OPM Announces First LEAD Graduates

The Office of Personnel Management on Monday recognized the first graduates of its new Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) certificate program, and two notable technology leaders are among the program's graduates.

LEAD, a program established in 2008 that trains federal employees on the critical leadership skills needed for a federal career, is designed to help the federal government retain highly valued talent, particularly as many government leaders move into retirement. The program consists of four leadership levels - project/team lead, supervisor, manager and executive - and each level requires participants to complete five seminars within three years.

On Monday, Harry McDavid, chief information officer at the Homeland Security Department, and Walter Kennedy, chief of science technology policy at the Defense Department, received their first certificates for the LEAD program. Other graduates include Dr. Stewart Bennie, physical scientist at Defense; Jon Boren, knowledge management officer at the Army Department; Vincent Dumas, program manager at DHS; Debbie Emory, business systems manager at the Defense Commissary Agency; and Edward Melton, deputy chief of commander's planning group at Army.