Women's Bureau Vacancy Leaves Solis in Charge

By Julia Marsh

WeNews correspondent

Friday, February 12, 2010

The Women's Bureau has gone for a year without a director but not without a leader, says the group's deputy director. She credits Labor Secretary Hilda Solis with helping connect female engineers with federally-funded green jobs.

Irasema Garza WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)--Over a year after President Obama took office, the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor appears to be getting closer to having a director.

Last fall Obama appointed Sara Manzano-Diaz, 55, to the position. An attorney from Philadelphia, she's worked in city, state and federal government for the past 20 years, most recently as the deputy secretary for regulatory programs for the Pennsylvania Department of State.

A Senate committee approved her nomination without hesitation on Dec. 10 and her name is on the calendar for full confirmation by the Senate.

In the meantime, the bureau, which turns 90 in June and is dedicated to improving the lot of wage-earning women, has been getting what Deputy Director Latifa Lyles calls a strong start under the bureau's chief, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Solis made a modest increase to the Women's Bureau budget, raising it from about $10.5 million in 2009 to about $11.5 million in 2010. This year she's requested that Congress approve another $1 million increase.

In 2009, Lyles said the bureau raised the profile of female veterans and worked to increase employment for women in areas like green jobs and nanotechnology through targeted programs.

Nanotechnology, engineering at the molecular level, is a growth industry that has led to new devices like the tiny iPod nano. Lyles, a former vice president of membership for the National Organization for Women, told Women's eNews that the bureau's $280,000 nanotechnology initiative, run out of one of the bureau's 10 regional offices, pairs female college students with mentors to attract more women to the male-dominated field.

At the urging of Solis, who chaired the bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues when she was in Congress, the bureau also sponsored 50 seminars around the country on green jobs for female engineers and builders. With about 12 percent of the $787 billion in stimulus funds going to green industries, Solis directed the Women's Bureau to make sure women would benefit.

Cutting-Edge Sector

The bureau has arranged to publish a green jobs guide this fall that will help groups and individuals around the country go after stimulus funds.

Solis also worked to direct stimulus money specifically to under-represented groups, including women, in green industries. In November, the Labor Department announced $5.8 million in grants to train groups, including women, who are under-represented in green industries to obtain more work in the emerging sector.

Ariane Hegewisch, study director at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit the Institute for Women's Policy Research, said the bureau was severely under-resourced during the Bush administration.

Hegewisch commended the Bush-era work of the bureau for advancing work and life balance issues for women. "They were not in favor of regulations, but they produced helpful guidelines," on topics like telecommuting and flexible scheduling, she said.

In the first year of the Obama administration, Hegewisch has noticed a "sea change" in the Women's Bureau's engagement with women's organizations. She said it has been working "around the clock" to assure that stimulus dollars are being equitably distributed to men and women.