DAMI Issues Statement on Smithsonian's Continued Refusal To Publicly Report Asset Manager Diversity Data

March 9, 2022 - WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Diverse Asset Managers Initiative's (DAMI) founder and executive director Robert Raben issued the following statement questioning the motive behind the Smithsonian's continued refusal to publicly report disaggregated diversity data.

“Why won’t the Smithsonian endowment’s Investment Office answer straightforward questions about whether it works with women and people of color in the management of its assets?   

“What exactly are they hiding?

“The Diverse Asset Managers Initiative has been trying for several years, unsuccessfully, to get The Smithsonian Institution’s Investment Office to report publicly whether it works with African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, or women, in the management of its $5.4 billion endowment, which is public money.

“They refuse to answer reporters' questions to this effect, they refuse to respond to their version of FOIA request to this effect, and when they are forced to provide the numbers to members of Congress who ask, they tell those members not to release the data publicly.  

“If diversity among the Smithsonian’s asset managers is insufficient, then report those data and let’s work on improving an eminently fixable problem. Anything less flies in the face of their stated mission to ‘promote diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the Smithsonian's workforce, programs, and activities.’”