Office of Cultural Change

The Office of Cultural Change (OCC) was established in June 2020 to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) efforts across the enterprise and evaluate and implement processes that remove systemic barriers throughout Oregon state government. Our efforts will be centered on building our collective capacity and muscle so that every state employee and agency champions DEIB.

All Executive Branch agencies are required to have a DEI Action Plan and an Affirmative Action Plan. The OCC team supports agencies in the development of these plans and provides capacity building supports for implementation. We work in partnership with several groups that represent Executive Branch agencies. These groups include agency DEI practitioners, Affirmative Action representatives, and agency directors and leadership.

Meet the Team

Photo of Melinda Gross, Director of Cultural Change Melinda Gross
Director of Cultural Change

As the Director of Cultural Change, Melinda Gross is focused on growing a culture of inclusion and building the capacity of agencies to lead diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She approaches this work by building relationships, centering the people most impacted, and valuing every individual’s unique contribution and perspective. Reach out to her if you want to connect!

Tobias Sherwood

Cultural Change Manager

As the Cultural Change Manager, Tobias Sherwood supports the enterprise in its efforts to create cultural practices and policies that promote inclusion and advance equity. He believes that trust is built through actions and that the bedrock of equity work is relationships. He works to co-create relationships that are aware of power and privilege, where folks work to together to interrupt harmful patterns in institutional policy and cultural norms.

Juliet Valdez
Affirmative Action Manager

Juliet Valdez is excited for her role as the Affirmative Action Manager where she partners closely with agencies, boards, and commissions in creating and implementing their strategies and goals for workforce development. This includes attracting, recruiting, hiring, retaining, and providing career opportunities for underrepresented groups.

Torrey Sims
DAS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Manager

Torrey Sims leads diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and organizational change efforts for DAS. He partners with divisions to design and implement strategies that strengthen workforce systems, improve organizational performance, and advance equitable outcomes.

He is a certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner and Train-the-Trainer, as well as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, bringing expertise in change management, process improvement, and capacity building across state government.

Our Approach

The Office of Cultural Change leads enterprise-wide DEIB efforts through an approach that centers capacity building, accountability and relationships:

Capacity Building: Building supports for enterprise leaders, DEIB practitioners and champions to scale inclusive practices across each agency. This can include statewide strategies, tools, training and coaching.
Relationships: Growing stronger relationships across state government so people across state agencies feel more connected to one another and our Office, and to the Governor’s DEIB priorities. Relationships are at the heart of DEIB. As a result, we prioritize convening and bringing people together to build trust so we can work toward equitable outcomes together.
Accountability: Partnering with state agencies to provide ongoing guidance, feedback and resources in the development and implementation of their DEI and Affirmative Action plans.

This approach guides us in our priorities, and we will always continue to revisit and adapt them to ensure they are meeting the emerging needs of state employees and agencies.