The LEAD Initiative

LEAD (Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities) is the EEOC's initiative to address the declining number of employees with targeted disabilities in the federal workforce. The goal for this initiative is to significantly increase the population of individuals with severe disabilities employed by the federal government. Please check the LEAD Update link for information on past and future events.

This national outreach and education campaign seeks to:

• reverse the trend of decreasing participation in federal employment
• increase the awareness of hiring officials about the declining numbers of people with disabilities in federal employment
• educate federal hiring officials about how to use special hiring authorities to bring people with disabilities on board, particularly those with severe disabilities
• educate applicants with severe disabilities about how to apply using the special hiring authorities available; and
• supply information and resources on recruitment, hiring, and providing reasonable accommodations.

Please note that the LEAD initiative is not an employment program. Rather, LEAD staff is working to encourage federal agencies to hire and advance more individuals with severe disabilities. Thus, LEAD is not directly involved with individual hiring decisions. For information on current vacancies in the federal government, please visit www.usajobs.opm.gov, and/or the website of individual federal agencies. Additionally, job seekers may find useful information on the OPM Disability Resource page - http://www.opm.gov/disability/.