1 Workforce Development Advancing Aapis in the Federal Government

Workforce Development Advancing AAPIs in the Federal Government Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 3 PM ET Hear special remarks from Deputy Secretary Patrick Pizzella from the U.S. Department of Labor and Acting Director Michael J. Rigas from the Office of Personnel Management. Remarks will be followed by a panel discussion on Advancing AAPIs in the Federal Government. The panel will discuss on the progress we have seen in AAPIs moving up leadership ranks in the federal government, recruitment and building the pipeline, as well as career development. Hear from DOL, OPM, AAGEN, and FAPAC as they discuss resources and opportunities through each of their programs. AGENDA Welcome Remarks Tina Wei Smith, Executive Director, White House Initiative on AAPIs Introduction of Speakers Helen Van Etten, Regent, Kansas Board of Regents Remarks The Honorable Patrick Pizzella, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor Remarks The Honorable Michael J. Rigas, Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management, and Acting Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget Panel: Advancing AAPIs in the Federal Government • Moderator: Anna Hui, Director, Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations • Vivian Chen, Chair, Asian American Government Executives Network (Director, Emergency Medical Services, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) • Kelly Sewell, Public Affairs Officer, Federal Asian Pacific American Council (Human Capital Communications Specialist, Office of Human Capital, U.S. Department of the Interior) • Naomi M. Barry-Perez, Director, Civil Rights Center, U.S. Department of Labor • Zina B. Sutch, Deputy Associate Director for Outreach, Diversity, and Inclusion, Office of Personnel Management Followed by Q&A 1 SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES The Honorable Patrick Pizzella Deputy Secretary U.S. Department of Labor President Donald J. Trump nominated him to serve as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Senate confirmed Pizzella’s nomination on April 12, 2018. He was sworn in as Deputy Secretary by U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta on April 17, 2018. Pizzella served as Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor from July 20, 2019, until September 27, 2019. Pizzella previously served as a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2013. On January 23, 2017, President Trump designated Pizzella as Acting FLRA Chairman, a position he held until December 8, 2017. Prior to joining the FLRA, Pizzella was Principal at Patrick Pizzella LLC. He served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2001 to 2009. Pizzella was designated by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from January 18, 2004, to April 26, 2005. Previously, he worked at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP as a Government Affairs Counselor from 1998 to 2001 and Director of Coalitions from 1996 to 1997. From 1990 to 1995, Pizzella was Director of the Office of Administration at the Federal Housing Finance Board, and from 1988 to 1989, Deputy Under Secretary for Management at the U.S. Department of Education. He has previously held positions at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the U.S. General Services Administration. Pizzella received a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of South Carolina and he is a graduate of Iona Preparatory School. He is a native of New Rochelle, New York. The Honorable Michael J. Rigas Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management Michael Rigas is the Acting Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management. Rigas has over 20 years of professional experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors, with a record of improving organizational performance and streamlining operations. Prior to his current role, he served twice as an appointee at the General Services Administration (GSA), most recently as Senior Advisor and previously as Associate Administrator where he worked to increase Federal Government contracting with woman-owned, veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and improved his department's scorecard from "red" to "green." Rigas also served as Chief of Staff at The Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services where he worked to reduce the amount of time it took to process veterans benefits, and at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. where he advanced free-market and limited government public policy solutions. Mr. Rigas spent more than a decade in the private sector, including Mellon Financial Corporation and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. He holds an M.A. in public administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and B.A. and M.A. in economics from Boston University. 2 Tina Wei Smith Executive Director White House Initiative on AAPIs Tina Wei Smith was appointed as the eighth Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) on December 9, 2019. In this capacity, Ms. Smith is responsible for directing the efforts of the Initiative and of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), including overseeing an Interagency Working Group. Prior to joining the Initiative, Ms. Smith spent over 5 years at Asbury University as the first director of the Global Engagement Office. In this role, Ms. Smith created new international education initiatives and curriculum to increase cross-cultural understanding and prepare students for an increasingly global economy. Ms. Smith previously worked at The Heritage Foundation in the Office of Distinguished Fellow, Elaine L. Chao. She previously served at the U.S. Department of Labor in the Office of the Secretary and the Office of Public Liaison. She also served in the U.S. House of Representatives and staffed Congressman Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (NJ-11). Ms. Smith immigrated to the United States with her parents at a very young age, and she acquired her U.S. citizenship in high school. Despite her family’s humble beginnings and the challenges of being newcomers, she witnessed first-hand how she and her family have been blessed by the many opportunities here in America. As a result, Ms. Smith has committed herself to public service and giving back to help others access opportunities to improve their lives and their future. Ms. Smith is a 2015 Fulbright grant recipient, where she spent time supporting international education and bridging partnerships between universities. Ms. Smith is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (B.A.) and the University of Michigan (Master of Public Policy and M.A. in Higher Education). Ms. Smith and her husband, Kevin, call Kentucky home and they are proud parents to three young children. Helen Van Etten Regent Kansas Board of Regents Dr. Helen Van Etten is a long-time healthcare professional, educator and public servant. Since 1985, Dr. Van Etten has been an audiologist and recently retired from the Topeka School District as its chief audiologist. In 1988, she was on the board of directors for the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and remained on the board until 2006. Between 2004 and 2007, she served on the advisory committee for KAN Be Healthy, a Kansas State Medicaid program for youth and young adults. In 2010, she was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Eisenhower Excellence in Public Service Series. In 2013, Dr. Van Etten was appointed to the Kansas Board of Regents by Governor Sam Brownback (R) and was re-appointed to a second term in 2017 (2017-2021). She has served on several of the board's committees, including Chair of the Academic Affairs Standing Committee, the Midwest Higher Education Compact as a representative and commissioner, Washburn University Board of Regents, the Higher Education and K-12 Coordination Council and Governor’s Educational Council – Committee Co-chair. In 2018, she was appointed by Secretary of U S Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, to serve a five-year term as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA). Most recently, she was appointed by President Trump to serve as one of the Commissioners of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 3 Anna Hui Director Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Anna Hui was appointed Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in March of 2017 and the Senate confirmed the appointment in January 2018, making her the first Asian American to serve in the governor’s cabinet in Missouri history. For over two decades, Anna has worked in numerous senior positions in both state and federal government. Anna started her public service career working for Illinois Governor Jim Edgar as the Special Assistant to the Governor for Asian-American affairs and then for Governor George Ryan, as a senior-member of the Washington, D.C. policy management team. She went on to serve as the Associate Deputy Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor during President George W. Bush’s Administration. In that role, Anna spearheaded efforts to encourage diversity and the inclusion of historically underserved communities in the Department’s programs and Federal government management. After leaving federal service in 2009 and until she returned to Illinois in 2015, she was Chief of Staff to former U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. From 2015 to 2017, Anna served as Assistant Director and later as Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Labor, where she implemented major reforms in process and program efficiency and effectiveness. Anna received a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, a M.S.M. and a M.B.A.

Load more