Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Unit: This unit provides leadership and guidance to state agencies on affirmative action and equal employment opportunity programs and policy. The unit’s overall responsibilities include the following:
administering the state employee discrimination complaint system, reviewing and approving state agencies’ affirmative action plans, compiling and publ
ishing workforce composition reports, conducting compliance reviews of state agencies to verify compliance with affirmative action and equal employment opportunity programs and policies, and providing and conducting training on affirmative action and equal employment opportunity programs and policy. Business Certification and Compliance Unit: This unit is responsible for ensuring equal opportunity access to and fair treatment in government contracting. The unit strives to achieve its mission by maximizing contracting opportunities through certification of minority-owned, women-owned and socially and economically disadvantaged businesses and enforcing the affirmative action laws and regulations required of contractors doing business with the State of Ohio. Unit responsibilities include: implementing the state’s procurement preference programs for socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, which are the Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Encouraging Diversity, Growth and Equity (EDGE) programs; certifying businesses into both the MBE and EDGE programs; helping maintain a list of MBE- and EDGE-certified businesses; ensuring that certified businesses are in compliance with the programs; conducting project-site reviews to ensure contractors are in compliance with the state’s affirmative action laws, including ensuring that contractors utilize minorities and women in the construction trades; and issuing certificates of compliance. Research and Reporting Unit: The Research and Reporting Unit is responsible for helping implement, along with the Business Certification Unit and Compliance Unit, the state’s MBE and EDGE procurement preference programs. This unit conducts research on and publishes reports regarding the MBE and EDGE programs, assists state agencies with planning for their utilization of MBE- and EDGE-certified businesses, manages a database of all MBE- and EDGE-certified businesses, and ensures that state agencies and other businesses are in compliance with the programs. Holiday Commission: The Equal Opportunity Division provides administrative support to the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The commission is a statewide advocate of Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence and annually honors Ohio’s citizens who work to promote diversity and eliminate discrimination
through nonviolent methods. Each year, the commission presents awards to Ohioans to celebrate the life of Dr. King, whose teachings encourage nonviolent actions to secure equal rights for all Americans.
