Women's Equality Day

The 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote was certified as part of the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920. It was the culmination of a 72-year-long civil rights movement that originated at the world's first women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Several generations of women's suffrage supporters wrote, lectured, marched, and lobbied to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change to the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see victory in 1920. Congresswoman Bella Abzug first introduced a proclamation for Women's Equality Day in 1971.

Since that time, every president has published a proclamation recognizing August 26th as Women's Equality Day.

Federal Women's Program

The Federal Women's Program (FWP) is one of several federally mandated programs. It began with the passing of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920, which granted women the right to vote in the United States.

Since 1971, August 26th is recognized every year as "Women's Equality Day" and activities are done to memorialize the strenuous fight for women's equality. In October 1967, the category of "sex" was added as a protected category from unlawful discrimination with Executive Order 11375. Then, In August 1969, Executive Order 11478 formed the mandate for establishment of a Federal Women's Program for each Federal Agency and placed the responsibility under the purview of Directors of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) for each Federal Agency. Finally, In March of 1972, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to add this protection to Federal employees and added to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 29 CFR 1614.102. In VA, where both equality and inclusion of both employees and the Veterans they serve are of utmost importance, there is still room for improvement. As of May 31, 2012, women represent 59.48 percent of the overall VA workforce. Although this may seem like a large number, it remains 5.37 percent below the National Relevant Civilian Labor Force (RCLF) of 64.85 percent, which is the benchmark. In VA's permanent leadership pipeline (GS-12 through GS-14) women hold 62.9 percent of those positions.

Women represent 35.3 percent of executive leadership positions (GS-15 and Senior Executive Service (SES)), including 35.29 percent of GS-15 positions and 35.57 percent of SES positions.

Of important note is that the representation of women in the higher grades has steadily increased over that last few decades and is forecasted to continue this growth.

Each Federal Agency has designated an FWP Manager, who is tasked with carrying out the responsibilities of the role. This individual assists in the recruitment, development, training, and advancement of women in their respective workforces. The FWP Manager responsibilities are:

* Advise management on the unique concerns of and barriers to equal opportunity for a particular underrepresented group.

* Monitor and evaluate human resource policies, practices, and procedures to determine the existence of barriers to full participation; and report findings to the appropriate officials with recommendations for corrective action.

* Participate in studies and systemic analyses to identify barriers to equal employment opportunity.

* Educate supervisors, managers and employees on the goals and objectives of the FWP.

* Assist in identification of training needs and recruitment sources for women in areas they have less than expected participation rates.

* Serve as representative with various organizations with common goals.

* Coordinate and/or partner for educational programs including seminars, workshops, and FWP observances.

* Be involved in the planning and implementation of proactive prevention measures for women in the workforce.

https://www.diversity.va.gov/calendar/wed.aspx

"NIEAPA members shall seek to develop an awareness of their own personal and cultural values and beliefs as one way of appreciating the importance of multicultural identities in our own lives and in the lives of those we serve.  NIEAPA members shall have and continue to develop specialized knowledge and understanding about the values, traditions and systems of all employees at the workplaces they serve."