Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry Talks about the American Jobs Act at the GLBT Center of Colorado

Last week, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry toured the GLBT Center of Colorado in Denver and spoke with members of the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community about the importance of the American Jobs Act.

Read more about Director Berry’s visit from Amy Drayer, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at The Center:

John Berry, Director for the Office of Personnel Management, visits The GLBT Community Center of Colorado on Friday, October 14, 2011. (Photo from OutFront Colorado)

Advocacy for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is at its most powerful when it comes from all directions – from the top, from the grassroots, from our allies, and from the middle.

Last Friday, the GLBT Community Center of Colorado got a chance to see what’s happening at the top – straight from John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Director Berry was passionate about the Obama Administration’s support for our community and the steps he is taking as OPM Director to institutionalize equality in the nation’s largest workforce.

From dismantling the discriminatory policies of the past to actively encouraging lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals to work in and for our government, Director Berry made it clear in his remarks that the United States is at its strongest when we embrace all of our talents, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. 

John Berry, Director for the Office of Personnel Management, meets with Carlos Martinez, Executive Director of The GLBT Community Center of Colorado, on Friday, October 14, 2011. (Photo from OutFront Colorado)

After touring The Center, Director Berry chatted with an audience of 30 program and policy representatives about his strategy for bringing equality to OPM, the American Jobs Act, and how our community fits in.  He told us that we need to get more Americans back to work to secure our future.
 

We also had the opportunity to brief Director Berry on two of our programs geared towards getting our community secure and well-paying jobs: SAGE of the Rockies, which runs a skills-training and job-seeking assistance program for senior LGBT Coloradoans, and our Transgender Career Advancement Project, which provides job preparedness workshops and job fairs for transgender Coloradoans twice annually.  Director Berry also heard from our youth in Rainbow Alley about what they’re looking for from the Administration as they plan their futures.

Gautam Raghavan is an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement