Gov. John Kasich made his first minority appointment, naming Michael B. Colbert (44) to head the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The appointment came after much criticism that Kasich was not doing enough to diversify the group of people who supply him with key policy advice.

Gov. John Kasich made his first minority appointment, naming Michael B. Colbert (44) to head the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The appointment came after much criticism that Kasich was not doing enough to diversify the group of people who supply him with key policy advice.

Colbert, who is Black, had been serving as interim director of the department since Jan. 9, when the former director, Douglas E. Lumpkin, stepped down a day before Kasich's inauguration. Lumpkin, who also is Black, was named chief operating officer on Monday for Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted.

Colbert, of Xenia, was appointed chief financial officer of the department in March 2008. With his elevation to director, Kasich has only two more cabinet positions to fill, director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services and the Ohio Lottery.

Kasich has drawn intense criticism from Black lawmakers and Democrats, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for lacking racial diversity on his cabinet, which until today was all White, including three women. An Ohio governor has not had an all-white cabinet since 1962, when Democrat Michael DiSalle was in office.

Before joining ODJFS, Colbert was senior audit manager for the Ohio Auditor of State, where he worked for 15 years, managing the Dept. Of financial compliance and control, as well as special audits of state and local government entities, nonprofits, information systems and health care billing providers.

State Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) released the following statement today after Governor John Kasich selected Michael Colbert to lead the Department of Jobs and Family Services. Colbert is the first minority to join Governor Kasich’s cabinet.

“Governor Kasich’s appointment of Michael Colbert to head the Department of Job and Family Services is an important first step to ensuring that all Ohioans – regardless of race or gender – have a seat at the decision-making table."

“Having made this stride, I believe it remains imperative that this Governor continues to work to ensure that diversity, inclusion and fairness extends to all levels of his administration so that the mosaic of Ohio’s over 11 million people is both represented and respected in our government."

“I am pleased the Governor’s comments today echoed my earlier statements that diversity provides different points of view that are critical in making decisions about our state’s future.  This one appointment should be just the beginning of an ongoing commitment to a truly representative government.”

Colbert's experience at the department also includes supervising its adoption of the Ohio Administrative Knowledge (OAKS) system, which is the state's new financial system, and the County Finance Information System developed to help county family service and workforce development agencies capture financial data in a way that is compatible with OAKS.