by Lango Deen, ldeen@ccgmag.com T


he Senior Executive Service (SES) is a corps of men and women who administer public programs at the top levels of federal government. They serve in key positions just below top presidential appoin- tees, forming a vital link between these appointees


and the rest of the federal workforce. The members of the Senior Executive Service serve in positions that are primarily manage- rial and supervisory; they operate and oversee government activ- ity in approximately 75 federal agencies. Selection to the SES is based on leadership qualifications and criteria established by the Office of Personnel Management, which manages the overall federal executive personnel system.


The Senior Executive Service was established by Title IV of the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978 and became effective on July 13, 1979. The CSRA envisioned a Senior Ex- ecutive Service whose members have shared values, a broad per- spective of government, and solid executive skills. Its purpose was to “ensure the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.” To achieve this, the Act gave greater authority to agencies to manage their executive resources and assigned OPM responsibility for government-wide leadership, direction, and oversight. Under the CSRA, the Senior Executive Service was set up as a “third” service, separate from the com- petitive and excepted services. It replaced over 60 executive personnel authorities covering from one to several thousand positions. Top manage- ment positions that had been subject to disparate rules and practices, with requirements for prior approval of almost every personnel action, were joined into a unified and distinct personnel system that provided for consid- erable agency authority and flexibility.


Asian or Pacific Islander African American Hispanic


Gender Women Men


* Average Age 55 years


In 1980, one year after the SES was estab- lished, the Senior Execu- tives Association (SEA) was founded as a tax-


36 USBE&IT I WINTER 2010


Geographic Location Washington, D.C. area


ThE SENiOr ExECuTivE SErviCE


exempt, nonprofit corporation representing the interests of career federal executives. The SEA has chapters across the country, as well as in many departments and agencies in Washington, D.C. In February 2002, the African American Federal Executives Association was founded by three members of the SES: William A. Brown, Sr., Tracey L. Pinson, and Dr. Lenora Gant. The AAFEA’s mission is to promote professional development and advancement of African Americans into, and within, the senior levels of the United States government. 20 years after the SES was founded, African Americans made up less than 10 percent of the corps. In 2000, statistics from the General Accountability Office showed African Ameri- cans constituted 8.4 percent of the SES (5.5 percent men and 2.9 percent women). In 2006, the total number rose to 8.6—an increase of .2 percent in six years (5.1 percent men and 3.5 percent women).


SES MEMBER PROFILE


Race and National Origin Native American


1.3% 2.3% 8.0% 3.5%


28% 72%


76%


Source: As of September 30, 2007, Executive and Schedule C System and Central Personnel Data File


“At the current rate, 10 years from now, African Americans will only represent 8.9 percent of the SES, an increase of only .3 percent,” says William A. Brown, national president of AAFEA. “At the current rate in 2018, over 92 percent of the SES will not be African Americans and our nation will be deprived of the outstanding diverse talent needed to confront the issues of the future.” Today there are 6,300 career SES positions, but only 335 are held by African Ameri- cans. With over 90 percent of the SES retiring over the next 10 years, this has provided the greatest opportunity to diversify the workforce. Since the AAFEA was started in 2002, more than 200 GS grade and SES mem- bers have joined the organiza- tion, and over 10 members have been promoted to Senior Executive Service rank. The organization has trained over 1,200 GS and SES members at four workshops. They have also created alliances with the Hispanic and the Asian American SES associations, Federally Employed Women, and Blacks in Government. The AAFEA president also gave three congressio- nal testimonies which made


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