The Smithsonian – the world’s largest research, education, and museum complex – was established by the U.S. government as a public trust 175 years ago. Many of the geoscientists working for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) are federal employees. The federal setting offers both challenges and opportunities to actively combat structural racism, diversify our workplace, and to increase the inclusion, representation, and celebration of BIPOC in the geosciences. Our federal affiliation affords many opportunities. Smithsonian’s widely recognized brand and mission to engage diverse audiences allows our scientists to be highly visible to the public, and representation from underrepresented communities within our ranks has the potential to inspire broader participation in the geosciences. With a large and federally supported repatriation office, NMNH is in a position to lead the decolonization of geological collections and incorporate Indigenous knowledge into our collections information. NMNH fosters strong relationships with some tribal communities that provide us with excellent resources to engage Indigenous and local scientists in our research and field work. We enjoy transparency in many federal policies on hiring, promotion, salaries and benefits, and detailed equal employment opportunity (EEO) training is required for all supervisors. Federal status also presents challenges. Progress toward diversity and equity checks are tracked at the institutional level, but do not inform individual hiring decisions. There is no legal scope for targeted hires, and actions that might increase the “yield” on offers of employment, such as making an additional position for a partner, offering perks in the form of housing, child-care, higher salary, additional benefits, etc. are prohibited by federal regulation. Several future strategies emerged as priorities in our URGE pod. We will work to (1) ensure all interns receive equitable compensation and that we advertise internship availability to underrepresented communities; (2) require applicants to provide a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statement for all geoscience positions; (3) implement EEO and bias training search committee members; and (4) include DEI elements in our annual performance plans.