Zina B. Sutch, Ph.D.
Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Personnel Management
Dr. Sutch serves as the Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the Office of Personnel Management where she leads the efforts of developing government-wide policies and guidance to assist Federal agencies in building diverse workforces and inclusive and engaged organizational cultures that leverage diversity and provides expert advisory services to Federal agencies undergoing a cultural transformation.
Prior to serving in this capacity, Dr. Sutch held the position of Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of the Executive Secretariat leading the Office in the oversight of all correspondence for USDA’s Secretary Vilsack. Prior to holding this position, Dr. Sutch served as USDA’s Director of Diversity, Recruitment and Work/Life, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration. In this role, she led the Department in the development and implementation of programs and policies that help ensure a modern, diverse, and inclusive workforce. She also oversaw accountability efforts for the Secretary’s Cultural Transformation initiative, analyzing data across categories that include diversity, hiring reform, training, and leadership, while focusing on employee engagement.
Prior to leading this Division, Dr. Sutch served as the Deputy Provost of USDA’s Virtual University and USDA’s Chief Training Officer. Her career at USDA began when she joined the Federal government as the Leadership Development Program Manager at USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service in 2006 and progressed to the Department level when she served as a Training Officer for the International Technology Services in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. She has been with the Federal government for over 10 years and has over 20 years of experience in the field of education and training in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Federal government service, Dr. Sutch worked with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Public School System assessing and developing improvement plans for low performing schools. She was a faculty member and taught graduate and undergraduate courses at George Mason University, Bowie State University, and Baltimore University. Prior to joining George Mason University, Dr. Sutch was the Associate Director of the K-16 Partnership Development Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, providing teacher training, leadership development, and certification courses to classroom teachers and administrators. Dr. Sutch started her education career as a classroom teacher and moved into leadership positions serving as Education Director then School Principal and Director in the private and public school sectors.
Dr. Sutch possesses a Ph.D. from the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Masters degree from the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University. She has two daughters and currently lives in Falls Church Virginia.
