A friend who just returned to Des Moines after spending several years in the South remarked as he walked through downtown that the city’s face is mostly white. We’d heard that comment before, most recently from a former mayor of Austin, Texas, who noted in a Downtown Community Alliance luncheon speech that if Iowa has become more diverse, as census figures show, it isn’t reflected in leadership circles.

That’s not the image Greater Des Moines should be presenting to the rest of the world if it wants to capitalize on construction projects and quality-of-life efforts and market the city as a mecca for creative young professionals. They like what ethnic diversity says about a city: that it’s open to new ideas; that it’s accepting; that it’s not only tolerant, but also respectful of differences. Moreover, they’re attracted to diverse communities because they mirror the comfortable multicultural environment they’re leaving behind as they move from college to the job market.

Without lowering the bar on qualifications, the city’s top employers can and should encourage diversity in their hiring. There are luminaries to follow. Bankers Trust Co., for instance, rarely gets through a year without some pro-diversity group recognizing its efforts to increase both its minority hiring and its financial commitment to economically struggling neighborhoods.

But Greater Des Moines’ diversity challenge extends beyond the workplace. While increasing ethnic diversity, leaders must take care not to exacerbate the problem of segregation — which is probably why when our friend looked around the city’s corporate center, he saw mostly white faces.

More efforts also need to be focused on bringing minorities to the leadership table. Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels’ departure from politics leaves the metropolitan area’s city councils with only one African-American member. That’s shameful. Latinos are the fastest-growing minority population in Iowa, yet how many Latino legislators actually voted on the embarrassing English-only legislation passed two years ago? The answer: None, because there are no Latinos in the Legislature. Asians have been part of the Iowa culture for three decades, but they’re just now getting leadership positions. Look at the ethnic composition of the governing boards of the city and state’s charities and other non-profit organizations: With some notable exceptions among groups specifically tailored to serve minority communities, they are, again, mostly white.

Philosophically, we don’t like quota systems. They’re arbitrary, agenda-driven and, if managed inappropriately, can create huge gaps between expectations and achievements. In this case, though, we support them. Iowa isn’t as white as the outside world perceives it to be. The best way to change the perception is to change the complexion of its most public bodies.