To look back on the 50-year legacy of FEW and gain a peek into the future of the organization, GovLoop sat down with Executive Vice President and incoming National President of FEW, Karen Rainey.
For Rainey, her role is particularly rewarding because of the opportunity to foster strategic partnerships with a host of organizations and government agencies that support the important work that FEW does. “FEW tends to lead you into creating better leadership strategic plans or projects to help you move forward in your career,” Rainey said.
One crucial focus for Rainey’s administration is fostering outreach to more communities and younger demographics, as well as enhancing membership benefits. “In order to enhance our membership, because we are the organization of a diversified workforce, we are trying to reach out via social media to younger demographics and create more partnerships with media organizations like GovLoop,” she said.
Looking 50 years and beyond, Rainey is hoping that FEW “soars boldly to new heights.” “FEW is the organization that represents the voiceless of those who seek opportunities or a seat at the table within the federal sector,” she said. “We work to add diversity, equity and inclusion of women, to serve in leadership roles within our federal agencies and outside of them.”
For Rainey, soaring to new heights also means “working to impact the communities in which we live by building strategic leaders,” she said.
“We must continue to keep our standards high and live true to the inclusion of women and all people who are voiceless in their agencies,” Rainey concluded. “Each year we host the National Training Program where we offer courses that meet the needs of Office of Personnel Management Executive Core Competencies, which means we lead the opportunity for change. FEW helps lead people, we build coalitions and we create business acumen.”
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Thankfully, people like Connie Coleman-Lacadie work to prevent non-compliance and help women and minorities attain equal opportunities in the federal workforce. In an interview with GovLoop, Coleman-Lacadie discussed her work as Vice President of Compliance for Federally Employed Women (FEW).FEW’s Efforts for Equality
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Ms. Dunkle played a key role in the implementation of Title IX, guaranteeing equal opportunity to women and girls in education. Her groundbreaking 1974 report documenting discrimination against female athletes became the blueprint for the Title IX regulations on athletics. In 1975 Ms. Dunkle became the first Chair of the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education.
Ms. Ferraro was a politician, three term Congresswoman (D N.Y. 1979-85), and first woman major party candidate for Vice President (1984). President Clinton appointed her U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights where she served from 1993-96. She also served as vice-chair of the U.S. delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995).
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Jayaraman is Co-founder and Co-director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. She is a leading advocate for restaurant workers, fighting for guaranteed sick and safe leave and an end the two-tiered minimum wage (a victory ROC has already won in 7 states).
Jiménez is Executive Director and Co-founder of United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. She was part of the team that led to the historic victory of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. In 2017 Jiménez was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship “Genius Grant.”
Langelan is a leader in the global effort to end gender-based violence and an expert in nonviolent action. Called the “godmother of direct intervention,” she pioneered feminist self-defense training, the direct-action toolkit to derail harassers at work and on the street, the first major city-wide anti-harassment campaign, and effective, comprehensive action for public transit systems. Her intervention toolkits are used around the world.
Mayerson is Directing Attorney of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). She has been a leading force behind groundbreaking legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act. Ms. Mayerson has contributed to many key disability rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Murray was a groundbreaking women’s rights and civil rights activist and attorney. She coined the term “Jane Crow” articulating the combined sexism and racism faced by African American women. Ms. Murray served on the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and was a co-founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW). In 1977 Murray became the first black woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest and she was among the first group of women to become priests in that church.
Peratrovich was a civil rights activist on behalf of Alaska Natives. She was a leader in the Alaska Native Sisterhood and led the fight against the pervasive Lorettadiscrimination and segregation faced by her community. Ms. Peratrovich is credited as the leading force behind passage of the Alaska territory’s Anti-Discrimination Act in 1945, the first such law in the U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9To3pgzh00
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