The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Office of Civil Rights has launched a pilot staff survey on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In a memo sent to CFPB employees on Monday, Melissa Brand, who heads the bureau's civil rights office, wrote that the survey's results will help the federal Office of Personnel Management formulate a coordinated governmentwide policy on the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The memo was sent to all CFPB employees under the subject line: "Making Sure Every Person Counts: Take the SOGI Pilot Survey to Promote Inclusion for All." The memo, which was obtained by American Banker, stated that the survey would be "anonymous and voluntary."
"Your participation will literally help ensure that every person at CFPB (and ultimately across the federal sector) counts and has a chance to express their identity in a more inclusive, authentic, accurate way," Brand wrote. "The survey results will also help the CFPB's Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), Office of Human Capital (OHC), and CFPB senior leaders better assess the equal employment opportunity and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility related needs and challenges of our employees, including for LGBTQIA+ employees."
CFPB employees were provided a link to a list of frequently asked questions about the survey. Brand cautioned that the survey had a question at the end that asked for the division where the employee worked. "This is only for purposes of measuring overall survey participation," she wrote.
The survey pilot project was approved by the CFPB's deputy director, Zixta Martinez, Brand said in the memo. Employees have from Monday until Feb. 3 to answer the survey questions.
The CFPB and Office of Personnel Management did not respond to requests for comment.
