2022 Project: A.B.L.E. – Achieve, Build, Learn & Experience – Supporting Disability Hiring in the Federal Workplace
The Seattle Federal Executive Board (SFEB) Associates Program is a cohort-based leadership development program that features a year-long group project initiated and led by Associates. The project is designed to meet the following four criteria:
- Contributes to Associate leadership and learning
2. Adds value to the federal community
3.Adds value to the wider community
4.Feasible within the Program’s resources
The 2022 project was selected through a consensus-based decision-making process in which 12 project proposals were evaluated by the Associates. The Associates decided to focus on building relationships to support disability hiring in the federal workplace. With a half day event and workshop making up the October 2022 A.B.L.E. Project. The project started with a keynote speech by Ivanova Smith, an advocate for hiring individuals with disabilities. They gave a moving talk about their personal experiences navigating the workplace and their personal life as a person with a disability. Our next presenter was Kelly Barrie, an HR professional with EPA who focused on what federal hiring managers and HR professionals could do now to increase disability hiring by leveraging the Schedule A Hiring Authority to hire individuals who have targeted disabilities as well as other serious health conditions. This was followed by Christine Davidson, who works for King County supporting employees with disabilities who currently work for the County. She shared a video with first-hand accounts of King County employees who are successfully leveraging the supported employee program and thriving. Last but not least, was Susan Harrell with WISE (Washington Initiative for Supported Employment), who gave a great overview of disability hiring and statistics on where we stand currently and where she would like to see us in the near future. Throughout the event and project preparation, the Associates gathered helpful material and resources. These resources show the outcome of those efforts—a compendium of helpful disability hiring resources for federal employees and managers to reference and use in championing the hiring of individuals with disabilities and how it can be mutually beneficial.
The 2022 SFEB Associates’ full report on Project A.B.L.E. is here:
The event’s recordings are linked below (with permission of the speakers):
Intro / Ivanova: https://vimeo.com/user126554554/download/762488991/5c6f718fd0
Kelly Barrie: https://vimeo.com/user126554554/download/762456449/8c42f8e155
Christina Davidson: https://vimeo.com/user126554554/download/762515236/c2e3f5de32
Susan / Closing (Heidi): https://vimeo.com/user126554554/download/762507112/9ae3f95126
Federal Resources – Schedule A Information
Schedule A – Employment for People with Disabilities in the Federal Government (schedule-a.info)
Department of Labor :
Federal Employers | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)
scheduleachecklist.pdf (dol.gov)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: The ABCs of Schedule A | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov)
FEED: AskEARN | Federal Exchange on Employment & Disability (FEED)
National Institute of Food and Agriculture: What is a Schedule A? | National Institute of Food and Agriculture (usda.gov)
National Institutes of Health: Schedule A for Applicants with Disabilities Eligibility | Office of Human Resources (nih.gov)
Office of Personnel Management
What is Schedule A for persons with disabilities? | OPM.gov
Individuals with Disabilities (opm.gov)
Disability Employment (opm.gov)
Patent and Trademark Office: Schedule A: for applicants | USPTO
Social Security Administration: Schedule A – FAQs – Ticket to Work – Social Security (ssa.gov)
U.S. Geological Survey: Schedule A Authority | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)
USA Jobs: USAJOBS Help Center | Individuals with disabilities
Local Supported Employment Agencies:
Overview of SFEB Associates Program:
The Seattle Federal Executive Board’s (SFEB) Associates Program is a longstanding, dynamic and unique leadership development program for high performing federal employees. This program has been in existence for at least 30 years, and the SFEB Associate network continues to be active. Among other projects, including working with the SFEB Executive Director to carry out the Public Service Recognition and ad hoc events, the Associates develop, implement and execute a significant year end project focused on ambitious goals benefiting the federal workforce, the larger community, and the Associates leadership goals.