Government Enabled

In the latest episode of the Government Enabled podcast, our host William Cahillane meets George Garcia, a Federal HR Subject Matter Expert at EconSys. George's rich background in human resources, governmental project execution, and teaching has aroused his interest in the three essential topics of today - diversity, inclusion, and technology. George is a big believer. He believes in respect and synergy, considering them the two vital concepts for understanding different people and joining forces toward a unique goal. He also believes that learning can foster people to widen their horizons and better understand the culture and people around us.

Dr. Virginia Selleck refers to the most common challenges that people with disabilities have faced throughout the years while trying to get employment, including the fact that “people with psychiatric disabilities have been told for decades that work was too stressful.” Is it a myth or the truth? Should everyone be given a chance to work, including those who had criminal justice involvement in the past? Or employment should be limited to a certain group of people with adequate assets and abilities? Are there consequences of long-term unemployment?

Find out what employment agencies have learned in a pandemic, and how will they implement those new strategies in the future. Technology has proved extremely useful especially when people shouldn’t meet in person, so how will that transform the world we knew before? The other important thing is how will people with disabilities adjust to those changes and what are the pros and cons of implementing technology.

Don Bauer has been pushing offices in the federal government forward in their software since the turn of the century. “I was one of the co-founders of Quick Hire, which was one of the first commercially available staffing products for the federal government.

Chris Brown cannot be stopped. After retiring from a 34-year federal career in 2008, he was back in the workplace within two months, working for EconSys. He started out in its Human Resources Group before moving on to head its retirement seminar programs as the Deputy Director of Federal HR Software and Services. “I've never really thought of myself as being a retired person. I'll say I'm a retired Fed, but I am not retired. I have never actually retired.”

Abby Cooper is a busy woman. For more than 15 years, she’s owned Kennedy Douglas Consulting, where she works with federal, state and local governments and nonprofits to increase employment for individuals with disabilities. The reality is that one in four people in the U.S. have a disability, but states aren’t doing enough to help these individuals enter the workforce. “I think a lot of times, people have incredible difficulty seeing the person — they just see the disability,” Abby explains.