Diversity in the Consulting Industry

There seems to be little question that the political consulting industry has a diversity problem, particularly when it comes to African-American consultants. It’s the focus of a piece I penned for the July issue of Politics magazine. Against the backdrop of a Washington that is making strides when it comes to diversity, the consulting trade is not following suit—at least not fast enough, according to several black consultants and operatives Politics spoke to.    While the focus of what appears in July’s print edition is African-American representation among political consultants on the Democratic side of the aisle, that is by no means the whole story. The subject of diversity in the consulting industry deserves more than 2,500 words and a look beyond just what’s happening in the Democratic Party and among African-Americans. So in the coming weeks on the Campaign Insider blog we’ll be examining the state of diversity among Republican political consultants, the growth in Hispanic and Asian-American consultants, and have a closer look at efforts to grow minority representation in the consulting profession. The issue of diversity in the consulting business is certainly worthy of a wider discussion, and we invite your comments and reactions to the piece here on the blog. Shane D’Aprile is senior editor at Politics magazine. sdaprile@politicsmagazine.com