Civil Rights

At SANDAG, we take pride in creating and operating diverse and inclusive programs that provide opportunities to people from all walks of life regardless of race, color, or national origin. We’re committed to eliminating disparities and making sure that safe, healthy, accessible, and inclusive opportunities are available to everyone in our region, including historically underserved and systemically marginalized groups.  

Ensuring diversity and inclusivity isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s the law. Every department, division, and employee of SANDAG is responsible for civil rights compliance. 

Business and Workforce Compliance 

Since protecting civil rights is so important to everything we do at SANDAG, we’ve created our Business and Workforce Compliance department to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in every SANDAG program, project, and service. Business and Workforce Compliance consolidates social equity (Title VI, Environmental Justice, and American with Disabilities Act) with the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), small business, labor compliance, and workforce utilization responsibilities. In addition to overseeing compliance with state and federal discrimination laws, Business and Workforce Compliance advocates for disadvantaged communities, fosters the growth of small and diverse businesses, and develops new workforce opportunities.

A good example of our efforts is the DBE Program. It’s designed to level the playing field and encourage the participation of DBE firms in federally funded SANDAG projects. The DBE program focuses on removing barriers and maximizing opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses to increase the success of their small and emerging businesses.