The Delta Grassroots Caucus (DGC) is a broad coalition of grassroots leaders in the eight-state Delta region. DGC is also a founding partner of the Economic Equality Caucus,
which advocates for economic equality across the USA.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson Brings Diversity to Delta Regional Authority State Senior Post by naming Ateca Forman Arkansas' DRA Alternate

Posted on March 15, 2021 at 04:03 PM

The Delta Caucus would like to commend Gov. Asa Hutchinson for designating a senior official of his administration, Ateca Foreman, to one of the two state senior posts for Arkansas at the Delta Regional Authority.

Ms. Foreman is an African American woman with a lengthy, distinguished career in public service. She is Deputy Chief of Staff for Internal Operations for Gov. Hutchinson’s administration and now joins Arkansas Economic Development Commission Director Clint O’Neal, DRA Designee, as one of the two state officials for Arkansas at the DRA.

The Delta Caucus previously sent messages to Gov. Hutchinson and the other seven governors pointing out that all 10 of the state designee and alternate posts at the DRA are held by whites. This was an unfortunate oversight in a diverse region with a large African American population and other minority groups.

We are glad that Gov. Hutchinson has now brought diversity to the state senior posts in Arkansas, and we urge the other seven governors to follow his example.

Gov. Hutchinson has a strong track record of support for the DRA going back to his support for the legislation creating the agency when he was a Member of Congress in 2000 and continuing during his gubernatorial administration.

The DRA is a federal-state agency, with the President appointing the Federal Co-Chairman and Alternate Federal Co-Chairman to the federal component of the board, and the eight governors serving on the board and designating state alternates and designees to assist with the agency’s work of community and development in the 8-state Greater Delta.

There has also unfortunately been an oversight at the federal level, for all six of the Presidential appointees to the DRA in its 20-year history have been white males.

We wrote to Biden administration officials asking them to bring diversity to the federal posts. We know that influential people at federal and grassroots levels have weighed in for African American representation at the DRA federal level, and we hope this oversight will be corrected soon.

We look forward to working with Ateca Foreman at the DRA and praise Arkansas’ action as a step forward for diversity.

Before coming to work for the Hutchinson administration, Foreman worked in a number of jobs on important issues, including at the Metropolitan Housing Alliance. While there, she created a system to bring all the tenant files, more than 1,000, into compliance with HUD regulations within about 18 months of her hiring, an achievement of which she’s proud.

Ms. Foreman has an undergraduate degree from Hendrix College and a Master’s in Public Administration from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Foreman also has volunteered with a number of children’s organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters and Court-Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA.