Federal Women's Program Resources * Why do we have an FWP? * Marketing the FWP * Involving a New Top Manager * Training the FWP Committee * The Ideal FWPM About my work Mary Dingee Fillmore, Director Clients Projects	Creating a Federal Women's Program A Two-Day Training Program for Committee Members Background An effective Federal Women's Program must be designed in keeping with the specific dilemmas, issues, and opportunities presented by the culture and organization of an individual agency. By bringing together a group of individuals who have a strong commitment to improving the status of women at the Agency, the workshop will help develop the specific skills they need to carry out that commitment effectively. As a group, they will identify the primary issues they want to work on, and learn the context of the Federal Women's Program. They will gain skills that will help them to be effective and creative, not only within the FWP but in their daily duties. By analyzing their own experiences and observations of women in the workplace, they will build motivation and the basis for creating viable programs which they can market successfully. Objectives The objectives of the training are to: train the Committee to understand its roles and functions, and equip them with the necessary knowledge about the FWP and the issues they are likely to face, motivate each person by showing that all of us have a personal stake in making the FWP successful develop a sense of clear priorities for the first year of operation create a solid, diverse network of members who are ready to support each other and be open to each other's ideas. Preparation To prepare for the session, the facilitator will: interview the client and three to five selected participants to determine your goals and learn as much as I can about the situation the FWP will address review your organization chart and basic affirmative action statistics, so I understand where women are and are not review whatever information you have about the overall Civil Rights effort and its accomplishments to date: reports, newsletters, or other documents tailor the exercises I have developed over the years to your specific situation, and include examples that people will recognize rather than those drawn from other agencies. Content Although the content would be specifically tailored in keeping with preparation, it would include at least the following topics. Day One Orientation and objectives Introductions Groundrules What each of us has accomplished in our careers Obstacles women face in their careers Social and political (big picture) Structural within organizations Policy and practice within organizations Attitudinal barriers: outside and inside Women in the workplace nationally, including race differences The History of the Federal Women's Program How it arose from just such issues and barriers Models in other organizations Where women are and are not within NSF Themes from the focus groups: issues of greatest concern Discussion of what the priority issues should be for the FWP Day Two The role of the FWP Committee and its members The relationship between the FWP and top management Involvement of diverse constituencies Strategic planning for the FWP: next steps Marketing the FWP Potential criticisms and how to handle them (including role play) The Committee as a network of support Individual commitments to take certain roles and steps Format and Methodology This one-day workshop for up to 20 participants will be conducted in a highly participatory style, using small and large group discussion, pair exercises, role play, and other techniques to involve the group as much as possible. Facilitator Mary Dingee Fillmore, Director of Changing Work since 1981, was Agency-wide Federal Women's Program Manager at the Environmental Protection Agency, and was directly responsible for training FWPMs nationwide in one of the most active Programs in government. Her experience as a consultant includes the full range of organizational development and training in mentoring, facilitation and communications.
© 1996 - 1998 Mary Dingee Fillmore, Changing Work <mfillmore@usa.net>. All rights reserved.