Washington, D.C. - U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James told federal agency chief human capital officers (CHCOs) the significance of their participation in the 2004 summit of the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives (NAHFE) this week in San Antonio, Texas.

In a recent memorandum (attached), James told federal CHCOs how important their participation is in creating a diverse federal workforce. "Consistent with President George W. Bush's call to create a federal workforce that draws from the diversity of America, I know that each of you is personally committed to promoting equal opportunity in the federal government," James stated in the memorandum.

The NAHFE summit, targeted at members of the Senior Executive Service and federal employees at the GS 15 level, will focus on several major areas including Hispanics and the strategic management of human capital; building and improving effective mentoring and training programs for Hispanics at the GS 12-14 levels; and management accountability in creating innovative approaches to recruiting, training, and retaining Hispanics in the federal workforce. OPM Deputy Director Dan Blair will provide a keynote address at the meetings and OPM staff will facilitate a number of the workshops.

"The President, through his Management Agenda, has made workforce diversity a critical component in meeting federal human capital objectives, and part of the responsibility of each CHCO is to develop the means to make this happen," James stated.

To improve federal workforce diversity while maintaining Merit System principles, OPM maintains aggressive outreach to traditionally underrepresented communities through its national job fairs. The next job fair will be April 20 in New York City.

"Although there was a 58.1% increase in Hispanic hiring for fiscal year 2002, more progress needs to be made to attract Hispanics into the civil service and to achieve the diverse federal workforce President Bush called for in his Management Agenda," James stated.

Our mission is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.