CNN reports:

As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in January, nearly half of the transition team laying the groundwork for his administration is made up of people of color, and women are in the majority.

Forty-six percent of the transition staff are people of color, according to new diversity data of the transition team provided to CNN, and 41% of the senior staff are people of color. The majority of transition staff — 52% — are women, and 53% of the senior staff are women.

The new diversity figures come as Biden is set to announce his Cabinet picks and senior staff for the White House in the coming weeks — one of the first tests of his campaign pledge to build an administration that will “look like America.”

Biden’s first major step toward diversity in his administration came when he selected Kamala Harris, a Black and South Asian woman, as his vice president. In his first staffing announcement, Biden chose a White man and longtime adviser — Ron Klain — as his chief of staff for the White House.

The transition team’s diversity also extends to its advisory board — where 43% are people of color and 52% are women. Nine of the 13 members of Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board are people of color and nine of the members are women, according to the data. [Continue reading…]