The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has hired Tasha Byers as the department's Policy and Government Affairs Analyst. Byers will be working on diversity and inclusion issues as well as other agency initiatives, according to Commissioner Kevin Lindsey.

Byers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and in Spanish at the University of St. Thomas, and more recently completed a Master of Science degree in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.

She previously worked as a research analyst at the Minnesota Attorney General's office, and served in an intern role in Washington, D.C. for then Senator Mark Dayton.

We're delighted to welcome a candidate with Byers' background and qualifications to assist the department in navigating a wide range of diversity issues, said Commissioner Lindsey.

Her role will include working with communities of color and state agencies in finding ways to collaborate in meeting the needs of a changing Minnesota. We have a high concentration of communities of color in the Twin Cities, yet it's important to remember that change is happening everywhere, including greater Minnesota, Byers said, citing a growing Somali population in St. Cloud as one example. There is diversity everywhere, and communities across the state are facing their own unique challenges.

These thriving communities in the Twin Cities and elsewhere are part of what attracted Byers to her new job, she added. My job isn't just to work within the government - it's to work with the people and for people, so we can foster relationships and create better access, to ensure than communities can make their voices heard, she said.

Although she recently returned from London after earning her Masters degree, Byers has lived in the Twin Cities for most of her life. She graduated from North High School in Minneapolis before earning her undergraduate degree from St. Thomas University.

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For more information please contact Jeff Holman, Minnesota Department of Human Rights, 651-539-1090, jeff.holman@state.mn.us