Paul Slack has been hired to lead Orange County’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, County Manager Bonnie Hammersley announced. His first day will be July 22.
“Paul’s diverse background as a teacher, consultant and DEI specialist will serve him well as Orange County’s Office of Equity and Inclusion director,” Hammersley said.
Slack comes to Orange County from Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA), where he served as a DEI Specialist and was responsible for yearly DEI training for all 145 OWASA employees.
At OWASA, he helped rebuild the recruitment strategy to remove bias from the hiring process and oversaw a mentorship program for employees. He joined OWASA in August 2023 after serving as Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Ravenscroft, a private school in Raleigh.
He is also founder of The Equity Cypher, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion solutions for educational institutions and private organizations.
“What excites me most about coming to work for Orange County is the opportunity to serve a vibrant, diverse community dedicated to working tirelessly on improving the daily experiences of every resident,” he said. “From the very beginning of my career I've known that people are Earth's most valuable gift and resource. For this reason, amongst many more, I am ecstatic about the opportunity to serve the people of Orange County."
Slack graduated from Clark Atlanta University in 2013 with a B.A. in history and earned his Master’s in the Art of Teaching from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., in 2018. He earned a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University in March.
He taught middle school and high school history for several years before transitioning into DEI.
The Orange County Office of Equity & Inclusion is dedicated to promoting policies, practices, and programming that create bridges, address disparities, and dismantle barriers throughout Orange County.