Volpe Center: Volpe Center Highlights

Information Resources

Volpe Center Highlights - February 2000

Human and Natural Environment

Protect and enhance communities and the natural environment affected by transportation.

Volpe Staff Member Attends President's Town Meeting

Ms. Olive Lesueur, a senior analyst from the Volpe Center, was invited to President Bill Clinton's Town Meeting on January 18, 2000, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The town meeting, which took place at the Orchard Gardens housing development in Roxbury, provided President Clinton with an opportunity to address lawmakers, law enforcement officers, and community leaders on anticrime initiatives. Ms. Lesueur received an invitation because of her extensive involvement in community efforts to improve Boston's inner city neighborhoods.

Photo: President Bill Clinton speaks at town meeting
President Bill Clinton speaks at the Roxbury, Massachusetts, town meeting

Ms. Lesueur, a member of the Pasadena, Supple & Columbia Roads Neighborhood Association, has been recognized by Project R.I.G.H.T., Inc. (PRI) as a significant contributor to the revitalization of the Roxbury and Dorchester communities. PRI is a collaborative of community-based street associations, block and crime watches, social service agencies, housing and neighborhood development corporations, churches, youth service providers, and businesses within the Greater Grove Hall (Roxbury/North Dorchester) community in Massachusetts.

In addition, Ms. Lesueur is one of the founders of the Kendall Square Learning Project (KSLP), a nonprofit charitable 501(c)(3) organization, that provides adults with an opportunity to improve their skills in English and learn basic life skills such as filling out a job application. Formed by Volpe Center employees, KSLP is part of the larger Volpe Tutoring, Educating, and Mentoring (TEAM) Effort.

Volpe Selected as Model Agency

The Office of Strategic Programs and Resource Planning's Program Development and Resource Management Division recently hosted an informal briefing and question-and-answer session about the Volpe Center's Workforce Planning Pilot for Ms. Susan Cavanaugh and Mr. Preston Brown, two representatives from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). The purpose of the visit was to solidify and finalize NAPA's choice of the Volpe Center as a model agency for their government-wide workforce planning guide and training program, which is scheduled to be completed in Spring 2000. NAPA will use the Volpe Center's Workforce Planning Pilot as one of two models featured in its guide.

Mr. Randy Berquist from the Office of the Secretary (OST) recommended the Volpe Center to NAPA as a model agency in October 1999. From that point on, Ms. Mary Beth Hines of the Program Development and Resource Management Division worked closely with NAPA to explain the Volpe Center's Workforce Planning Pilot, to provide samples of work products, and to arrange for the recently held meeting. Dr. Frank Hassler, then Director of the Office of Strategic Programs and Resource Planning; Ms. Jeanne Fuller, Chief of the Program Development and Resource Management Division; Ms. Elisabeth Gordon, Chief of the Human Resources Management Division; Ms. Lydia James of the Human Resources Management Division; and Ms. Hines were all present at this session. Ms. Hines and Ms. James will serve as panel members at NAPA's Workforce Planning training session in April 2000.

NAPA is an independent, nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress to improve government at all levels. It was established in 1967 and is comprised of a membership of elected fellows, more than 500 current and former cabinet officers, members of the U.S. Congress, governors, mayors, legislators, diplomats, jurists, business executives, public managers, and scholars. NAPA also receives support from businesses, foundations, and nonprofit organizations.

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