Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hosted the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council 20th Anniversary Awards Ceremony and Celebration, recognizing two decades worth of progress and accomplishments. Past and present human capital leaders from across the federal government were joined by Administration leaders, Members of Congress and staff, federal employee unions, management associations, and good government organizations, for an awards ceremony, panel discussion, and reception focused on celebrating the Council’s first twenty years of existence and strengthening human resource (HR) for the future.  

The CHCO Council has demonstrated itself to be invaluable and instrumental to OPM’s past successes, present accomplishments, and the future vision we are building together,” said Kiran Ahuja, OPM Director and CHCO Council Chair. “CHCOs are a critical resource for agencies and their leadership teams.” 

“From the very first CHCO Council meeting in 2003 to today, the driving force behind many of the successes we’ve had has been the CHCOs in their persistent efforts to strengthen federal HR capacity, augment agency missions and the federal workforce, and build sustainably for the future,” said Jason Miller, Deputy Director for Management at OMB and CHCO Council Vice Chair.  

At the event, Ahuja shared recent steps OPM and the CHCO Council have taken to strengthen the CHCO Council and elevate HR including:  

• Championing legislative proposals in the FY24 Congressional Budget Justification to ensure the CHCO Council is permanently housed at OPM and creating a new rotating Vice Chair of the CHCO Council to be filled by an agency CHCO. 
• Committing to creating a senior leadership position at OPM dedicated to the development and workforce planning of federal HR practitioners, as outlined in the FY24 Budget. 

• Conducting an initial review of the state of the HR workforce, benchmarking leading practices for HR workforce development inside and outside of government, and making plans to pilot an updated HR career path model.    
• Developing an HR Career Growth Platform that will become a hub connecting HR practitioners with career development resources, training materials, and connections to leading ideas and data analytics that will challenge them to continually grow in their federal careers. 
• Building the capacity of the HR workforce by facilitating multi-agency pooled hiring actions for HR specialists and providing centralized training and development for these cohorts. 

CHCO Council Executive Director and Senior Advisor, Margot Conrad, also highlighted several past CHCO Council accomplishments such as: 

• Actively participating in the first of its kind hiring fair in Detroit, Michigan, in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which resulted in nearly 1,000 applicants interviewed and 246 offers made. 

• Scaling the Feds Feed Families Initiative, which led to over 15 million pounds of food being donated to foodbanks across the country while the Council led the program. 
• Partnering with OPM to hire more than 5,000 federal employees and counting to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

Additional efforts to strengthen the CHCO Council include updating the CHCO Council charter and establishing a new Executive Steering Committee in 2021. The Council has played a critical role in shaping recent human capital policies and initiatives such as the 10-year term appointment, noncompetitive reinstatement of former federal employees at a higher grade level, and increased use of pooled hiring and sharing of certificates. CHCOs, partnering with OPM, the Office of Management and Budget, and the General Services Administration, worked tirelessly to keep federal employees and their families safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.  
 
Four current and former CHCOs received awards recognizing their contributions and leadership over the last twenty years. Awards were presented by OPM Director, Kiran Ahuja, OMB Deputy Director for Management, Jason Miller, Department of Interior Deputy Secretary, Tommy Beaudreau and OPM Deputy Director, Rob Shriver. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough also provided congratulatory remarks. 

The award winners are as follows: 

• Founder Award – Reginald (Reggie) Wells 
• Lifetime Service Award – Raymond (Ray) Limon 
• OPM Collaborator Award – William (Billy) Milton, Jr. 
• CHCO of the Year Award – Tracey Therit 

For more information on the work of the CHCO Council, please see the recently released 2022 CHCO Council Annual Report to Congress.