COLCHESTER, Vt. - Maj. Gen. Gregory Knight, Vermont National Guard adjutant general, received the fiscal year 2022 Individual Army National Guard – National Guard Excellence in Diversity Award.
This award is presented to the Army National Guard member who stands out from peers by consistently and significantly contributing to diversity and inclusion initiatives and ideas, institutionalizing best practices, building measurable milestones, and attaining individual or group diversity and inclusion goals.
“This award is as much for the Vermont National Guard as it is for me,” said Knight. “This is not an individual effort from one person, but an effort from numerous teams working together to help grow our Guard to reflect our communities. The Soldiers, Airmen and civilians throughout our organization work diligently to create opportunities for everyone to serve in the Vermont National Guard. It is those people this award is recognizing and honoring.”
Knight was nominated for his commitment to creating an inclusive environment representative of the community the Vermont National Guard serves in, ensuring leaders champion diversity program priorities at all levels, and developing diversity partnerships.
“Your dedication to the men and women of the Vermont National Guard plays a vital role in advancing my intent to maintain a ready, resilient force by recruiting, retaining and promoting talented, capable, high-performing Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen from every racial, ethnic and gender group, ensuring that our force reflects the diversity of the communities we serve,” U.S. Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, wrote in the award letter.
During the year, Knight was deputy chair for the National Joint Diversity Executive Council, worked with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, and increased the percentage of women recruited into the Vermont National Guard. Numerous policies were also created, expanded or updated.
“Our Vermont National Guard team has put in tremendous effort towards diversity and inclusion initiatives. Maj. Gen. Knight has been a champion for our efforts,” said Todd Connolly, state equal employment manager of the Vermont National Guard. “He and the Vermont National Guard as a whole have been supportive every step of the way, whether we are trying to increase recruiting and retention of underrepresented groups, highlighting the diversity of our force, or reworking policies and programs to make them equitable or more inclusive.”