The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games are proud to be working with the USC Race and Equity Center to design a series of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) workshops in preparation for welcoming the world to Los Angeles in 2028. Through the LA28 DEIB Leadership Acceleration Academy, LA28 team members will develop a greater level of understanding for what it means to deliver a Games that reflects a city and country that defies a singular identity.  

“Elite athletes and fans from across the globe make the Games excitingly diverse,” said Dr. Shaun Harper, the USC Race and Equity Center’s founder and executive director. “We are determined to ensure that a fully inclusive experience honors that diversity. Gold medal-caliber inclusion is the aim of our center’s work with the LA28 Games.”

Harper is joined by the USC Race and Equity Center’s DEI Business Solutions Team: Brandi Junious, Director of DEI Workplace Wellness, AJ Mada, Equity Coaching Academy Director, Justin Morrow, Head of Sports Programs and Partnerships, LaNita Gregory Campbell Suddler, Director of DEI Organizational Strategy, and Wilmon A. Christian III, Director of Workplace Equity.

“LA28’s commitment to DEIB goes far beyond our workforce. It extends to our Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the field of play, community members, and visitors from around the world who will engage with the Games and be welcomed to Los Angeles in 2028,” said Porsia Curry, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at LA28. “The USC Race and Equity Center serves as a source of strategic alliance and expertise for this commitment, as the depth and nuance of their work support our efforts to create inclusive environments where everyone can thrive, contribute, and feel valued for who they are. We’re extremely excited to be working with this LA-based institution to launch one of the most powerful tools we will use throughout the next four years.”

The LA28 DEIB Leadership Acceleration Academy is a comprehensive, multi-session program designed to enhance meaningful dialogue with internal and external stakeholders, inform inclusive workstreams, and bring to light purposeful ways the Games can act as a catalyst for positive change. 

LA28 held its first Academy workshop in January, which focused on fundamental DEIB concepts including ways to identify and disrupt both implicit bias and microaggressions. In February, LA28 team members partook in the second workshop of the series, Designing for Disability Inclusion, which centered around ways to ensure that LA28’s workplace and Games are accessible, welcoming, and empowering to all by placing a strong emphasis on universal design.

Bringing the Paralympic Games to Los Angeles for the first time ever presents LA28 with an opportunity to lead by example and set a new standard in creating a more inclusive society and embracing disability inclusion. The LA28 Leadership Acceleration Academy will remain part of the organization’s onboarding and developmental processes, ensuring there is a consistent level of DEIB knowledge integrated throughout the organizing committee’s lifecycle.  

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About the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

The LA28 Games will mark Los Angeles’ third time to host the Olympic Games, previously hosted in 1984 and 1932, and first time to host the Paralympic Games. Los Angeles will host the world’s most elite athletes in 2028 as it welcomes Paralympians and Olympians from around the world to compete on the biggest stage in sports. The LA28 Games are independently operated by a privately funded, non-profit organization with revenue from corporate partners, licensing agreements, hospitality and ticketing programs and a significant contribution from the International Olympic Committee.

About USC Race and Equity Center

The USC Race and Equity Center is a dynamic research and organizational improvement center that works with professionals in educational institutions, corporations, government agencies, and other contexts to strategically develop and achieve equity goals, better understand and correct climate problems, avoid and recover from racial crises, and cultivate sustainable cultures of inclusion and respect.

The mission of the USC Race and Equity Center is to illuminate, disrupt, and dismantle racism in all its forms. We do this through rigorous interdisciplinary research, high-quality professional learning experiences, the production and wide dissemination of useful tools, trustworthy consultations and strategy advising, and substantive partnerships. While race and ethnicity are at the epicenter of our work, we also value their intersectionality with other identities, and therefore aim to advance equity for all persons experiencing marginalization.