What Does a Chief Diversity Officer Do?

The Chief Diversity Officer leads a business's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Here is what the role involves and why it matters.

What the role owns

A Chief Diversity Officer owns a business's diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda — developing and leading the strategy to build a more diverse workforce and leadership, a more equitable organisation, and a genuinely inclusive culture. This spans hiring and progression, culture and belonging, and often the business's approach to diversity in its products, marketing, and community. The role works across the whole organisation on what is fundamentally a people-and-culture challenge, with strategic and cultural dimensions.

Strategy and culture change

The role is part strategy, part culture change. A CDO sets a considered DEI strategy — where the business is, where it needs to be, and how to get there — and then drives the harder work of changing culture, behaviours, and systems to deliver it. Culture change is slow and difficult, so much of the role is sustained influence and change-leadership across the organisation, not just policy. Grasping that DEI is a genuine organisational change effort, not a set of initiatives, is central to the role.

Leading through influence

A CDO typically drives change largely through influence — working with leaders and functions across the business to embed diversity and inclusion into how the organisation operates, rather than owning all of it directly. This requires strong influence, credibility, and the ability to bring people along, since lasting change depends on the whole business, especially its leaders, genuinely engaging. The ability to influence and mobilise the organisation is central to the role's effectiveness.

Why leadership commitment matters

The CDO's impact depends heavily on genuine commitment from the top. Where the CEO and leadership authentically back diversity and inclusion, a CDO can drive real change; where the role exists without genuine leadership commitment, it struggles and can become symbolic. Assessing and securing real leadership commitment is therefore central to the role succeeding. For businesses serious about diversity and inclusion, a strong CDO with genuine backing can make a meaningful difference, connecting to building diverse leadership.

Frequently asked questions

What does a Chief Diversity Officer do?

They lead a business's diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy and efforts — building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation and culture through strategy, culture change, and influence across the business.

What makes a Chief Diversity Officer effective?

Genuine leadership commitment from the top (without it the role becomes symbolic), combined with the CDO's own strategy, credibility, and ability to drive culture change through influence across the whole organisation. DEI is an organisational change effort, not a set of initiatives.

Related: How to Hire a Chief Diversity Officer · Building a Diverse Leadership Slate · Board Diversity: Why It Matters