The U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) Office of Equal Opportunity (EEO) sponsored a workshop entitled, "Diversity, Women, and Upper/Senior positions," at the Detroit Arsenal on March 26.
Speakers and topics were: K Krewer, TACOM LCMC Chief Counsel, "Multiple Paths to Leadership;" Stephanie Davis, Executive Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan, "Diversity, Women, and Upper/Senior Positions: Why Race Matters;" and Deborah Barno, Administrative Judge, U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, "The Equal Pay Act and Women." TACOM LCMC EEO Officer Mark Reed welcomed the near-capacity crowd and introduced Mistress of Ceremonies, Leslie Wilson-Smith, who then introduced the guest speakers.
A common theme throughout all the presentations was that although there has been significant progress toward achieving the goal of equal opportunity for women in the workplace, there is still much work to be done. In her presentation, Barno noted that, on average, women currently earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, as compared with 59 cents in 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed.
There was a brief question and answer period following the presentations and Reed presented two-star notes, signed by TACOM LCMC Commander Maj. Gen. Michael J. Terry, to each of the speakers.
Krewer has been serving as TACOM LCMC Chief Counsel since January 2011. She began her Army career in 1980 when she was hired as an attorney--adviser for the U.S. Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Il. She served as chief of the TACOM LCMC Rock Island Legal Group for 11 years from 1994-2005. Immediately prior to assuming her current position, she served for five years as chief of the Business Law Division for the Army Sustainment Command, also at Rock Island Arsenal.
In her current position, amongst other responsibilities, Davis oversees coordination of various law enforcement and community initiatives, including Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Detroit Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. She also oversees the office diversity efforts as well as its intern and legal fellows programs. Prior to her appointment as Executive Assistant, she served as a line prosecutor for 12 years.
Barno began her career with the Detroit office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January 1994. Throughout her tenure, she has held several positions, including trial attorney, where she successfully prosecuted several cases on behalf of the Commission. This included EEOC v. Complete Auto Transit which resulted in a 5.5 million dollar verdict -- the first multi-million dollar verdict under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In June 2001, she was selected as an Administrative Judge and became responsible for adjudicating federal sector claims of discrimination.
In 2006, the Commission restructured its field office structure and Barno was recruited to manage the Detroit Legal Unit. As the Managing Attorney, she was responsible for overseeing the Detroit legal staff and the Commission's case development and litigation activities in Michigan and Northern Ohio. She returned to her Administrative Judge position in July 2011, and also mediates private sector cases for the EEOC.
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