D. Javier Thompson

D. Javier Thompson (They/Them/Theirs) joined the Office of Equity in January of 2022 as the inaugural Research, Assessment, and Data Specialist. As a social worker by training, they worked as an administrator and clinician in K-12 and higher education, refugee resettlement, and academic medicine institutions before joining the team. Javier utilizes skills in program evaluation, research and evaluation architecture, and behavioral science throughout their work across state government. They hold and AM in Social Service Administration and Graduate Certificate in Health Policy and Administration from the University of Chicago’s Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, and a BA in Psychology and Creative Writing & Literature from the University of Louisville and University of Michigan, respectively. 

In the Office of Equity, Javier oversees several bodies of work. First, they manage the creation and updating of the progress tracking and reporting system used by 40 state agencies to build and submit their annual Illinois Towards Equity DEIA Action Plans as well as mid-year and end-of-year progress reports to the Governor’s Office. Second, Javier manages the analysis of all data generated by the Office of Equity and develops strategy for employing data-generating infrastructure in projects that involve the office. Third, they provide thought partnership and technical assistance to agencies on progress tracking, metrics, and strategic planning as well as on best practices in data collection and instrument creation for their DEIA and demographics initiatives. Fourth, Javier serves the Office of Equity’s representatives on the Data Governance and Organization to Support Equity and Racial Justice Act’s implementation team. In this role, they oversee the creation of the demographic guidance used by the agencies named in the Act and coordinate all legislative and policy tasks between the implementation team and agency stakeholders. Finally, Javier oversees the architecture, policy, and technology operations and needs for the Office of Equity to ensure its capacity and capabilities can meet the operational demands of all team members’ portfolios.