WHS participates in first USCG Affinity Fair

24 May WHS participates in first USCG Affinity Fair

The U.S. Coast Guard hosted its first “Affinity Fair” Thursday to help USCG personnel “find their community” and promote a more inclusive Coast Guard. The effort is part of the Mentor Project spearheaded by Chief Brynn Simonetti.

The daylong Affinity Fair event featured an expo of nonprofits focused on communities based on gender, race, and sexual orientation, including Coast Guard-affiliated groups as well. Breakout sessions included topics such as how affinity groups can propel your career forward, mentoring, financial resiliency, inclusive leadersh ip, and conflict management, among others.

Some of the participating organizations included the Family Sea Service Foundation, the Coast Guard Enlisted Association, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association, Coast Guard Foundation, USCG Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), Women in Homeland Security, National Naval Officers Association, Blacks in Government and others. The fair was sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (CG-127).