Douglas County introduces new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion officer

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - It’s only Day 3 on the job for Marisa Hattab. She’s starting her work as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director by taking an in-depth look at Douglas County’s 15 departments.

“It’s really hard for me to make decisions, make recommendations without including the voices of those who it’s going to directly impact the most,” Hattab said.

She’s getting started by meeting with employees from the entry-level to elected officials.

“I just want to be a listener, I want to be an observer and allow their voices and their experiences to inform the action plan that we have going forwards,” Hattab said.

County leaders said they have somewhat of an idea of what that could look like. The county already has a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. Before Hattab even started the job, the committee sent out a survey to see how she could best serve all employees.

“We looked at things such as our policies and procedures on hiring, promotions, retention, turn over, to see if whether or not there are things we should be looking at county-wide in those policies and procedures to see if we can make things better for our workforce,” said Mary Ann Borgeson, chairwoman of the Douglas County Commissioners.

Hattab said she wants to make sure all employees know she is here to get to work and make a real difference.

After she takes a deep look at the current workforce, she said she plans to make changes to help diversify the workplace to better represent the community.

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