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News Release
Monday, January 31, 2005
Tel: 202-606-2402
OPM Senior Official to Address African American Federal Executive Association's First Leadership Conference
OPM's Senior Executive Service Federal Candidate Development Plan and Presidential Management Fellows Program to be highlighted at Conference
Washington, DC - U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James recently issued a memo to Chief Human Capital Officers notifying them of the African American Federal Executive Association's (AAFEA) first Leadership Development and Training Conference on April 5-6, 2005 in Williamsburg, VA. OPM Associate Director for Human Resources, Products and Services Stephen Benowitz will deliver a keynote address at the conference.
Director James said, "The AAFEA Conference is yet another golden opportunity to provide leadership training and address development needs amongst the senior ranks of the Federal government. OPM is committed to promoting equal employment opportunities on all levels with stakeholder groups that share this same commitment. At OPM, we encourage all agencies to take full advantage of this rich and robust learning opportunity provided by AAFEA."
The AAFEA Conference's target audience is members of the Senior Executive Service and GS-14s and 15s. The Conference will focus on the leadership challenges facing Federal agencies and employees, and will provide sessions on key development issues important to senior executives.
During his keynote address, Benowitz will highlight OPM's popular succession-planning efforts to prepare future leadership throughout government such as the Senior Executive Service Federal Candidate DevelopmentPlan (SES Fed CDP) and Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program.
The PMF program targets outstanding individuals from a wide variety of academic disciplines who have an interest in, and commitment to, a career in the analysis and management of public policies and programs. On November 21, 2003, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13318 replacing the Presidential Management Intern program with the Presidential Management Fellows program. The Executive Order removed an annual hiring cap of 400 positions associated with the previous program, increased pay levels, expanded participation and created a Senior Fellows component. The program continues to grow with student applications up 21 percent from 2003 to 2004.
The SES Fed CDP prepares individuals for top leadership posts in the Federal government. Its members manage many of the nation's most important programs in national security and defense; science and technology; agriculture and the environment; intelligence and information technology; and many other critical areas. OPM recently referred 3,500 applications to agencies for selection to 18 SES Fed CDP positions.
OPM continues to lead the way by providing support and guidance to agencies seeking to broadly recruit the most talented individuals to the federal government. Under the direction of Director James, the agency has hosted symposiums; provided first class training at senior levels on recruiting a diverse cadre of leadership; successfully revamped the USAJOBS website to make opportunities available to everyone; and continues to make key partnerships through outreaches and recruitment fairs.
OPM has carried the recruitment message to other important conferences over the past several months, including: the Minority Access, Inc. Fifth National Role Models Conference; League of United Latin American Citizens Annual Conference; Annual National Image Training Conference, National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives Conference; HACA Summit on Diversity; and the LATINA Style Magazine's 2004 Best Practice on Diversity Conference.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the leader in workforce management for the federal government. Our agency builds, strengthens, and serves a federal workforce of 2.2 million employees with programs like hiring assistance, healthcare and insurance, retirement benefits, and much more. We provide agencies with policies, guidance, and best practices for supporting federal workers, so they can best serve the American people.