"It didn't happen by accident."

Via Aphra, this is a really interesting piece by Alyson Krueger about how "how the Hillary Clinton campaign built a staff as diverse as America."

The campaign's diversity extends far beyond career history. Over 50% of the campaign is female. Of the campaign's more than 500 staffers nationwide, more than one-third are people of color; nearly 40% of Hillary for America's senior staff are people of color. Regional press secretary Tyrone Gayle points out that these numbers roughly reflect national demographics.

The entire article explaining how the campaign prioritized and accomplished staff diversity is fascinating, and I also really love this observation:

Obama made campaigns sexy again, opening up the path for her to recruit the young and upwardly mobile. "That's an enduring post-Obama change," says [Sasha Issenberg, the author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns]. "I do not think 12 years ago that people thought working on John Kerry's or Al Gore's campaign was cool or interesting. I think the innovation culture around the Obama campaign—which has gotten tons of media attention—[amplified] the idea that the things that happen in political campaigns are innovative and potentially at the cutting edge of fields unrelated to politics."

For lots of people, a big part of what made Obama's candidacy exciting was the potential to finally break the streak of white male presidents. Diversity among candidates created an excitement that has facilitated greater diversity in candidates' staffs. Such a clear picture of how diversity matters.