by Dan Perkins

The National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE or Black Coalition) is the oldest employee organization within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the federal agency that monitors and regulates our nation's airspace, pilots and aircraft.  The FAA has supported the formation of coalitions by African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Women and People with Disabilities.  The coalitions work with senior managers to address issues and hopefully resolve issues involving discrimination, training, promotions and recruitment.

The Black Coalition is organized into 8 regional organizations, and each has its own president. The NBCFAE also has a national organization, which serves as an umbrella for the regional organizations.  The National President of NBCFAE is Mamie Mallory.  She is a member of Charles Keegan's executive staff and followed him on his recent appointment as the Associate Administrator of the Office of Research and Acquisition.  (Click to see article on Charles Keegan).

As Mallory nears the end of her second term as National President, I wanted to talk with her about some of the changes that have taken placed within the FAA and the Coalition over the course of her presidency.

Riding the Cross Winds of Change

Mallory said there were three efforts underway within the FAA when she first became national president of the Black Coalition.  The efforts were Personnel Reform, Acquisition Reform, and Pay Reform.  In addition, the FAA was adjusting to its appointed Administrator, who holds the top position within the agency.  The appointment of Jane Garvey gave the agency its first female Administrator, and its first one-term, five-year Administrator.

At the time, the agency was beginning to look at its aging workforce, and that situation raised the window for senior managers to seriously address the limited representation within the agency of minorities, women and persons with targeted disabilities within the agency.  One of the first things Mallory did was develop a business case and strategic plan to help the agency respond to issues of under representation.  

Mallory says the agency responded favorably to the business case; and she credits out-going FAA Administrator, Jane Garvey, with taking many positive steps to improve representation.  Garvey, who completed her 5-year term as Administrator this month, established the Affirmative Employment Oversight Board in 2001.  The board oversees the affirmative action efforts of various entities within the FAA.  As a result of Garvey's action, each Line of Business with the agency must now report the demographics of its workforce to the board, and submit a plan to achieve greater representation in the future.  

Mallory also credits Garvey with issuing a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior.  The policy was issued to every employee with their paycheck.

The FAA also established an Accountability Board, initially at the urging of female controllers concerned with incidents of sexual harassment.  The agency expanded the focus of the board to include hostile work environment issues.  Hostile work environments are often created by inappropriate language and behavior.  The agency requires the board to address issues which are presented to it within three days.  The incidents and issues are then reported to senior management in Washington, DC, and the manager who oversees the Lines of Business where the incident occurred is required to discuss the matter with the agency's top managers. 

Mallory said a lot of allegations of sexual harassment and other hostile work environment issues have been addressed in a timely manner and at a level where real change has taken place.

Serving a Broad Constituency and Collaborating with Others

Although the Black Coalition was organized to address issues affecting African American employees within the FAA, Mallory believes the Coalition's efforts have benefited the agency's entire workforce.  

"I think there's a lot of misperceptions because our name is the Black Coalition," said Mallory.  "We are the oldest employee coalition in the agency.  We have been in existence for 26 years, and we have been at the forefront addressing issues of discrimination and diversity.  If anyone reviews our constitution and by-laws, it states that we serve women and minorities.  While we look at issues affecting African Americans, we don't refuse anyone that asks for assistance.  Our training conferences are open, and many are free and made available at a cost to the coalition.  We also give out scholarships.  Last year, we gave away $66,000 to deserving students throughout the U.S.  Those scholarships are based strictly on academics and extracurricular activities.  We have had a diverse group of recipients.  The gains we achieve as an organization benefit the work force in general."

Mallory said she enjoys a good working relationship with the other employee coalitions within the FAA, most notably the National Hispanic Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NHCFAE) and the Technical Women's Organization (TWO).  Mallory once served as the chairperson of the Washington, DC regional chapter of TWO.  She maintains an involvement with the organization that addresses the concerns of people with disabilities.  She was among the first hired by the agency to require special accommodations because of her visual impairments.  Mallory has since worked with the agency to advance greater opportunities for individuals with disabilities.  

Although Mallory has involvements well beyond the Black Coalition, she is clear about her priorities and her vision for the organization.  "My objective has been to create a more efficient and effective organization," said Mallory.  "We drafted and put into place a strategic plan with three goals: equal employment opportunity, organizational efficiency and community service."

While Mallory was very specific about the numerous changes that have taken place as a result of the Coalition's efforts to achieve more equal employment opportunities, she believes that in order for the Black Coalition to become more efficient it must be more diligent about quantifying its efforts and results.  

There are a number of initiatives which Mallory points with pride.  She pointed to the fact that during her two terms in office, the Black Coalition has given away more than $60,000 in scholarships, has organized regional training conferences for more than 500 FAA employees each year, and has contributed to the hiring of over 50 new people with diverse backgrounds.  Mallory said such results are evidence of the Coalition's value to both the agency and the community at large.  

But Mallory wants the Coalition to do a better job of quantifying the number of EEO (Equal Employment Opportunities) and LMR (Labor Management Relations) issues it helps to resolve on an annual basis.  She said roughly 20 to 30 cases per year are elevated to the national level for resolution.  She indicated that many more cases are resolved at the regional level by the Black Coalition's regional presidents.  

The Coalition has moved to improve its communications with its members in recent years.  A web site has been established and the Coalition routinely publishes substantive and timely newsletters to keep its members better informed about developments within the agency and job and training opportunities.  

Looking forward, Mallory said there is a need to develop a structure to handle the succession of national and regional presidents.  "There will always be people to fill in when gaps occur, but the goal is to have an organization that stays the course.  We put a structure into place 20 years ago, and we need to look at that now.  There are some regions that are strong, and some that are not.  We want the Coalition to have strength at the grass roots level - that is, the regional and chapter level.  

Adding Relevancy Through Community Service

Community service is a passion for Mallory, but she said the Coalition has had to grow in the realization that it does not exist just for the benefit of its members, and as a non-profit organization, it needs to contribute to the community-at-large.

Under Mallory's leadership, the Coalition has achieved impressive results in the area of community service.  In addition to scholarships, the Black Coalition aggressively supports aviation career education camps.  Mallory estimates that the Coalition is instrumental in exposing more than 500 students each year to careers in aviation.  The Coalition teams up with other black aviation organizations to administer the camps.  The Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. (TAI), Black Pilots of America (BPA) and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP) are among the organizations that the Coalition routinely works with to increase awareness of aviation opportunities among young people.

Mallory would like for all of the aforementioned organizations to reach more students through the International Black Aerospace Council (IBAC), which is an umbrella organization recently formed to enhance the efforts of its members in serving the black community and the public-at-large.  Mallory would like for IBAC members to set a collective goal of teaching 1,000 students per year about aerospace related fields and careers.  "We may already be doing that," said Mallory, "but we need to do a better job of capturing that information.  We need a better sense of the impact we're having."

Presently, information about the camps is disseminated via web sites and word of mouth.  There is no extensive mechanism to inform communities of the camps.  "We have to go beyond what we're currently doing.  We need to reach people who have no connection to aviation, and make them aware of the opportunities."

The IBAC website provides links to all of its other member organizations.  Mallory believes it is a great way to gain information about aviation careers and outreach activities, but she is concerned that many minorities who could benefit from such information do not have immediate access to computers in their homes or on the job.  She said the Black Coalition will still have to participate in career days at local high schools to get the word out about aviation.

In addition to the career education camps, the Black Coalition is heavily involved with mentoring programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and with minority internship programs. Mallory said the Coalition also provides food and clothing to shelters during the holidays, and assistance to nursing homes.  She said the Coalition is willing to support other community institutions as requested and as resources allow.

Building Good, Sustainable Relationship with Top Managers

Mallory credits FAA management for supporting the Coalition with its outreach efforts.  "FAA management has been very receptive.  We have never had push back on the use of resources to expose youth to aviation careers," said Mallory.  But she also sees a need to build better relations with managers across the FAA's multiple Lines of Business, especially those Lines that have severe under representation in their workforce. 

"It's all about building relationships," said Mallory. "We need to build relationships with managers and managers need to build relationships with all of the coalitions. If we have a rapport, it makes for a more conducive environment when issues arise involving women and minorities."

Mallory believes the lack of involvement by some managers with the Coalition may be more of a matter of time management rather than a lack of interest.  Mallory would like to see those managers interface with the Coalition at least once or twice a year; and she believes regular communications would allow both parties to respond to situations before they become major concerns. 

One of the ways to establish better relations would be for senior managers of all of the Lines of Business to participate in the Coalition's regional and national training conferences.  Mallory said there a number of senior managers who have been proactive in their support of the various coalitions' conferences.  She credits the managers of Airways Facilities, Air Traffic, Human Resources, Civil Rights and Acquisition and Research for building strong relationships with the coalitions, particularly the Black Coalition.  

Mallory points to Airways Facilities, Air Traffic and Acquisitions and Research as models Lines of Business within the agency for holding quarterly Roundtables.  Roundtables are forums in which senior managers and the top officers of the employee coalitions meet to address issues relevant to their respective Line of Business.  The Administrator also holds quarterly Roundtables, and Roundtables are conducted on a regional basis.  (See Archives for in depth coverage of the Great Lakes 2002 Winter Roundtable.)

Mallory believes the agency would benefit if  all of the Lines of Business held quarterly Roundtables. "When you have an issue of under representation or discrimination or a hostile work environment, the issue may rest with a specific Line of Business, but the impact is agency wide.  Having all of the Lines of Business participating in Roundtables at the national level would allow all of them to learn simultaneously, and that would be a good thing," said Mallory.

Remaining Vital Well Into the Future

With Jane Garvey concluding her term as Administrator, and no one named to succeed her, Mallory is concerned that the agency might not have a top level advocate to advance the Roundtables across the Lines of Business and a champion to promote greater representation.  "I think it's important for everyone to stay committed," said Mallory. "We need to continue to meet on a quarterly basis.  There are too many issues that have to be addressed to meet less frequently."

Mallory says the Black Coalition will remain a relevant entity within the agency because the FAA is a microcosm of the nation.  "Look around the country and you see stories involving white supremacists, racial profiling and hate crimes.  As an organization, we have issues of under representation and hostile work environments.  Not everything that's flagged is discrimination.  In some instances, it's a matter of a lack of communications.  Oftentimes, incidents are really labor issues, not EEO issues.  But there's enough out there that needs the Coalition's attention," said Mallory.

Another area where the Coalition remains vital is in employee training and development.  "With all of the budget constraints facing the agency, training is one of the first things cut.  The Coalition and other employee organizations provide opportunities for some employees to receive the training they otherwise wouldn't," said Mallory.

Then there's the matter of exposing youth to careers in aviation.  Mallory says such exposure among minority youth is key to ensuring a representative workforce in the future. 

"We serve a vital role within the agency," declared Mallory; "and I am confident that we will continue to do that well into the future."

THE END