Virginia–Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced he has chosen Angela Sailor to be Virginia’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Governor Youngkin also issued Executive Order #10, designating Sailor as a member of his cabinet as the Commonwealth Chief Diversity, Opportunity & Inclusion Officer with a stronger and more focused role in promoting ideas, policies, and economic opportunities for disadvantaged Virginians, including Virginians living with disabilities and bringing Virginians of different faiths together.
“The people of Virginia elected the most diverse leadership in the Commonwealth’s history. Virginia is big enough for the hopes and dreams of a diverse people. Angela Sailor’s experience in government, nonprofits and the private sector will guide us as we ensure that the government is working for all Virginians across our diverse Commonwealth, especially when it comes to economic opportunity for all Virginians. In addition, I will introduce and support legislation to change the name of the office to the Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion Office,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Angela Sailor is an executive with 20-plus years of experience delivering measurable achievements in both in-house and advisory roles working with government (White House, Congress, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Education), corporate, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and non-profit organizations (NPOs). Her most recent positions include Vice President of The Feulner Institute at The Heritage Foundation, Chief of Staff to Heritage’s President Kay Coles James and public member of the Senior Foreign Service Selection Board for the United States Department of State.
Sailor has also worked to promote policy through public sector leadership positions at the federal, state, and local levels. Serving in The White House Office of Public Liaison, Sailor successfully formed coalitions to support Presidential policy initiatives while driving stakeholder support and advancing strategic communication to traditional and niche markets. Her portfolio included domestic policy directly impacting the African-American and Senior Citizen communities. She served as a champion for Presidential policies supporting Education, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Faith-based initiatives, Health Care, Housing, Small Business, Social Security and Welfare policy. As a White House surrogate, Angela hosted White House briefings, East Room and Rose Garden events with the President, as well as, regional and local town hall meetings with cabinet and senior Administration officials.
She served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the United States Department of Education, Office of Secretary Rod Paige. In this role, Sailor worked closely with the White House on a wide variety of policy matters coming before the Secretary and represented the Secretary to internal and external stakeholders. She had oversight of White House Initiatives on Educational Excellence and Higher Education to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as the Office for Faith-Based Initiatives. Special Projects included No Child Left Behind War Room, 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the Title IX Commission on Opportunities in Athletics. She worked for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration for former U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham. Also, her roles at the state and local level include work in Michigan’s Legal Office for longtime Republican Governor John Engler, for the State of Michigan Appeals Court, Detroit, Michigan and for Detroit Michigan Wayne County Commission.
Sailor also served as Director of African-American Affairs, for George W. Bush’s Victory 2000 Presidential Campaign. In this capacity, she served as liaison to Congressional, state, and local African-American Republican candidates. Sailor built stronger alliances with urban-centered businesses, community, education and religious leaders across America, and she managed coalition field staff and volunteers across the country.
