Washington, D.C. - A senior executive from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) addressed the latest progress and issues facing the Federal government in Hispanic and diversity initiatives at the annual HACU Summit on Diversity at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Summit on Diversity, a day-long series of sessions is held in conjunction with the annual HACU Capitol Hill Forum, which gathers hundreds of advocates for Hispanic higher education to shape and promote an agenda for Congress and the country for the success of the nation's youngest and largest population group, Hispanics.

"We applaud the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for its leadership in making diversity in Federal employment recruiting and training policies a top priority for all Federal agencies," said Antonio R. Flores, President and CEO of HACU. "The Office of Personnel Management is directly addressing the underrepresentation of Hispanics in the Federal workforce by opening new doors to promising careers in public service for our students."

Marta Brito Perez, Associate Director of the division for Human Capital Leadership and Merit System Accountability, highlighted OPM's nationwide efforts to boost Hispanic representation in the Federal workforce through aggressive outreach and recruiting efforts. "Over the past three years, President Bush and his administration have led in the area of aggressive outreach activities in an effort to diversify the pool of talented candidates for employment with the Federal government," Perez said on behalf of OPM Director Kay Coles James.

"OPM is actively engaged in the recruitment and retention of a younger and more diverse workforce in alignment with the President's Management Agenda. This Summit has gathered leaders of key organizations and educational institutions committed to seeing the same reality come to pass. HACU is the kind of organization that successfully facilitates these types of coalitions and gatherings that do have an incredible impact."

The opportunity for OPM to participate in the HACU Summit comes on the heels of recent findings in the Federal Equal Opportunity Report (FEORP), which shows Hispanic representation and minority opportunities in the Federal government are on the rise.

Fixing the Federal hiring process has been a central priority at OPM. The newly updated www.usajobs.gov website reflects new interactive and enhanced features as a result of user feedback. Since its launch in August 2003, the free, one stop service for Federal vacancies online currently boasts almost 40 million unique visitors and almost half a million new resumes have been posted online by job candidates.

"Over the past year, OPM has streamlined procedures and used technologies to make the government's systems for attracting, selecting, and managing a more diverse workforce more efficient," Perez said. "The increasing popularity of the USAJOBs website is proof that our outreach strategies are working. We will continue improving the hiring process while working with key organizations like HACU and their members, until all Americans have easier access to and can take full advantage of the many opportunities available in the Federal government."