MAYOR'S RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVE

Kimberly Henderson, who was hired as executive director of the Mayor's Racial Equity Initiative earlier this month, has resigned.

Kimberly Henderson is out as executive director of the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative.

Henderson, who resigned in a letter dated Feb. 13, was stepping down from her position with the Employer Office of Inclusion and Advancement after an audit by the state of Ohio found an agency she led paid $3.8 billion in bogus unemployment claims. Henderson wrote that criminals used the pandemic to defraud unemployment benefits systems across the nation.

In her letter to Charlotte Regional Business Alliance President and CEO Janet LaBar, Henderson wrote “that the work of the Initiative is too critical to be jeopardized in any way by public misperceptions related to my prior leadership as a Cabinet Director in Ohio and appointment as Executive Director.”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked for a police probe into Henderson and her staff at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, but Henderson wrote in her statement that she is not the subject of any criminal investigation.

Henderson, an attorney with more than 20 years in public sector leadership in Ohio, was a member of Gov. Mike DeWine’s cabinet and as Job and Family Services director oversaw human service programs including food assistance, unemployment benefits, workforce development, child protective services, and childcare.

“In response to the pandemic, my top priority as Cabinet Director was assisting nearly two million Ohioans in need as quickly as possible,” she wrote in her resignation letter. “Regrettably, foreign and domestic criminals used the pandemic as an opportunity to defraud unemployment benefits systems across the nation at an unprecedented scale. Many of the improvements that were launched during my tenure are now fully operational.”

LaBar took responsibility for Henderson’s hiring in an open letter co-signed by and Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative co-chairs Malcomb Coley and Mike Lamach. They added: “we all regret the negative attention this process has brought to the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative and to Mayor [Vi] Lyles. We are deeply sorry for the distraction this has caused to work that is critically important to our community.”

LaBar, Coley and Lamach reinforced their commitment to the initiative’s operation and oversight while committing to its long-term goals.

“Our community has a long history of working together to tackle difficult issues that are bigger than any one entity, and public-private partnerships have been key to Charlotte’s success,” they wrote. “Nothing in recent days or months will change our faith in why we work together.

Prior to joining DeWine’s cabinet, Henderson was general counsel and senior vice president of administration at an Ohio community college and was executive leader at the state Attorney General’s Office and Department of Education.

“I am honored to partner with community and faith-based organizations, higher education institutions, business, and local government to help advance this transformational initiative,” Henderson said. “Our mutual effort to promote economic opportunity for the Black community and other people of color in Charlotte has the power to impact future generations and lift the entire region.”

Lyles announced in November the initiative’s launch, a $250 million campaign to address racial inequities and barriers to opportunity. The MREI funds four priority focus areas: bridging the digital divide and establishing a Center for Digital Equity; investing in Charlotte’s six “Corridors of Opportunity” neighborhoods; transforming Johnson C. Smith University into a top-tier, career-focused HBCU; and catalyzing employer commitment to racial equity through diversifying leadership, building the pipeline of Black and Brown talent, and extending corporate policies to drive vendor diversity.

The executive officer is responsible for implementing the Employer Commitment priorities and serve as professional executive staff to the JCSU Oversight Board and combined Digital Divide/Corridors of Opportunity/Employer Commitment Oversight Board.
 
Henderson, who moved to Charlotte last spring with her husband, Eric, plans to remain.

“I am a devoted servant leader of high integrity, and I look forward to continuing impactful work in my new hometown,” she wrote.

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