SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall has recently appointed Damian Choi to serve as the Chief Equity Officer, who will lead the City’s efforts in championing diversity across all its policies and programs.
“I’m so excited to welcome Damian to my office to continue the work of making our capital city a fair and equitable place for all who live here and visit,” Mendenhall said. “Damian’s background is rooted in transformative justice and a community-oriented approach to social change. That plus his valuable institutional knowledge from working for the City for 12 years makes him the perfect choice for this important role.”
As a Chief Equity Officer, Choi will be working with citywide departments to develop strategies with the goal of embedding diversity, equity and inclusion into every aspect of the City’s work, mission and culture. He will also assess current policies and recommend changes to eliminate any existing biases and inequities.
Choi’s hire is to replace a vacant seat left by Kaletta Lynch, who recently resigned and moved out of state.
“It’s an honor and privilege to serve the Salt Lake City community as the newly appointed Chief Equity Officer,” Choi said. “We each have come from different places and arrived by way of a unique journey to Salt Lake City. These differences likely contributed to shaping us and inspiring our reactions and perspectives regarding today’s social justice issues. The better we appreciate and understand our individual perspectives, the more cohesive and engaged our teams will be in serving the folks that live in and visit Salt Lake City. My hope is that we will continually challenge ourselves and each other in an atmosphere of mutual concern, goodwill, and respect.”
Choi previously served as the City’s associate director for Youth and Family services as well as the director of the Compliance Division. He earned a master’s degree in community leadership from Westminister College and another postgraduate degree in conflict resolution and mediation from the University of Utah.