Interagency Working Group

President Biden's Executive Order (EO) 14031 establishes a federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) as part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI). The IWG is composed of senior-level Executive Branch officials who have been designated by their respective agencies to coordinate WHIAANHPI’s work across the federal government. The IWG works to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities by coordinating federal interagency policymaking, program development, and outreach efforts to address barriers impacting AA and NHPI communities.

Each agency in the IWG must prepare a plan outlining measurable actions the agency is considering or will take to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities. This includes efforts to:

• Identify and eliminate any existing institutional policies or barriers within Federal programs and services that may disadvantage or burden AA and NHPI communities;
• Improve safety, access to justice, and violence prevention for AA and NHPI communities, including by preventing, reporting, addressing, and better tracking acts of hate and bias (such as acts of hate and bias at the intersection of gender-based violence);
• Promote inclusion and belonging for AA and NHPI communities, including by expanding public education and knowledge of AA and NHPI people and their diverse cultures, languages, and histories;
• Expand the collection and use of disaggregated data at the Federal, State and local level on AA and NHPI communities, and facilitate improved research on policy and program outcomes for AA and NHPI communities, in coordination with the Interagency Working Group on Equitable Data established by Executive Order (EO) 13985;
• End language access and other barriers faced by AA and NHPI communities in accessing government benefits and services;
• Improve health outcomes, eliminate health disparities, and expand access to quality, affordable, and culturally competent medical and mental healthcare services for AA and NHPI individuals and communities;
• End disparities in educational outcomes for AA and NHPI youth and students of all ages, and address barriers to learning, including bullying, harassment, and other forms of discrimination at school;
• Address the concentration of poverty facing many AA and NHPI communities, including by identifying and addressing disparities in access to safe, affordable housing and homeownership;
• Expand economic opportunity for AA and NHPI families, including by advancing opportunities for AA and NHPI entrepreneurs and small businesses, supporting access to jobs and workforce training for AA and NHPI communities, promoting AA and NHPI participation and success in the private sector, ensuring workplaces are free from race and national origin harassment and other forms of employment discrimination, and ensuring AA and NHPI communities can access consumer and finance protections;
• Increase opportunities for civic engagement, such as electoral participation, within AA and NHPI communities;
• Improve the equitable allocation of Federal resources, including through Federal funds, contracts, grants, and awards, to AA and NHPI communities and AA and NHPI-serving organizations;
• Support AA and NHPI communities in responding to and recovering from national or regional crises and public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis;
• Secure climate and environmental justice for AA and NHPI communities who are particularly impacted by the climate crisis and are overburdened by environmental degradation; and
• Identify ways to foster the recruitment, career and leadership development, retention, advancement, and participation of AA and NHPI public servants at all levels of the Federal workforce.