Dr. Alaysia Black Hackett is a nationally recognized strategist and leading voice on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), with more than 20 years of executive-level leadership across government, academia, and the private sector. She is widely sought after for her ability to frame equity not as a checklist or symbolic gesture, but as a systems approach that delivers measurable outcomes across all demographics whether race, veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, women, justice involved, or rural communities.

In 2022, President Joe Biden appointed Dr. Black Hackett as the inaugural Chief Diversity and Equity Officer for the U.S. Department of Labor, where she led the Department’s implementation of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Orders on equity and DEIA. In this Senior Executive Service role, she worked directly withnthe White House, The Domestic Policy Council, Office of Management and Budget, Office of Personnel Management, and other federal agencies to normalize DEIA practices within labor systems across this country by expanding career pathways, dismantling exclusionary barriers, and embedding equity in workforce policy. Dr. Black Hackett’s federal leadership was complemented by her appointment as a Congressional Commissioner for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, where she contributed to national policy recommendations on workforce, justice, and community well-being.

At the state level, she was the inaugural Lead Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for Governor Ralph S. Northam in Virginia’s cabinet level Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, where she co-created the ONE Virginia Inclusive Excellence Plan across 100+ state agencies. Her leadership helped shape historic policy outcomes, from declaring racism a public health crisis to embedding equity language into Virginia’s constitution and advancing cannabis legislation with equity protections. She also received the 2020 Governor’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach Award for ensuring equitable access during the COVID-19 response.

Prior to government service, Dr. Black Hackett spent nearly two decades in higher education, serving in senior administrative and inaugural diversity officer roles, where she established offices of equity and inclusion and developed lasting infrastructure for student, faculty, and community engagement.

Beyond her policy and organizational work, Dr. Black Hackett is a public advocate and media voice, frequently appearing on radio, podcasts, and news platforms to provide accessible language on the positive impact of equity. She is also the author of The Diversity Illusion, a book that challenges performative diversity efforts and instead calls for embedding equity into the systems that shape organizations, government, and society. In it, she argues that equity must be treated as connective tissue within institutions, ensuring sustainable outcomes that outlast political climates or leadership changes.

She is the CEO of ABH Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm focused on sustainable change through organizational development, equity-driven strategies, and global connectivity. Dr. Black Hackett’s academic credentials include a Juris Doctor from Purdue Global Law School, a Master of Public Affairs in Organizational Development, and a Bachelor of Science in Sociology with a concentration in Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Relations, both from Western Carolina University. She also completed graduate coursework in Healthcare Administration at East Carolina University.