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National Civil Rights Committee Meets in Washington D.C.

(NRCS photo — click to enlarge) 1 Gary Watson, Black Male representative; 2 Steve Cashman, American Indian/Alaska Native male representative; 3 Russ Mader, Advisor, Strategic & Performance Planning Division; 4 Kim Bradford, Black female representative; 5 Phuc Vu, Asian Pacific Island Male representative; 6 Coleen Churchill, Assistant to the Chair; 7 Joyce Swartzendruber, Chair; 8 Larry Holmes, Advisor, Outreach Division Director; 9 Alice Love, Disability female representative; 10 Chief Arlen Lancaster; 11 Pamela Aguon, Asian Pacific Island female representative; 12 Mary Baumann, White female representative; 13 Rick Tafoya, Hispanic male representative; 14 Jason Bradshaw, Disability male representative; 15 Cory Lytle, White male representative; 16 Carol Crouch, American Indian/Alaska Native female representative; 17 Joseph Hairston, Advisor, Civil Rights Division Director

 

 

 

 

(NRCS photo — click to enlarge) 1 Gary Watson, Black Male representative; 2 Steve Cashman, American Indian/Alaska Native male representative; 3 Russ Mader, Advisor; 4 Kim Bradford, Black female representative; 5 Phuc Vu, Asian Pacific Island Male representative; 6 Coleen Churchill, Assistant to the Chair; 7 Joyce Swartzendruber, Chair;
8 Larry Holmes, Advisor; 9 Alice Love, Disability female representative; 10 Chief Arlen Lancaster; 11 Pamela Aguon, Asian Pacific Island female representative; 12 Mary Baumann, White female representative;
13 Rick Tafoya, Hispanic male representative;
14 Jason Bradshaw, Disability male representative; 15 Cory Lytle, White male representative; 16 Carol Crouch, American Indian/Alaska Native female representative; 17 Joseph Hairston, Advisor

Chief Lancaster recently attended the quarterly meeting of the National Civil Rights Committee (NCRC) in Washington, D.C., where he affirmed his continued commitment to USDA’s Civil Rights compliance and Equal Opportunity policy.  He expressed his support and gratitude to the NCRC for their role in representing the agency’s workforce and helping to ensure that employees and customers are treated fairly and equitably.  The Chief challenged the NCRC to help identify any problems or areas for improvement, but more importantly, to also serve as the link towards providing sound solutions.

The NCRC is an impartial body that advises the Chief on Equal Opportunity/Civil Rights matters throughout the agency.  Once a year, the Committee meets at National Headquarters to address Civil Rights related concerns raised by NRCS field employees and work directly with the agency leadership to address the employee’s concern and provide a response.

The membership of the National Civil Rights Committee consists of a male and female American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, Persons with Disabilities, and White.  Maine NRCS State Conservationist Joyce Swartzendruber is Chair and Maine NRCS Assistant State Conservationist Coleen Churchill is Executive Assistant. Advisors to the NCRC are Division Directors for Civil Rights, Outreach, Human Resources Management, and Strategic and Performance Planning.
Your contact is Rick Tafoya, NRCS RC&D coordinator, at 717-792-4415.