Department of Labor Honors Five for EEO Best Practices

The U.S. Department of Labor hosted its 25th Exemplary Voluntary Efforts Award (EVE) ceremony on October 16, 2008. The EVE awards celebrate efforts to ensure equal employment opportunity in the American workplace. The Exemplary Public Interest Contribution (EPIC) award was established in 1994 to recognize public interest organizations that support equal employment opportunity. The Secretary of Labor's Opportunity Award annually honors one Federal contractor that institutes a comprehensive workforce strategy to ensure equal employment opportunity.

This year, the awardees were:

EPIC:
F-E-G-S Health and Human Services System of New York, is the largest and most diversified private, not-for-profit health-related and human service organization in the United States. This organization was recognized for its innovative EEO Support programs, including the WeCare Division, which helps disabled public assistance applicants and recipients, including veterans, find employment.

Buffalo-Area Engineering Awareness for Minorities, Inc. (BEAM), Buffalo, New York was created to address the projected shortage of minorities and females in the engineering and technical professions. BEAM works with students in four environments including School Clubs, Saturday Academies, Summer Programs and Career Days. BEAM works with 300 to 400 students each year. Many of BEAM's students have gone on to college and careers in the engineering professions.

EVE Awards
CDW Corporation, Vernon Hills, IL, is a leading provider of technology products and services to business, government and educational institutions. CDW has instituted a "comprehensive strategy for creating, fostering and leveraging diversity." CDW's diversity and inclusion initiative, Connections@CDW, aims to create a diverse workforce reflecting CDW's markets, foster an inclusive work environment and leverage diverse perspectives for a competitive advantage. CDW has also formed formal network groups and its recruitment and outreach group is designed to reach diverse audiences. As part of its recruitment efforts, CDW has an applicant tracking system to monitor the tracking and reporting of diversity initiatives.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, ranks among the top academic medical centers in the world. Nearly half of the Center's 10,474 employees are members of minority groups. To increase its diversity at the upper management level, UT Southwestern established a minority internship program to recruit high-caliber college students. UT Southwestern makes good faith efforts to utilize Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs). It is ranked as the best medical school for Hispanics in 2007 by Hispanic Business Magazine.

Secretary of Labor's Opportunity Award
Johns Hopkins Health System, founded in 1986 to coordinate its wholly-owned subsidiaries, invests in the careers of its staff and its career programs have led to the promotions of numerous women and minorities while also meeting urgent skills shortages. The System also boasts a program to enable students with disabilities to transition from school to work.