Idaho Civil Rights Program

Federal Women's Program (FWP)

Observance Month:  March

Mission:  Promote a thorough understanding of the women's special emphasis program as a means of achieving equal opportunity and diversity within the workplace.

The Federal Women's Program (FWP) is a special emphasis program that was established in 1963 to enhance employment and remove employment barriers for women.  Executive Order 11478, signed in 1969, brought the FWP into overall Equal Employment (EEO) Program and placed it under the stewardship of the Director of EEO.

To ensure that agencies meet the requirements of the EEO laws, Executive Orders, and EEOC guidelines, the Federal Women's Program Manager (FWPM) position was established to advise management and to analyze policies, practices and procedures which may present barriers to the hiring and advancement of women employees.

Program Objectives of the Federal Women's Program:

• Increase the total number of women employed in professional, administrative, and technical occupations.
• Eliminate concentrations of women in single-interval occupational series, to diversify and create advancement opportunities throughout all occupational levels and disciplines
• Encourage the participation of women in all NRCS-sponsored programs and activities.

Roles of the Idaho Federal Women's Program Manager:

• Serve as a liaison between regional and national program managers and State Management Team on FWP objectives and activities at national and state levels.
• Provide information to Idaho NRCS employees on FWP activities and responsibilities.
• Develop recruitment, retention and advancement strategies for women in the NRCS workplace.

Idaho NRCS FWP Monthly Newsletters

Woman’s History Month 2009 - Winning Posters

The Idaho Poster Contest for Women’s History Month (March 2009) was held in conjunction with the national contest. Posters submitted for the Idaho contest were to demonstrate this year's theme "Women: Taking the Lead to Save the Planet," and to incorporate an Idaho perspective.  This year's winner, for the 2nd year in a row, is Kim Erk, Coeur d'Alene Field Office.  Click on the link below to see Kim's creative poster!!!

The following documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Idaho 2009 Winning Poster – Kim Erk ( PDF; 343 KB)


The National NRCS winning poster for Women's History Month 2009 was submitted by Cristina Clark-Cuadrado.  Christina is a Soil Conservationist in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

National NRCS 2009 Women's History Month Poster (PDF; 232 KB)

Information for Families

• Assistance Finding Daycare When at Meetings/Training  (PDF; 99 KB)
• Idaho NRCS Parent-Friendly Policies  (PDF; 143 KB)

Related Links

• National Women’s History Project
• U.S. Dept. Of Labor-Women's Issues
• General Manual, Title 230, Part 403, Subpart B - Federal Women's Program

• Women's History Newsletter

• NRCS Federal Women’s Program

Professional Organizations

• Earth Care Connection
• Soil and Water Conservation Society
• Federally Employed Women
• Society for Range Management
• Women in Natural Resources

National Awareness Observances

• March - Women's History Month
• 4th Thursday in April - "Take Our Daughters to Work Day"
• August 26th - Women's Equality Day

Sexual Harassment Information

• Sexual Harassment - What Is It?
• Test Your Workplace Harassment
• How can we avoid offending the people we work with?

Idaho Program Contact

Dee Carlson, Federal Women's Program Manager, (208) 685-6985

Welcome to the Federal Women's Program webpage.  In 2009, the theme for Women's History Month is "Women: Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet."  Throughout history, women have contributed significantly to natural resource conservation and to preservation of our natural ecosystems.  Rachel Carson, the founder of the contemporary environmental movement, is one of the most well known, but there have been many others - some of these women have been highlighted in our monthly newsletters.

Let's continue to TAKE THE LEAD and seed, opportunities to improve equality and promote diversity, in our workforce and in the customers we serve, as we "help people help the land." As the FWMP for Idaho, I would like to help women "take the lead" by:

• Increasing respect for abilities and accomplishments of women employees.
• Promoting employee advancement potential by providing information on planning, training, and educational opportunities.
• Identifying problems and solutions for recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in NRCS.
• Eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace.

Please share your ideas or concerns with me.  If you have any questions or need information, I will do my best to help.

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