Gina Ortiz Jones, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of the Air Force
Interviewer: Maria Aspan, FORTUNE

Most Powerful Women 2022 - First. Class. Service.

I'm honored to speak with our next guest. She has a long history of service and working to protect us economic and national security, including during a deployment to Iraq as an Air force intelligence officer. She is the honorable Gina Ortiz jones undersecretary of the U. S. Air Force. In her current role, she is the second highest ranking civilian in that branch of the military among many of her responsibilities. Undersecretary jones oversees the department's more than $200 billion budget and is responsible for the welfare of nearly 700,000 members of the service and their families around the world. She proudly serves as the first woman of color and the first out lesbian to take up the post of undersecretary of any U. S. Military branch. Undersecretary jones joins us now to talk about leadership service, military innovations and the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in the armed forces. Please join me in welcoming her to the stage. How are you? Good to see you. Good to see you, Madam undersecretary thank you so much for making the time to be here. Thank you. What a pleasure. I'd love to start by diving into Ukraine because we have seen a lot of news in just the past 24 hours including President Zelensky asking the G-7 to provide more air force defenses and what can you tell us about how the US is responding? Well, I think look, the biden Harris administration has been very clear about our commitment to Ukraine helping Ukraine defend itself. Um I think we should uh the lessons learned that really stick out in my mind. So um is one, you can never underestimate a country's willingness to fight for itself and for the ability to determine its own future. Secondly, you should also never underestimate the United States of America and how well our equipment works. Um I think, look, we're never gonna underestimate uh certainly uh a desperate entity that has nuclear power, nuclear nuclear weapons, but I think we'll continue to work with our partners and allies to ensure that Ukraine has what they need to defend themselves for the business audience in the room. As you look at the global landscape, what are the biggest threats and what are you most focused on doing to secure us interests? Sure. Well, you know, the Department of the Air Force, which includes both the Air Force and the Space Force um is focused on ensuring that we are prepared for the high end threat. Um Secretary Austin has called China are pacing challenge. And if you're paying attention, I know a lot of attention is on what's happening right now with Russian Ukraine. But when we think about the law, long term economic and certainly national security challenges and opportunities that we have a lot of that it happens in the indo pacific and so China's actions has increasingly challenged our security, our interests and our values and the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense is focused on ensuring that we are prepared for um for a high end fight. Um, and working with our partners and allies to do that. Uh you know, just a couple of days ago, I was engaging with um with with cadets from West Point and uh, you know, 2003 is when I, when I graduated and when I think of in less than 20 years we've gone from Baghdad time to Beijing time and those are two very different worlds, two very different challenges. Um, and we're working very quickly to make sure that we are ensuring our airmen and guardians have what they need to be successful, uh, what has sustained us, what is um, what we have used and what we've needed in the Middle East over the last 20 some odd years is not what we would need um, against, against the pacing challenge. And so we're working very hard to ensure that we have, we have that frankly. We're also just to focus on ensuring that our airmen and guardians can serve to their full potential. Um it's very important that that certainly my commitment to ensuring that that's the case when I served. I served under. Don't ask. Don't tell. And I will never forget, oh, by the way, happy coming out there. Um, yeah, I will never forget the very first thing I had to do at boston University even though I showed up there with a scholarship was to sign a piece of paper saying that I will not engage in homosexual behavior because don't ask, don't tell applied to me, even as a cadet, my opportunity to get an education, my opportunity to serve my opportunity to die for our country if need be all that goes away just because of the time, we didn't have enough leaders with the courage to say anybody ready and willing to serve their country should have the opportunity to do so. So you better believe every day I walk into the, into the pentagon, I pinch myself and make sure that I'm the undersecretary. I wish I would, I, I would have had when I was that young cadet and that young officer, How does that shape the decisions that you make now the questions that you ask, the people who you ask for input? Absolutely. I mean, I think having had that experience of knowing that your leadership team could not have been fully committed to your success because that was the policy, right? You couldn't, you couldn't speak freely. Um, I try to surround myself with folks that have a different perspective. Um, I know I'm a little bit, a little bit, yeah, and certainly have a different gender than most of the folks that I, that I engage with on a daily basis and um, and certainly have different age and so some of the things that are happening, certainly in our, in our country right now, they land differently with me if you will. Um, so I think it's very important that we talk about those things and we understand how those impact readiness and retention right? Because look, if if somebody is focused on, on, uh, if somebody cannot end their day, focus 100% on the mission, then we need to fix that right? I need, I need folks focused on the mission, not on, you know, childcare, not on other things that are distracting that, that we can, you know, frankly invested and make sure that we've got adequate resources for because at the end of the day, if we are leaving talent on the table, if we're leaving Tala on the table, we're leaving lethality on the table. I know you all talk about leaving dollars on the table, but we leave, we don't want to leave the salary on the table and again, we just don't have time or talent to lose given, given the pacing challenge. So that's what we're focused on the high end threat but also ensuring our folks can serve to their full potential. Could I ask you also to talk about how your background, your family growing up as the daughter of a Filipino immigrant, um shaped how you make decisions today and how you think about looking for talent today? Well, I am just um, uh, I'm aware of how lucky I am. Um, and my mom was not shy in reminding my sister and I have that every single day, uh, my mom came to this country in the late seventies. She graduated from the number one you university in the Philippines. But she came here as a domestic helper. That was the opportunity that presented itself and she wanted her shot at the american dream. So she humbled herself and she just reminded my sister and I every single day that we were lucky not smart, we were lucky to have been born in this special country and we'd have to give back. It's why I serve, that's why my sister serves as a military training instructor in the U. S. Navy. I tried to get her into the Air Force y'all but you know whatever big sister wants, she's gonna do the exact opposite. So um but that's why that's why we served and I had kind of a full circle moment just a couple of days ago because the very first place that my mom worked when she came here was at the new Zealand embassy in Washington D. C. And so friday evening um there is a defense reception there and my mom is the plus one to the under Secretary of the Air Force. But again that's a that's a uniquely american story right? Tell you tell me another country where that's possible. You know I'll wait probably waiting a while because that that I think is is truly why I serve and why I want others to similarly see that when they come and they are courageous enough to say they're going to support and defend the constitution but they can do so to their full potential because our example our leadership is too important. I would love to open it up to questions. Does anyone in the audience have a question for the undersecretary? Yes we'll bring a mic over. Thank you for my service. My dad's Air force very cool. Um And could you identify Elizabeth Warren, the founder of Hello Alice and um we support small business owners and we're super excited about the amount of U. S. Veterans and military spouses, starting companies and I was just curious what the Air Force and other branches are doing to help once um you become a veteran uh go into the private sector and specifically start their own business. Yeah, that's a really good question. I think we're looking at ways we can strengthen our relationship with the Department of veteran affairs. Um Certainly we wanna make sure that our folks are have the skills and and can can translate their experiences in the military into things that would make them competitive on the outside. Um And again that's something I'm working working closely with with on on the V. A. Since that's not completely in our in our wheelhouse. Um But you make a good point about the way and also in which we are supporting our spouses and an understanding that that is also critical to retention. Um um And so we are working closely to ensure, you know, when we engage with certain communities that we talk about the importance of access to childcare and we can talk about the importance of spouse licensure reciprocity, right to ensure that again, as folks are moving every couple of years that, that we are supporting them as best we can. There's another question over there. Hi Mr johnny, um, Girl Dakota, thank you for all the work that you're doing your service and your support for, um, you know, teaching girls cybersecurity look forward to working with you. So on the childcare point. Um, I don't know a lot of people know this, but as you know, we're in the middle of a child care crisis, Half our daycare centers are shut down and we can't seem to shift american culture that, you know, childcare is a personal problem that you have to solve is not an economic issue, but the best model for childcare is happening in the military right now. So what, what's going right there and how do we translate that to the rest of civil society? I think we are, we are trying to, well, when we know it's important. Um, you know, when, when we survey folks, um, and in particular women, when they decide to leave. Um, we'll ask, you know, why why you decide to leave And, and, and oftentimes access to childcare is, is a reason and it's certainly a reason when you have dual military couples, right? And you ultimately have to kind of make a decision, um, in the interest of the family. Um, and, and so we are look, so that is, that doesn't have to be the case. I think we are to your point similarly challenged with access to a sufficient number of workers. We have the facilities. It's really about finding the number of workers to ensure that we can keep our R. C. B. C. S, our Child Development Center staff. So we're looking to be Creative Secretary Austin just signed out a memo. It's taking care of people memo, one of the things on there specifically around childcare. So those that are now providing direct care their first, if they have their own Children that they like to provide, bring to the, to the CBC, they would have their, the fee for the first child waves. Um, and then after that there's an additional discount, but we are doing everything we can to ensure that our CBC are staffed again because we know it's an issue of that effects recruiting and certainly retention as well. Another issue that disproportionately affects women. He tell us a bit about what you're doing to address the long standing problem of military sexual assault. Sure. Um, this is, well, we are looking, we're working very hard to expeditiously expeditiously implement the recommendations from the Independent Review Commission on Sexual assault in the military. Um, this was a top priority. It took place as soon as Secretary often came uh came into the seat in in january of last year. Um some of the things that we have taken on in the Department of the Air Force one, I direct the co location of our support services. Um there's and it's the intent of this is to really ensure that we are making it as easy as possible for victims to know where to go when they when they have um when they need these resources. Right? And so co locating these things as a couple of things. One it minimizes the re traumatization, right? I don't want somebody having to tell their story four or five times if they don't need to, secondly, this also allow for better data collection, right? Somebody comes in, you've got a more holistic understanding of what just happened um you know, because maybe it wasn't just sexual assault, maybe there was grooming, maybe there was stalking, maybe there were some online harassment as well. So a more fulsome understanding of what happened, We'll ensure that we better support the survivor as well as um ensure that we can inform our prevention efforts. And then we also wanted to ensure that our support providers have are are frankly are realizing as much energy as possible by co locating those things. Um so data collection minimizing traumatization, better support services is what this is about. So I directed that on one august we have a co location at the Echolocation pilot and seven locations after our lessons learned that were looked to uh how we might expand that across the Department of the Air Force. We're also investing heavily in our prevention work force. Um We know this is an important ensuring making sure we've got the right climate in our in our work environments. Um so that we prevent as much of this as as possible because yes, look, our number one commercial is always our people. And um if folks are, you know, talking about their experiences in the light, um that that shows that we somehow do not value their service or their sacrifices and that certainly is going to affect our ability to recruit and retain. Um let me when I let me take one more point, if I if I may on that not direct sexual assault, sexual harassment. But I think when I when I talk about our commitment to ensuring folks concerned for their full potential, I must spend maybe similar to all 90% of my day asking three questions, which is why why not? And where is the data? Um Shortly after I got in the seat, Secretary and I got in the seat, we there was a readout of a disparity review. And this was a really holistic look, I commend the folks that that started this before the secretary and I got there. But this looked at um disparities by race, gender and ethnicity. Um and promotion rates and who was selected for certain schools, who was selected for certain assignments. And I thought it was really when they were briefing me, I thought it was really interesting because they were briefing it first by gender and then secondly by race and ethnicity and as a woman of color, I did not see myself and the numbers themselves were not great to be frank. Um but I knew if they looked at the intersection of those three things, it would illuminate some things that that are not coming out from from the current data. So I had them go back look at the data at the intersection of those three things race, gender, ethnicity. And it revealed where we have some more acute challenges, right? So as to where the previous report was showing that um women on the whole were doing well. When you look at the intersection of those three things, you actually saw that the progress of white women was masking the lack of progress of women of color. It showed that we had some real challenges. For example, um are at least promoted uh demographic or asian men. Um And so having that data though allows us to be um to be clear right about where we have some unique challenges, how we might scope some efforts to ensure again that we are one we recognize the problem and they can adequately address those things in a in a holistic manner. Um because this is fundamentally about trust and fundamentally about leadership and and certainly affects all the other, um, challenges and opportunities before us. Thank you so much. Where is the data? I think it's a great note to go out on. So please join me in thanking the undersecretary.