Stuart Bender

Director, USDA Office of Ethics

Stuart Bender serves as the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) and Director of the Office of Ethics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In 2016, Mr. Bender was awarded a Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service in recognition of his work in significantly strengthening USDA’s ethical compliance program. Building upon that success, in 2017, Mr. Bender led the creation of USDA’s Ethics Mobile Application, a free, multimedia Ethics App available to the public by searching “USDA Ethics” on any smart phone’s app store. In 2018, Mr. Bender led the creation of the Federal government’s first animated Ethics Video, entitled: “Ethics Illustrated: How to Avoid Conflicts of Interest” publicly available on USDA’s official YouTube page. In 2019, Mr. Bender led the upgrade of USDA’s Ethics App to include a new interactive Ethics Game (The “Test Your Knowledge Game”) as well as additional video ethics training resources created by his Office. In 2020, Mr. Bender led the creation of the Federal government’s first animated Hatch Act Video, entitled: “The Hatch Act Illustrated and Explained” on USDA’s official YouTube page. In 2021, Mr. Bender created the government’s first avatar-based, diversity-focused, Ethics Training Game that combines space exploration, food sustainability, and Ethics in a unique partnership with NASA. Before joining USDA, Mr. Bender was the DAEO and Assistant General Counsel at the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He also served as the General Counsel and Ethics Officer for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum during its first decade. Mr. Bender has served as an attorney and Alternate DAEO in the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Administration, and was a civilian procurement attorney with the U.S. Navy.

Panel Information

Thursday, July 28

10:15 AM EST

Five Ethics Strategies Every Employee Needs to Know to Successfully Navigate the New Hybrid Work Environment

Do you know how to stand out and best promote your career path in the evolving hybrid environment? While the hybrid workplace provides amazing opportunities for Federal employees, it also creates new risks that could potentially derail your career. This training will provide you with the skills to maintain trust and engagement with your co-workers and your supervisors while helping you to avoid the pitfalls of ethical mistakes that could impact your career. As a federal employee, the stakes to maintain your reputational integrity are now higher than ever because often times you cannot just walk down the hallway to talk with your supervisor or co-workers. This presentation will provide: (1) clear xamples of potential ethical problems and how to spot and avoid them, and (2) focus on innovative risk management resources that you can use immediately to improve employee engagement, and enhance public trust, effectively prevent avoidable conflicts of interest. During this workshop you will be provided with access to an array of long-distance electronic tools and resources that you can use right away and share with your co-workers to protect your agency and your own reputational integrity