WORCESTER – The City of Worcester will soon relaunch its search for its next Chief Equity Officer after a candidate rejected a recent employment offer from the city.
City Manager Eric Batista told Talk of the Commonwealth with Hank Stolz in December that the city was about to make an offer to a candidate. Batista also told Stolz that 44 candidates applied for the position.
Batista has made a reorganization of the city’s administration and the creation of the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a centerpiece of his agenda. The individual who becomes the chief diversity officer would lead that office.
The rejected offer is the most recent chapter of what has been a long-term and sometimes controversial saga. Since 2016, three individuals in the role of chief diversity officer for the city have resigned from the position. The last individual in the position, Stephanie Williams, resigned effective March 18, 2022.
Renaming the role as chief equity officer is part of Batista’s reorganization, which also created the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The city announced on Sept. 15, 2023 the search was open and interested candidates could apply until Oct. 15, 2023.
A spokesperson at the city manager’s office told This Week in Worcester that the job opening will be “reposted imminently” to the city’s website.
Correction: A previous version of this story named position as diversity officer, not equity officer.
