A firm hired by the Obama administration has pulled in hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars to teach federal workers about diversity, according to an ongoing investigation from a government watchdog group.
The Chicago-based Souder, Betances & Associates, was hired the federal government to teach workers about diversity, race and gender, and health care and cultural disparities. According to the group’s website, the firm provides "diversity trainers and consultants" to strengthen "the world of work through diversity."
Judicial Watch first discovered the group years ago, but recently obtained records in relation to their ongoing investigation into the firm’s training given to government workers.
Judicial Watch reports:
Records obtained as part of an ongoing JW investigation reveal that, in the last few months alone, Betances’ firm received $42,500 from the government to provide diversity training. This includes two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts for $24,000 and $10,000 and one for $8,500 from the Department of Energy (DOE). JW has actually created a spreadsheet documenting some of Betances’ deals with the government in the last few years totaling more than half a million dollars for diversity training at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (DOD) and Health and Human Services (HHS), among others.
Three years ago, the government watchdog group first opened their investigation into the firm after receiving a tip from a USDA employee on the training sessions.
In 2012 JW launched an investigation into the administration’s arrangement with Betances after a USDA employee tipped us off about the agency’s nationwide compulsory diversity sessions. JW eventually obtained previously unseen USDA videos of outrageous diversity training sessions conducted by Betances. Highlights include Betances urging federal employees to chant "If we work for a federal agency, we’ve discriminated in the past." He also suggests that the United States "took over what used to be Mexico" and states that schools are only interested in educating middle class children.
The feds have tried to keep this controversial diversity training away from the public. In fact, JW obtained electronic mail exchanges between Betances and a top USDA official named Vincent Loran that support this. In one email Loran promises Betances that he will keep secret a video of a training session shot on the USDA premises. This month the National Science Foundation (NSF) refused to reveal details of a Betances event at the agency’s Washington D.C. headquarters. JW learned about it after spotting a flyer advertising a September 9 Betances appearance at the NSF. After getting the runaround from a number of NSF public affairs employees, JW was able to at least confirm that Betances was conducting some sort of in-house diversity training.