SECOND ANNUAL FEDERAL HISPANIC
CAREER ADVANCEMENT SUMMIT

Change, Challenges, and Opportunities

"… Championing the advancement and development of Hispanic Americans in the federal workforce through
training and education with a focus on building leadership skills, leading change, and achieving results! ..."

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

WORKSHOPS

Track #1 - Building Coalitions

Influencing and Negotiating Skills - Presentation Available

The objective of this training session is to strengthen the influencing/negotiating skills of emerging leaders. The training will draw on common daily professional challenges and teach you to better capture and leverage opportunities to have influence within and across agencies, and broader enterprises. Some of the negotiation tactics included in this workshop are learning how to locate sources of power, identify potential spoilers, build and maintain multi-stakeholder coalitions, and manage impasses without escalating conflict. You will also learn influencing tactics such as re-framing issues, invoking common ground, and developing a “tipping point” strategy. The skills that you will learn in this workshop will enable you to exercise indirect influence through other stakeholders to overcome resistance and achieve your preferred outcome.

BRIAN S. MANDELL, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Director of Negotiation Project, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Professor Mandell has taught negotiation, conflict resolution, and scenario planning for 20 years. He is Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the school’s Negotiation Project. Professor Mandell works on capability-building and training in private, public, and non-profit organizations. He writes about contentious disputes and is completing a book on scenario planning for conflict managers and negotiation practitioners. Before joining Harvard, Professor Mandell taught at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. Previously, he was a strategic analyst for the Canadian Department of National Defense, specializing in UN peacekeeping and arms control agreements. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, is a Pew Faculty Fellow, and a Senior Research Associate at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Professor Mandell was honored with the Harvard Kennedy School Most Influential Course Award in 2004 and has twice received the Carballo Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Crucial Conversations - Presentation Available

Crucial conversations training will teach you how to create conditions where people speak with complete candor and with complete respect. You will gain skills that encourage spirited dialogue, reduce deference, and reduce defiance. Begin stepping up to tough issues by sharing opinions, feelings, and information both safely and freely. Learn to promote best ideas, save time with fewer meetings, have less disagreement, build more alignments, and make better decisions. This approach will work for you, your team, your family, your organization—and everyone gets better. The seminar will bring to your awareness and practice 8 crucial skills—that if practiced will yield tremendous results at home, work, and your relationships.

CANDACE BERTOTTI
Master Certified Trainer in Crucial Conversations, VitalSmarts Master Trainers

Ms. Bertotti is a Master Certified Trainer in Crucial Conversations. She specializes in conflict resolution, negotiation, and interpersonal communication to help individuals and organizations increase effectiveness and achieve bottom line results. She holds a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University with concentrations in: Leadership, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She also holds an undergraduate degree from Indiana University in Corporate and Community Education. Furthermore, Ms. Bertotti holds a Project Management Masters Certificate from The George Washington University and an Education Policy Certificate from The University of Virginia. Some of her impressive clientele includes: Panasonic, Bristol Myers Squibb, the National Institutes of Health, Management Concepts, Inc., Community Tax Aid, the Association for Schools of Public Health, and the University of Maryland, and Ms. Bertotti also has seven years of Federal experience working with the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Drug Administration.

Congress approves the existence of every program in your agency and determines how much money each program receives. To successfully meet the requirements that Congress places on agencies and their programs, it is critical to understand how and why Congress makes decisions. This workshop provides a look at the nature, organization, and operation of the 111th Congress. You will analyze the current budget situation and the outlook for Federal spending in both the near and long terms. You will also gain an understanding of certain aspects of Congress and executive-legislative relations that can make Federal personnel more effective at their jobs.

KENNETH A. GOLD, Ph.D.
Director, Government Affairs Institute, Georgetown University

Kenneth A. Gold has been the Director of the Government Affairs Institute (GAI) at Georgetown University since 1997. He joined the Government Affairs Institute at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 1989 and was a member of the Senior Faculty until 1992. He served as GAI Director with OPM until 1995. Prior to OPM, Dr. Gold was Assistant Professor with the School of International Service and Academic Director of the Washington Semester Program at American University in Washington, D.C. He also directed American University programs in London, England, and Rome, Italy; he also was an instructor at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Gold is the author of articles on organizations and management, and of United States Foreign Economic Policy-Making (New York: Garland Publishing, 1987). He holds his undergraduate degree from the City College of New York and his Masters of Arts and Ph.D. degrees from Pennsylvania State University.

Track #2 - Business Acumen

Financial Internal Control - Presentation Available

Every program manager has a role, but more importantly, a responsibility in financial management. Whether it is a direct or indirect responsibility, successful program managers understand that good financial management is essential for the success of any program. The key to this is having a good system of internal controls. It will help you to prevent money from being wasted; comply with laws, regulations, and rules; and achieve performance goals. In this session you will learn the basics of internal control, legal regulations, and policy requirements. You will also learn to identify the red flags that should cause you to stop and question transactions, and explore, through case studies, the importance of good internal controls in not only keeping yourself and your agency out of trouble, but also improving program performance.

ELLIOT P. LEWIS, C.P.A.
Assistant Inspector General for Audit, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General

Mr. Lewis was appointed as the Assistant Inspector General for Audit (AIGA) of the Office of Inspector General in May 2002. In this capacity, Mr. Lewis is responsible for providing audit oversight of all Department of Labor programs nationwide. Prior to his appointment as AIGA, he served as the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit. Mr. Lewis joined the U.S. Department of Labor in 1991 as an Assistant Director of the Office of Financial Management Audits (OFMA). In 1996, he was promoted to Director of OFMA and in 2000 he was promoted again to the Director of the Office of Audit Operations. Before joining the Department of Labor, Mr. Lewis was a partner with T. R. McConnell & Company, CPAs, in South Carolina. He was the primary engagement partner for all the Department of Labor work at the firm. Mr. Lewis is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of Government Accountants and a past member of the AICPA's Governmental Technical Standards Subcommittee. Mr. Lewis holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of South Carolina

Human Capital In The 21st Century - Presentation Available

Employees are an agency’s most important asset. They define the agency’s character, represent the knowledge base of the organization, and ultimately affect the capacity of an agency to respond to the needs of the public. Aligning the skils and abilities of an agency’s workforce with its mission, requires knowledge of strategic human capital planning. In this workshop, you will develop a basic understanding of strategic human capital principles. In addition, this session will highlight key workforce challenges of the 21st century. You will learn best practices in acquiring, developing, and retaining high performing employees with appropriate skills and competencies.

LINDA WALK
Director, Human Capital Planning Staff, U.S. Social Security Administration

Ms. Walk is Director of the Human Capital Planning Staff at the Social Security Administration (SSA). She oversees the development of strategic human capital plans and provides leadership on human capital initiatives. Ms. Walk began her SSA career in Reading, PA as a Claims Representative and later moved to the Philadelphia Regional Office where she led the region’s Management Information and Analysis Team for the 16 years. In 2001, she worked in the Office of Workforce Analysis at SSA headquarters Baltimore, where she led teams evaluating pilot projects and ongoing workforce practices. Ms. Walk completed the Council for Excellence in Government Fellows Program in 2005 and, in 2006, as a Senior Fellow, served as coach and mentor to new participants in the program. She completed Social Security’s Advanced Leadership Program in 2008 and holds an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Delaware.

Enterprise Architecture - Presentation Available

In most Federal agencies, the demand for information technology (IT) services is increasing, but the funding for IT projects is restricted. Agencies are looking for operational efficiencies that do not sacrifice quality. IT officials are partnering with program managers to this end through the implementation of Enterprise Architecture (EA). EA is a comprehensive framework used to manage and align an organization’s IT assets, people, operations, and projects. It defines how information and technology will support and benefit agency operations. This workshop provides you with a brief overview of EA concepts and takes you through a case study of how GAO is using EA to address these IT challenges. 

JOE KRAUS
Chief Information Officer, Information Systems and Technology Services (ISTS),
U.S. Government Accountability Office

Mr. Kraus is responsible for overseeing the information systems and technology services division that supports U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Prior to this assignment, Mr. Kraus was the Chief Information Officer at Intelsat, a global telecommunications satellite company. In August of 2004, CIO Magazine recognized Intelsat in its CIO100 award program for flexibly delivering new business capabilities during a period of great change through its use of IT. Mr. Kraus holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a Masters of Science from the University of Southern California. He is a member of the Legislative Brach CIO Council, the CIO Executive Board, and the Society for Information Management where he serves as the Board Chairman of Capital Area Chapter, the CIO Executive Council and Gartner EXP.

MARK STEFAN
Chief Enterprise Architect, ISTS U.S. Government Accountability Office

Mr. Stefan is responsible for leading GAO's internal EA Program which focuses on four major business priorities: Engagement/Work Management, Financial Services, Human Capital Management, and Technology Management. In addition to his role as Chief Architect, he chairs the GAO Information Technology Investment Council Working Group. Mr. Stefan holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of Maryland in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems.  

Also Presenting:
DONNA WAGNER JONES
Sr. Enterprise Architect Segment Lead, ISTS Government Accountability Office

TIFFANY RODNEY
Sr. Enterprise Information Architect, ISTS Government Accountability Office

RANDY TURKEL
Enterprise Architecture Program Manager, ISTS Government Accountability Office

Track #3 - Fundamental Competencies

Dealing with difficult people - Presentation Available

Having a diverse mix of personalities and perspectives in an office can benefit the organization in terms of creativity and productivity. However, vast differences in personalities and perspectives can also cause uncomfortable situations that impact office morale and lead to conflict. If not managed effectively, these situations can eventually cost time, money, and unnecessary personal stress. Case studies will help you learn about different types of personalities, identify interpersonal problems, determine trigger points for conflict, and master strategies for effectively dealing with interpersonal problems.

PATRICIA T. TAYLOR, Ph.D.
Chief, Intelligence Community EEO and Diversity, Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Dr. Taylor is a professional in government, management consulting and private industry. She has over 20 years of Federal Government experience and has been in the Senior Executive Service for over 15 years. She has worked for the National Security Agency and the US Government Accountability Office. Dr. Taylor joined the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in August 2004 and was named Chief of the Office of Intelligence Community EEO and Diversity in April 2008. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded an NSA fellowship to complete her Ph.D. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Taylor is a Federal Executive Institute graduate and she is in her fourth year as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Maryland, specializing in Diversity Studies and Human Resources. She was recently elected to the Board of the U.S. Women’s Army Foundation.

Government Ethics: the importance of being an ethical supervisor - Presentation Available

Managing ethics in the workplace can hold vast moral and practical benefits for you and your organization because they are vital to creating an agency’s culture and building public trust. This workshop will emphasize the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch and will help you gain an understanding of how a manager’s ethical behavior can enhance the workplace. Managing ethical values in the workplace will legitimize your managerial actions, strengthens your organization’s culture, and improve the public’s trust in your agency’s ability to carryout its mission.

DALE A. (CHIP) CHRISTOPHER, JR.
Associate Director, Program Review Division, U.S. Office of Government Ethics

Dale has worked at OGE since 1991. As the Associate Director for OGE’s Program Review Division, Dale oversees a staff of program analysts and ethics specialists who are primarily responsible for monitoring Executive Branch agency ethics programs, assessing emerging ethics issues, administering various surveys on ethics-related topics, and providing training to agency ethics officials.

Two-Minute analysis for short documents and correspondence - Presentation Available

Writing is a fundamental skill that is required for organizational and personal success. Your ability to present your thoughts coherently and persuasively on paper are critical. In this workshop, you will learn to analyze and produce successful letters, memoranda, and other short business documents by systematically applying specific techniques quickly. This writing system will help improve your ability to get to the point, use specific details, write persuasively, choose the best tone, and use correct word choice. The techniques offered in the workshop will get you better results in less time.

DANIEL GRAHAM   
Principal, Graham Consulting Associates, Inc.

For over twenty-five years, Daniel Graham has provided training and consulting about writing efficiency and quality to corporations and government agencies throughout North America and Europe. He has trained more than 50,000 engineers, scientists, and business professionals how to write better documents faster. Mr. Graham combines his writing and business training experience in other business opportunities. He founded the Journal of Practical Applications in Space, and owns and manages a small press. Daniel Graham holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Alabama, and an undergraduate degree in English Literature from The College of William and Mary. For ten years, he served as an officer in the United States Army with assignments in tactical and strategic intelligence. He is published in peer reviewed journals ranging from law to engineering, and he is an award-winning novelist. Some of Mr. Graham’s recent books include: Can Do Writing and The Writing System.

Lifelong learning: continuous education for sustainable development - Presentation Available

Learning for sustainable development is a lifelong process that takes place in a whole range of learning environments; both formal and informal. In this interactive workshop, you will explore different ways to make positive and rewarding contributions to your professional development. You will be given an opportunity to identify applications of the materials presented and challenged to improve your outlook for the future. Understanding the importance of lifelong learning empowers you with the ability to advance your career, stay abreast of new innovations, and be alert to changes within yourself and others.

PATRICIA C. FORD
Human Resources Specialist, U.S. Social Security Administration

Ms. Ford is a Human Resource Specialist and a member of the Business Plan Implementation Team in the Office of Learning at the U.S. Social Security Administration. She is a technical subject matter expert in the agency’s transformation to a learning organization. Prior to working for the SSA, she was a facilitator and trainer for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Center for Management and Executive Leadership. Ms. Ford has worked for Greater Media, Inc. as a Director of Retail Sails and CBS, Inc in New York as an account executive. She gained invaluable experience in personnel management as Sr. Personnel Representative for Unisys in Pennsylvania. One of her greatest achievements was owning an advertising and public relations firm for eight years in Michigan. Ms. Ford holds a Masters of Divinity from Virginia Union Seminary, a Masters in Guidance and Counseling from Atlanta University, and an undergraduate degree from Johnson C. Smith in North Carolina.

Executive Coaching

Introduction to the Senior Executive Service

This is an introductory workshop in which Ms. Sola-Carter will introduce the participants to the SES, discuss and explain the SESCDP, and discuss the ECQ’s and the competencies that fall under each one. Ms. Sola-Carter will explain the relationship between the ECQ’s and entry into the SES as well as how Federal agencies apply them in selections, performance management, and leadership development for their senior leaders. The audience will consist of all GS-13-15 employees registered to participate in the afternoon Executive Coaching workshops.

In addition, a panel of experts will discuss the ECQ’s, and provide advice regarding how to develop and gain experience in them. They will provide advice on training courses and career development opportunities the participants can explore to develop these skills. In addition, the panel will provide real-life case examples of how they have used the ECQ’s and excelled in their careers.    

FELICITA SOLA-CARTER   
President of Conexiones

Felicita Sola-Carter is the current President of Conexiones and also serves on the Equity Council, the District Planning Team, and the Education Foundation of the Howard County, Maryland Public School System. She served as the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources of the Social Security Administration (SSA). Ms. Sola-Carter graduated from the College of Mount St. Vincent and began her career with SSA in New York City. She later joined the Office of the Commissioner in Baltimore, MD., as Senior Advisor to the Principal Deputy Commissioner, becoming the first Hispanic in that role. Ms. Sola-Carter is the recipient of a 2004 Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive and a 2005 Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, the highest honor a career Federal executive may receive.

Executive Coaching for GS-13s and 14s

This workshop provides an opportunity for more direct, give-and-take interaction than plenary sessions or larger workshops. Approximately 45 GS-13/14 Federal employees will participate in 3 round table discussions with senior managers who will serve as Executive Coaches for aspiring future leaders. The participants will be divided into small groups of 4 to facilitate an informal exchange of information with the managers. Each round-table discussion will be approximately 30 minutes in duration. The workshop participants and senior managers will engage in discussions regarding the SES competencies, performance expectations as a senior leader, and maximizing career opportunities to enhance their skills.

Executive Coaching for GS-15s