Justice

Applying the 'Rooney Rule' to Cities

Pittsburgh will borrow a page from the NFL’s diversity playbook in order to get more people of color into leadership positions in city government.

Team owner Dan Rooney (left) announced the hiring of Mike Tomlin (with his wife, Kiya) as the Pittsburgh Steelers' first African-American head coach in 2007.AP

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By Brentin Mock

April 20, 2017 at 10:21 AM EDT

The city of Pittsburgh will no longer make hiring decisions for leadership positions in city government without interviewing at least one person who is not a white male. This was the hiring approach instituted in 2003 by the recently deceased Dan Rooney, who was president of the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team that his family owns. As chair of the NFL’s diversity and inclusion committee, he was able to have the entire NFL adopt this hiring policy, and it’s been called the “Rooney Rule” ever since.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto decided to honor Mr. Rooney by adopting a similar hiring rule for city government hiring. An executive order he signed on Wednesday creates a Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the city and directs the government’s hiring personnel to:

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