Ditas Katague has led diversity, equity & inclusion efforts for the last 3 decades within State, Local and Federal government sectors. Most recently, Ms. Katague was the Director of the California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office, the outreach and communications campaign to ensure a complete count of the hardest-to-count Californians. This was the 3rd statewide decennial Census outreach effort she directed and it was truly “Equity & Inclusion” in action, not just theory. She has designed and directed three groundbreaking statewide multi-lingual, multi-media outreach effort that resulted in a mail-in return rate that outpaced the entire nation, coining the term “trusted messenger outreach” in 1999.
Ms. Katague is an expert in civic engagement, multi-ethnic/culturally congruent outreach and communications. In 2019, she was recently recognized in the Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 most powerful movers and shakers in California politics. While serving under four California Governors, she has led California’s Census efforts since 2000. From 2012-2018, she served on the U.S. Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Race, Ethnicities and Other Populations, including serving as Chair from 2015-2018.
Ms. Katague also served as Chief of Staff to the California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval where she improved public participation and access to the energy and telecommunications utility rate and regulation process. Since 1998, she has served on the Sacramento Center Advisory Board for the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. She holds an MPA from USC and a BA from UC Berkeley. Ms. Katague is also a certified yoga teacher (kundalini, grief & trauma informed yoga and sound bath).