EEOC FORMS FEDERAL ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER WORK GROUP

WASHINGTON – Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the formation of an Asian American and Pacific Islander Work Group that will examine this community's concerns about federal sector employment, special emphasis programs and the complaints process.

"The work group will be tackling these urgent and vexing problems which the Commission plans to address at a meeting to be held in 2008," Chair Earp said.  "Our work will begin with testing perceptions and gathering the realities Asian Pacific Americans face in the federal workplace."

"The composition of the work group will be diverse in race, ethnicity and gender, and will be comprised of persons from various agencies, grade levels, occupational categories, levels of management, and professions," Chair Earp added.

The members of the new work group represent a cross section of agencies, departments and external stakeholders and include the following: 

• Suzan Aramaki, Director, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Commerce;
• Linda Bradford-Washington, Director, Office of Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
• Sherrie Davis, Acting Division Director, Program Policy and Evaluation, Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management, National Institutes of Health;
• Robert Jew, Director of EEO and Diversity Programs, The National Archives and Records Administration;
• Farook Sait, Special Counsel to the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Agriculture;
• James Su, Senior Vice President for Operations, Federal Asian Pacific American Council; and,
• Sharon Wong, President, Asian American Government Executives Network.

"This work is extremely important," said Gazal Modhera, a special assistant to Chair Earp and the newly appointed chair of the work group.  "I can't wait to get moving on this important initiative, and I am so pleased to have the opportunity to guide this extraordinary group." 

The EEOC monitors federal agency compliance with equal employment opportunity laws and procedures. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.