The 2016 Government-wide Inclusive Diversity Strategic Plan (the Plan) outlines the second phase of implementation of the President’s 2011 Executive Order 13583, Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce (the Executive Order).

This Plan takes the lessons learned since the 2011 Government-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan was issued and provides Federal agencies a path for continuing to create and foster a Federal workforce that includes and engages Federal employees and draws from all segments of society. The overarching strategy of this Plan is to increase the  transparency of human capital processes (to the extent appropriate, in light of the obligation to protect certain test and examination materials, for example) throughout the Federal workplace as an approach to foster the inclusion that leads to the diversity of the workforce. The Plan provides a framework for the many initiatives that have been  realized, the efforts that are currently underway, and the overarching strategy, offering a  cohesive and comprehensive path forward. Together, Federal agencies will fully utilize policies, programs, and systems that support inclusive diversity through increasingly focused, innovative, and accelerated communication and learning strategies.

This Plan also includes a focus on data-driven decision-making through the strategic use  of applicant flow data from past selection processes to help agencies plan recruitment for subsequent selection processes so as to foster a diversified applicant pool at all stages of the employee life-cycle, emphasize and identify potential areas of implicit bias, train agencies on the New Inclusion Quotient (New IQ), create a more interactive Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (FEORP), and intensify and accelerate agency communication techniques.

Of particular interest during this planning period will be continuing to address the underrepresentation in the Federal workforce (as compared to their proportion of the Civilian Labor Force) of people who identify themselves as Hispanic, enhancing the Government’s ability to recruit effectively from all generations to foster continuity in knowledge, skills, and abilities as we experience the current retirement wave, finding ways to recruit more minorities and women to compete for positions designated as falling within the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and finding ways to recruit more minorities and women to compete for positions in the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Click Here to view the full plan.

Taken from the Office of Professional Management, www.opm.gov.

Help for Louisiana storm victims — (September 2, 2016) The TSP has made a temporary change to the financial hardship withdrawal rules for participants affected by the recent storms in Louisiana: As of September 2, 2016, we will treat any Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request as a qualifying hardship and will waive the rule prohibiting employee contributions for 6 months after taking a hardship withdrawal provided one of the following is true:

• Your primary residence or place of employment is located in a covered disaster area and has incurred a loss as a result of the recent Louisiana storms. OR
• Your hardship withdrawal will be used to assist an eligible family member who lives or works in a covered disaster area and who has incurred a loss as a result of the recent Louisiana storms.

IN ADDITION, you must also meet all of the following requirements:

• You must be actively employed as a federal civilian or a member of the uniformed services.
• You must complete Form TSP-76,  Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request.
• You must write “Louisiana Storms” at the top of page 1 above the name of the form.
• You must check the “Personal Casualty Loss” box on page 2, Item 18 of your request form, as the reason for requesting financial hardship.
• Your request must be received in our office by January 10, 2017 and, in compliance with IRS guidelines, your distribution must occur before January 17, 2017. Any Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request forms received after January 10, 2017 will be processed as a standard hardship withdrawal, and your TSP contributions will automatically stop for 6 months.

If you want to stop your TSP contributions, complete Form TSP-1,  Election Form (Form TSP-U-1  for uniformed services) or use your agency or service’s automated system.

This rule change is not retroactive and all other Form TSP-76 rules apply. Participants may only receive one hardship withdrawal under this change. If you have questions about this change, call the toll-free ThriftLine at 1-TSP-YOU-FRST (1-877-968-3778). Outside the U.S. and Canada, please call 404-233-4400 (not toll free).

To read more, visit the TSP site at https://www.tsp.gov/whatsnew/Content/index.html#louisiana.

For the month of August, the highlight is Women’s Equality.  Despite anyone’s political affiliation, the fact remains that we all have witnessed history with the first female securing the Democratic presidential nomination.  However, the struggle that led to that moment did not solely belong to the nominee.  Many have fought for political equality; one in particular – Shirley Chisholm (1924 – 2005).

Shirley Chisholm was born in New York in 1924.  At the age of 14, she met Eleanor Roosevelt who inspired her. After many years as a school teacher, Chisholm entered politics – she knew changes were needed and had to start somewhere.  She was elected as the first black woman in Congress in 1968.  In 1972, she placed her bid as a democratic presidential candidate.  Despite the mounting death threats, she continued to campaign.  Although she lost, she still felt she won; the campaign, Unbossed and Unbought, shed a light on gender inequality and many other issues.

Her continued efforts over the years resulted with seven Congressional terms, as to which she only hired women to work in her office.  Moreover, she was a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus (1971) and the National Political Congress of Black Women (NPCBW, 1982).

Her courage and pioneering example resulted with an honorary stamp issued by the United States Postal Service, with a corresponding biography video on  YouTube.  Please take the time to learn of the impressive legacy of Shirley Chisholm.

While watching the video, think about something. If it weren’t for the relentless efforts of Shirley Chisholm, and many others before her, can we say things would be the same today? Would we still have witnessed the shattering of the glass ceiling?

Although we are close, we still have a fight.  Our battle doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to our daughters, and their daughters, and many generations to follow.  One day, we will be the ancestors remembered as those who tirelessly helped to pave the way…

After all, we are Federally Employed WOMEN!

 

[1] Lewis, J. J. (2016, July 29). Shirley chisholm: Who was the first african american woman to serve in congress? Retrieved August 23, 2016, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/congress/p/shirleychisholm.htm

Richardson, S. S. (2014, February 7). Unbossed, unbought shirley chisholm recognized with stamp. Retrieved August 23, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/s-eudora-smith/unbossed-unbought-shirley_b_4743323.html

USPS TV. (2014, January 31). Shirley chisholm: Black heritage stamp series [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2jR0TiEKE

As we continue the campaign of Women’s Equality, it is important to understand that this fight is not based only in America, it is globally recognized as necessity. The United Nations is dedicated to this struggle – UN Women.  The website, www.unwomen.org, explains the purpose of this global initiative.  In addition, there is a publication, Progress of the World’s Women 2015 – 2016, that provides statistics and other useful information regarding the gender equality.

An excerpt from the website is as follows:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

• Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
• International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
• Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

The main roles of UN Women are:

• To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
• To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
• To lead and coordinate the UN system’s work on gender equality as well as promote accountability, including through regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

Meeting the Needs of the World’s Women

Over many decades, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth. Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes. For many years, the UN has faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues. UN Women was created to address such challenges. It will be a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels. Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women, among other issues, works for the:

• elimination of discrimination against women and girls;
• empowerment of women; and
• achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

 

Citation:

About un women. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2016, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women

We are all aware of the many struggles women have faced regarding the fight to balance gender equality.  However, part of the struggle includes historical legislation.  Below is an article, written by J. Lewis (womenshistory.about.com), explaining the efforts of former President John F. Kennedy.  Enjoy…!

 

President’s Commission on the Status of Women

by Jone Johnson Lewis

December 14, 1961 – October, 1963

While similar institutions with the name “President’s Commission on the Status of Women” have been formed by various universities and other institutions, the key organization by that name was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to explore issues relating to women and to make proposals in such areas as employment policy, education, and federal Social Security and tax laws where these discriminated against women or otherwise addressed women’s rights.

Interest in women’s rights and how to most effectively protect such rights was a matter of growing national interest. There were more than 400 pieces of legislation in Congress which addressed women’s status and issues of discrimination and expanding rights. Court decisions at the time addressed reproductive liberty (the use of contraceptives, for instance) and citizenship (whether women served on juries, for example).

Those who supported protective legislation for women workers believed that it made it more feasible for women to work. Women, even if they worked a full-time job, were the primary childrearing and housekeeping parent after a day at work. The supporters of protective legislation also believed that it was in society’s interest to protect women’s health including women’s reproductive health by restricting hours and some conditions of work, requiring additional bathroom facilities, etc.

Those who supported the Equal Rights Amendment (first introduced in Congress soon after women won the right to vote in 1920) believed with the restrictions and special privileges of women workers under protective legislation, employers were motivated to higher fewer women or even avoid hiring women altogether.

Kennedy established the Commission on the Status of Women in order to navigate between these two positions, trying to find compromises that advanced the equality of women’s workplace opportunity without losing the support of organized labor and those feminists who supported protecting women workers from exploitation and protecting women’s ability to serve in traditional roles in the home and family.

Kennedy also saw a need to open the workplace to more women, in order to have the United States become more competitive with Russia, in the space race, in the arms race — in general, to serve the interests of the “Free World” in the Cold War.

The Commission’s Charge and Membership

Executive Order 10980 by which President Kennedy created the President’s Commission on the Status of Women spoke for women’s basic rights, opportunity for women, the national interest in security and defense of a more “efficient and effective utilization of the skills of all persons,” and the value of home life and family.

It charged the commission with “the responsibility for developing recommendations for overcoming discriminations in government and private employment on the basis of sex and for developing recommendations for services which will enable women to continue their role as wives and mothers while making a maximum contribution to the world around them.”

Kennedy appointed Eleanor Roosevelt, former US delegate to the United Nations and widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to chair the commission. She had played a key role in establishing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and she’d defended both women’s economic opportunity and women’s traditional role in the family, so she could be expected to have the respect of those on both sides of the protective legislation issue. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the commission from its beginning through her death in 1962.

 

The twenty members of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women included both male and female Congressional representatives and Senators (Senator Maurine B. Neuberger of Oregon and Representative Jessica M. Weis of New York), several cabinet-level officers (including the Attorney General, the President’s brother Robert F. Kennedy), and other women and men who were respected civic, labor, educational, and religious leaders. There was some ethnic diversity; among the members were Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women and the Young Women’s Christian Association, Viola H. Hymes of the National Council of Jewish Women.

The Legacy of the Commission: Findings, Successors

The final report of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) was published in October 1963. It proposed a number of legislative initiatives, but did not even mention the Equal Rights Amendment.

This report, called the Peterson Report, documented workplace discrimination, and recommended affordable child care, equal employment opportunity for women, and paid maternity leave.

The public notice given to the report led to considerably more national attention to issues of women’s equality, especially in the workplace. Esther Peterson, who headed the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, spoke about the findings in public forums including The Today Show. Many newspapers ran a series of four articles from the Associated Press about the commission’s findings of discrimination and its recommendations.

As a result, many states and localities also established Commissions on the Status of Women to propose legislative changes, and many universities and other organizations also created such commissions.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 grew out of the recommendations of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

The Commission dissolved after creating its report, but the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women was created to succeed the Commission. This brought together many with a continuing interest in various aspects of women’s rights.

Women from both sides of the protective legislation issue looked for ways in which both sides’ concerns could be addressed legislatively. More women within the labor movement began to look at how protective legislation might work to discriminate against women, and more feminists outside the movement began to take more seriously the concerns of organized labor in protecting women’s and men’s family participation.

Frustration with progress towards the goals and recommendations of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women helped fuel the development of the women’s movement in the 1960s. When the National Organization for Women was founded, key founders had been involved with the President’s Commission on the Status of Women or its successor, the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

 

Citation:

Lewis, J. J. (2016, June 12). President’s commission on the status of women.

Retrieved August 7, 2016, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/laws/a/status_women.htm

As previously announced, each week, a woman who was a pillar with the fight towards gender equality, will be highlighted on our website each week.

Most of us know the story of Susan B. Anthony.  However, do you know who inspired her?

Courtesy of Biography Online, the Story of Margaret Fuller is amazing:

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was an American writer, a women’s rights activist, and was associated with the Transcendentalist movement.

Fuller was an influential early feminist whose writings had a profound impact on later women suffrage campaigners, such as Susan B. Anthony.

“She possessed more influence on the thought of American women than any woman previous to her time.”

– Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in History of Woman Suffrage.

Sarah Margaret Fuller was born May 23, 1810 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. Her father was a lawyer and, for eight years, a representative of Congress, enabling him to move in influential political circles.

Margaret was educated at home and also at the Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies (1821-22). She was a voracious reader and became well-known for being one of the best read people in New England. She became the first women to have access to Harvard library, when researching a book on the Great Lakes region. She also became fluent in the classics and several modern languages. Her thirst for knowledge was such that she felt little in common with other girls her own age. She was less interested in more conventional pursuits expected of women, Fuller was hopeful of continuing her studies and beginning a career in journalism.

However, after the unexpected death of her father from Cholera in 1836, Fuller found herself in a position of having to look after her family. Also, she did not benefit from her father’s estate, with the bulk of the family fortune going to two uncles (her father did not make a will). To supplement her income she took a job as a teacher in Boston and later Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1839, Fuller moved the family to Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Fuller began women’s discussion groups where Fuller would lead talks about the role of women in society.

In 1839, Fuller was offered the job of editing the Transcendentalists’ magazine – The Dial’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Transcendentalists were an influential philosophical movement in the Nineteenth Century. They believed in personal transformation and looking beyond religious dogmas. Fuller accepted the position and became a leading figure within the Transcendentalist movement. Although she was sympathetic to the movement, she had some reservations about the label ‘Transcendentalist’ being applied to her. However, she frequently visited leading Transcendentalists, and wrote about her experiences in her book called ‘Summer on the Lakes‘ (1844)

With growing confidence as a writer, Fuller also returned to themes of female emancipation and the role of women in society. In 1845, she published – ‘Women in the Nineteenth Century‘ – It investigated the role of women in society and how they could play a greater role in society. (Fuller had originally intended to call it The Great lawsuit: Men ‘versus’ Men, Woman ‘versus’ Women.)

“We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to Woman as freely as to Man…”

“There exists in the minds of men a tone of feeling toward women as toward slaves….”

“…Let us be wise, and not impede the soul. Let her work as she will. Let us have one creative energy, one incessant revelation. Let it take what form it will, and let us not bind it by the past to man or woman, black or white.”

Quotes from ‘Women in the Nineteenth Century‘ (1845)

In 1844, she moved to the New York Tribune, where she became a literary critic and later – the New York Tribune’s first female editor.

It was a meteoric rise for Fuller. She frequently broke gender barriers, taking roles rarely allowed for women. She had a very strong personality – contemporaries say she had great self-confidence and self-belief in her own capacities.

“I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.”

– As reported by Ralph Waldo Emerson in Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1884) Vol. 1, Pt. 4.

However, she was quick to anger and with a short temper. Her personality could polarise opinion of her. As she herself admits.

“I am ‘too fiery’ … yet I wish to be seen as I am, and would lose all rather than soften away anything.”

– As quoted by Joseph Jay Deiss in “Humanity, said Edgar Allan Poe, is divided into Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller” in American Heritage magazine, (August 1972)

In 1846, Fuller was sent to Europe as foreign correspondent for the New York Tribune. She met leading literary figures of the day; she also met the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini. In 1848, she secretly married Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, a former marquis disinherited by his family because of his support for the revolutionary Mazzini. Their relationship was kept secretive for several months, though after the birth of their child – Angelo Eugene Philip Ossoli, they became less so. In 1849, they became involved in Giuseppe Mazzani’s fight for the establishment of a Roman republic. Fuller worked as a nurse, whilst her husband fought.

In 1850, the couple took a boat back to America. But, on July 19, 1850, the returning ship hit a sandbank. The ship was abandoned amidst crashing waves and Fuller was never seen again. She had previously written of feeling bad omens about her fate. Her last manuscript on the Roman republic was lost. After her death, a short biography was published, which proved popular

Fuller was interested in a range of social topics. She believed in social reform from women’s rights to the prison system. In particular, she believed women had a right to a full education. She felt a complete education would enable women to be more independent and enable a wider horizon of possibilities than the social conventions of the Nineteenth Century allowed. She also abhorred slavery and felt the Native Americans had been unfairly treated. She wrote extensively on a range of social issues from homelessness to women’s equality and played a role in promoting progressive ideas, which were later taken up by women rights activists and social campaigners.

She was good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson admired his vivacious friend, though Fuller criticized the Transcendentalist concern with personal transformation because she felt the necessity for social reform.

 

Citation:

Margaret Fuller biography. (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2016, from

http://www.biographyonline.net/women/margaret-fuller.html

Shattered glass is falling all around us.  Women have just reached another historic moment in American history.  For over 240 years women have fought for equality and representation.  Because of the countless strides and sacrifices of women, we were able to witness a woman announced as a candidate for the highest office of the land.  FEW celebrate this moment in history and pleased to share this moment with future generations!

We salute all the women who have pave the way to this small feat and we thank you for your relentless efforts.  They have finally paid off.

 

Monday, July 25, 2016 Just Published! FREE Download for ALL FEDweek Readers Your TSP is your largest investment and it’s important for you to steer clear of the eight most critical mistakes federal employees make with their TSP. This brand new FREE DOWNLOAD will show you these mistakes and how to avoid them. In today’s volatile market it’s so crucial that you invest in your TSP properly. It contains… Pitfalls of failing to invest the right amount Whether or not to withdraw money from your TSP account Failing to understand your withdrawal options Risk versus reward in your individual funds And more! This FREE Download is available to ALL federal employees. Forward this email on to your federal co-workers

As I hope most of you heard last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it will be replacing the image of President Andrew Jackson on the $20.00 bill with an image of Harriet Tubman. Tubman is an important figure in United States history for her work supporting the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from captivity. Ms. Tubman was also very active during the Civil War as both a nurse and intelligence gatherer for the Union cause.

As an organization founded to support the cause of women’s equality and embracing diversity, the selection of Harriett Tubman as the face of the $20.00 bill should be celebrated by Federally Employed Women (FEW) and all of us for many reasons. Although this will be the first bank note a woman will appear on within our current circulated currency, this is not the first time a female has appeared on a U.S. dollar bill.

According to Harcourt Fuller, a Professor of History at Georgia State University, Pocahontas, Lucy Pickens, and Martha Washington have historically graced U.S. paper currency, with First Lady Washington last appearing in 1896. Although Harriett Tubman is not the first female to receive this distinction, she will be the first female on U.S. currency in over 100 years.

Over the last two months there have been several critical announcements made by the Obama Administration that support women’s rights and equality. On April 12th, Women’s Equal Pay Day, President Obama designated the newest national monument the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Washington D.C. President Obama has been vocal about ending the pay gap to support Women’s rights, and his decision to place a prominent female on U.S. currency is cause for celebration as both a symbolic and physical representation of those efforts.

The selection of Harriett Tubman for the $20 bill is also important as a declaration for diversity within our country. Choosing a woman who represents the history and challenges our country has overcome is more than just symbolic gesture. This demonstrates that the United States values all of its patriotic citizens, regardless of gender or race.

The final thing I want each of us to celebrate about this important announcement is the fact that it was submitted to President Obama by a child named Sofia. Young girls, like Sofia, are the future of our country and our organization. It renews my spirit to see young females so passionate about equal rights and representation. I hope each of you embraces Sofia’s conviction as you work with FEW to advocate for women’s equality.

In the Spirit of Excellence,

Michelle A. Crockett
National President
Federally Employed Women

This youtube video is amazing. I welcome your thoughts on “Always ‪#‎LikeAGirl‬”.

Click here to view this video.