Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Federal Executive Institute received a U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) 2007 Training Award for excellence and innovation in ethics training. The award, conferred upon OPM during the 2007 National OGE conference held in Orlando, Florida, recognizes the Federal Executive Institute for its focus on ethical leadership and ethical organizations as part of its trademark, four-week Leadership for a Democratic Society training program.

"The highly interactive program includes case studies, video clips, classic and contemporary readings and self-assessment exercises," noted the OGE in conferring the award, which held up the OPM program as one of ten "model programs" currently in use that can be emulated or adapted by other Federal agencies as part of efforts to ensure an ethical workforce.

Among the ethics-focused components featured as part of the Leadership for a Democratic Society program are seminars entitled "Values and the American Constitution," "Public Service, Democracy and Ethical Leadership" and "Ethics in the Contemporary World." As part of the program, participants also complete a self assessment on their organization's ethical climate, designed to help participants reflect on the ethical culture of their organization and how they can strengthen it.

OPM's Federal Executive Institute (FEI) holds the Leadership for a Democratic Society program 10 times a year at its Charlottesville, Virginia campus. The course is part of a full complement of courses that the Institute (along with OPM's Eastern Management Development Center and Western Management Development Center) offers to help Federal managers achieve their full leadership potential. Last year, more than 13,000 Federal executives benefited from the training provided by these institutions.