the resignation letter said. "Chief diversity officers need more than a title to succeed, and for me there are too many tradeoffs to being 'resilient' vs acknowledging the (very) real challenges (significant) institutional barriers."

On March 4, City Manager Ed Augustus Jr.'s office announced Williams' departure. She was the third chief diversity officer to leave the job in six years, leading city councilors and community groups in Worcester to question the city's committment to diversity efforts.

RELATED: Worcester Diversity Officer Issues Statement About Departure

Williams went on to say she would be a better fit in a "more progressive work environment."

"In my experience, there is a limited alignment in the true capacity needed for someone to do this work efficiently and effectively based on the operational structures and business design," she wrote of Worcester city government.

Williams' last day in Worcester was March 18. She will take over as Mount Wachusett Community College's chief diversity officer this spring, the college announced on Monday. Assistant City Manager Eric Batista will take on her role until the city finds a permanent replacement.

Worcester provided Williams' resignation letter to Patch under a records request on Monday. On Tuesday, the city released a raft of emails between Williams and other city employees that show uneven progress on various race and equity initiatives.

In January, Williams began trying to get internal support advertising several of her initiatives: the start of race and equity audits in the police and health and human services departments, and the city's inclusion on the job site diversityjobs.com. It took several weeks before to get the information circulated, emails show.

Also in January, documents show that 17 race and equity initiatives started in February 2021 under an executive order by Augustus were almost all still in the works. Only five had been completed by January, with the rest listed as "in progress."

Williams appeared to still be working on the items nearing the date she submitted her resignation.

"One of the main ways/priorities that we are looking at his having a Think-Tank session/workshop with cabinet members — in February — to get them involved as key stakeholders (which is imperative in organizational strategic planning)," she wrote in an email to top city officials on Jan. 18.

On Feb. 16, five days before she submitted her resignation, Williams was preparing to do an interview with WBUR about the city's progress on race and equity initiatives.

Read Williams' full resignation letter here: