Ditas ( my youngest daughter) was one of the panel speakers💚 at this Conference held from March 31 to April 3, 2025 in Canberra, Australia. She will be back to US to visit me on April 17 and give a talk on her experiences in her Census Work for the State of California and from her former job at the Unites States Bureau of Census, Washington, DC. Here's Ditas short bio:
Ditas Katague
Former Associate Director for Communications & Engagement, United States Census Bureau
Ditas was most recently Associate Director for Communications and Engagement at the U.S. Census Bureau appointed by President Biden. She led the internal and external communications activities of the nation’s largest statistical agency including oversight of marketing, public affairs, congressional and intergovernmental affairs, customer service, stakeholder engagement, and media relations. She developed a stakeholder engagement framework and logic model to help organizations determine the most strategic approach to invest limited resources to build coalitions and engage key audiences. Prior to joining the Census Bureau, Ditas was Director of the California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office, the outreach and communications campaign that worked to ensure a complete population count of historically undercounted Californians. This built on her experience leading the most diverse and populous state’s decennial census outreach efforts in 2000 and 2010. Appointed by 4 Governors of California, she led all three decennial groundbreaking multilingual, multimedia outreach efforts that resulted in response rates that outpaced the national rate. She also served as chief of staff to the California Public Utilities Commission, where she improved public participation and access to the energy and telecommunications utility rate and regulation process. Ditas served on the US Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations, from 2012 to 2018, including three years as its chair. She is an expert in multiethnic outreach and civic engagement. Ditas holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley.
Ditas was most recently Associate Director for Communications and Engagement at the U.S. Census Bureau appointed by President Biden. She led the internal and external communications activities of the nation’s largest statistical agency including oversight of marketing, public affairs, congressional and intergovernmental affairs, customer service, stakeholder engagement, and media relations. She developed a stakeholder engagement framework and logic model to help organizations determine the most strategic approach to invest limited resources to build coalitions and engage key audiences. Prior to joining the Census Bureau, Ditas was Director of the California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office, the outreach and communications campaign that worked to ensure a complete population count of historically undercounted Californians. This built on her experience leading the most diverse and populous state’s decennial census outreach efforts in 2000 and 2010. Appointed by 4 Governors of California, she led all three decennial groundbreaking multilingual, multimedia outreach efforts that resulted in response rates that outpaced the national rate. She also served as chief of staff to the California Public Utilities Commission, where she improved public participation and access to the energy and telecommunications utility rate and regulation process. Ditas served on the US Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations, from 2012 to 2018, including three years as its chair. She is an expert in multiethnic outreach and civic engagement. Ditas holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley.
💚About the Conference: The first two days of the Conference are exclusively for Indigenous peoples. The Conference Organizers are welcoming governments and other non-Indigenous organisations and individuals to join the conference on the third day, to discuss how they are supporting the enactment of IDSov and IDGov through the governance of Indigenous data. While we also offer formal and structured sessions for delegates to attend, we have intentionally created space and opportunity for unstructured networking and yarning to take place. Session details are listed below. A vibrant cultural program has been curated for delegates - engage in weaving workshops, enjoy film screenings, and take part in cultural walks - details are available on Conference apps.
💚Panel: How national statistical agencies are enacting IDS and IDGov (since 2015)
Panel session followed by an audience Q&A.
Panelists:
1. Cyril Mako
2. Ditas Katague
3. Michael Smedes
Discussants: Ray Lovett and Tahu Kukutai
Speakers
Michael Smedes Ditas Katague Ray Lovett Tahu Kukutai Cyril Mako
For Details
Meanwhile, Did you know that.....
While studying in Madrid, he requested bagoong and native fruit jellies from home. In Hong Kong, his Chinese cook noted that Rizal ate everything but in moderation. In Dapitan, he loved having sinigang, a Spanish dish, and a mestizo meal all in one sitting!
Even his loved ones played a role in his meals—his sister Narcisa made him pancit luglog, and Josephine Bracken prepared his favorite chili miso sauce.
Finally, Did you know that.....
Fossils found in Rizal and Cagayan suggest they shared the land with ancient elephants called stegodons.
Scientists believe their extinction was caused by drastic climate changes that reshaped the environment. Imagine spotting a giant tortoise in the wild today—Luzon’s landscape would look very different!
Personal Note: Ditas is scheduled to talk here at THD on April 17, at 11AM.- THD Speaker Program Activity Series.
