The Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI) is composed of prominent civilian leaders appointed by the Secretary of Defense to provide independent advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to improve the racial/ethnic diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the Armed Forces of the United States.

DACODAI gathers information from multiple sources, to include briefings and written responses from Defense Department, Service-level military representatives, and subject matter experts. In addition, the Committee collects qualitative data from focus groups and interactions with Service members during installation visits. To evenly distribute the research, the Committee is structured into three subcommittees: (1) Racial/Ethnic Diversity; (2) Racial/Ethnic Inclusion and (3) Racial/Ethnic Equal Opportunity and Treatment. Based upon the data collected and analyzed, the Committee submits recommendations and continuing concerns to the Secretary of Defense.