June 22, 2016 – Washington, DC
Four DC public high school graduates were each awarded a $10,000 college scholarship by The OFCCP Institute, a nonprofit employer association based in Washington, DC. Last week, The Institute honored the students with the Equality at Work Scholarships in honor of the 50th anniversary of Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing of Executive Order 11246. The students and their chosen college or university are:
The Co-Chairs of The Institute, David Cohen, David Fortney and Mickey Silberman, express their heartfelt gratitude to the federal contractors who made the Equality at Work Scholarships in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing of Executive Order 11246 possible. “The demonstrated leadership of these federal contractors has built a strong foundation for The Institute’s Equality at Work scholarships. With the continued support of these the federal contractor community, The Institute plans to make the awarding of the Equality at Work Scholarships an annual event to increase the high school students’ awareness of the importance of Executive Order 11246.” stated the Co-Chairs. Donors funding the scholarships included Northrop Grumman, The Boeing Company, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Allina Health, USAA and L-3 Communications.
The Institute would also like to recognize and thank the District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP) for their support in establishing the essay contest and Equality at Work Scholarships with the DC schools. DC-CAP is a privately-funded nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging and enabling DC public high school students to enroll in and graduate from college. In partnership with DC public and public charter school systems, DC-CAP provides direct counseling and financial assistance to students who might otherwise never have the opportunity to go to college. More information on DC-CAP can be found on its website.
If you or your organization are interested in becoming a donor for the 2017 Equality at Work Scholarships, please send an email to contact@theofccpinstitute.org and we would be happy to send you more information.
About Executive Order 11246: Signed more than two years after the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and more than a year after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land, EO 11246 charged the Secretary of Labor, a Cabinet-level official with strong enforcement authority, with the responsibility of ensuring equal opportunity for minorities in federal contractors' recruitment, hiring, training and other employment practices. Until that time, such efforts had been in the hands of various Presidential committees. EO 11246 further reinforced the requirement that federal contractors not discriminate in employment, and that they take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity based on race, color, religion and national origin.
Executive Order 11246 prohibits federal contractors and federally–assisted construction contractors and subcontractors, who do over $10,000 in Government business in one year from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. The Executive Order also requires Government contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that equal opportunity is provided in all aspects of their employment.
About The OFCCP Institute: The OFCCP Institute (“The Institute”) is a national nonprofit employer association based in Washington, DC. The Institute trains and educates federal contractors in understanding and complying with their affirmative action and equal employment obligations. The Institute also addresses related human resource management strategies to assist employers in creating and maintaining diverse organizations free from workplace bias. The Institute is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. More information can be found by visiting https://theofccpinstitute.org and https://theofccpinstitute.org/50thanniversary/index.html.