WASHINGTON – As part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) ongoing and focused efforts to be a place of and for opportunity, and to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) throughout every corner of the agency, today Director Kathi Vidal announced the appointment of Caren Ulrich Stacy as the agency’s lead DEIA advisor, effective immediately.
Ms. Ulrich Stacy is a talent expert with 30 years of experience whose most recent accomplishments include founding Diversity Lab, an incubator for innovative, science-driven solutions that increase inclusivity and equal access to opportunities in law and beyond. Her award-winning work leveraging data, behavioral science, and design thinking has been featured in Fast Company, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg, Fortune, The American Lawyer, and on Fox News. Her full bio can be found on the Diversity Lab website.
“Caren is an innovator in the field of workforce opportunity and accessibility. Her work has led to transformational change within the legal profession. I look forward to working alongside Caren and our excellent USPTO team to shape practices and programs that support and sustain inclusive hiring, development, and advancement systems for this great agency and all those we serve,” remarked Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director.
Director Vidal has prioritized inclusivity and equal access to opportunities for all of the USPTO workforce and those who seek to work at America’s Innovation Agency. Four months into her tenure, the Director has held dozens of external and internal listening sessions with stakeholders and employees, onboarded key members of her leadership team, and executed on ideas that will move the agency forward.
Ms. Ulrich Stacy joins the USPTO leadership team and will take a data-driven and behavioral science-based approach to help shape the future of the USPTO.
“I look forward to working with Caren as we establish our new and first-ever DEIA Council and build out our DEIA team,” commented Bismarck Myrick, the USPTO’s Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity. “I’m confident that working alongside Caren, our USPTO leadership team, and voluntary employee organizations, will move our minority-majority agency to new heights.”
Ms. Ulrich Stacy will continue her practice at Diversity Lab while advising the USPTO.
