A former leader of a health advocacy organization was appointed to head a newly-created office in the D.C. government dedicated to racial equity initiatives. 

Amber Hewitt, the director of health equity at Families USA, a national organization that pushes for high-quality, affordable health care, was appointed Friday as the District’s first Chief Equity Officer. 

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the appointment on The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi. She said Hewitt will help the city recuperate from the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately hurt Black, Latino and low-income families in the District. 

“We want to make sure, moving into our recovery, that we have an eye on how we can equitably recover,” Bowser said on the radio show. 

At Families USA, Hewitt developed policy priorities aimed at reducing disparities in health outcomes and access to care, according to a news release. 

Before that, she worked on health policy issues in the office of U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). She has also taught undergraduate and doctorate-level courses in social justice and diversity issues at the University of Akron and Loyola University Chicago, according to the release.

Hewitt will lead the city’s Office of Racial Equity, which Bowser established earlier this year. The office is responsible for creating processes that insure city programs and policy decisions are evaluated for equity. 

One of Hewitt’s first responsibilities will be to conduct an equity analysis across the city that will help guide government priorities.  The Office of Racial Equity was established through the REACH Act, a sweeping measure passed by the D.C. Council last year to tackle historic inequities in education, health, housing and criminal justice. 

The REACH Act also created a similar office within D.C. Council that is responsible for making sure lawmakers account for racial equity as they write legislation.

That office will create independent assessments that describe how a proposed measure could benefit or hurt groups of people that have historically faced discrimination or have been disproportionately hurt by government actions.