Lorena Orozco McElwain

Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration, FTI Advisory Board Member

Ms. Lorena McElwain serves as the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration where she leads the agency’s civil rights, diversity, equity and inclusion programs. She is a transformational purpose driven leader who leverages a visionary mindset and a data driven approach to navigate civil rights and cultural landscapes for immediate and long-term program impact and success.

Prior to her current role, Ms. McElwain served as Assistant Deputy Secretary in the Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition, where she led efforts to remove equal access barriers for the nation’s five million English learners and shifted national dialogue about bilingualism toward an asset-based perspective, emphasizing language as a dimension of American diversity.

Ms. McElwain joined the career Senior Executive Service in 2010 and has served in various executive civil rights and administrative positions, overseeing the execution compliance of agency budgets up to $60B, leading offices with a staff up to 400 employees, and managing administrative functions serving up to 110,000 employees. Highlights of Ms. Ms. McElwain’s senior executive appointments include Chief of Staff in USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Director of Business Management and Planning for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Deputy Assistant Administrator for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service Office of Management.

Ms. McElwain is a first-generation college graduate, holding a master’s and bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas at El Paso. Since 2008, she has served as Executive Board Member of the League of United Latin American Citizens Federal Training Institute, a partnership with OPM and more than 60 Federal agencies to diversify the pool of executive candidates by strengthening leadership competencies in OPM’s five executive core qualifications.

Panel Information

Tuesday, July 26

10:15 AM EST

SES-100: Leaders Needed – How About You?

Gain an overview of the Federal Senior Executive Service program – it’s nothing like the General Schedule – from current and former senior executives. They share the good and not so good challenging experiences in leadership positions in a variety of Departments and Agencies. This session introduces a “blueprint” for your advancement in the Federal public service – from entry to executive – GS-7 to SES.

Get a sense of the challenges in becoming a one of a kind, actually one of some 8,000 senior executives leading a federal workforce of an estimated 2.3 million. Come and ask your “burning” questions from faculty with a record of service in the Senior Executive Service of our Nation. And envision yourself as one of the few!

Note: SES-100 is an overview of the purpose and expectations in being selected into the senior executive corps and is the first of three sessions in this track. SES-101 leads you through the Senior Executive Service Executive Core Qualifications, and SES-102 guides you in preparing your application and an interview before a senior executive panel.

1:30 PM EST

SES-101: Dispelling Myths, Mysteries, & Misinformation with a Blueprint & Experience

Explore the navigational chart leaving Port Entry to a commanding entry into Port Executive. There is a blueprint, believe it or not! Learn about the framework in building and advancing your career path and becoming competitive for selection into the Senior Executive Service or in just advancing your career. Gain an overview of the Executive Core Qualifications – experiential buoys or skill markers that chart and advance your federal journey. Learn about the competencies needed to build a federal “corporate” culture that strives for results, serves customers, and builds successful teams and coalitions within and outside the organization and in being a public service advocate. While the curriculum encourages participants at the GS 14/15 levels, the course content outlines skill set experiences valuable for GS11/12/13 as well in advancing their career paths.

3:15 PM EST

SES-102: Can You Tell Compelling Stories about your Challenging Adventures?

This session builds on the blueprint for your leadership “Stories”. These will be read by Senior Executives and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management at each step of the selection journey. There are five factual stories about YOU, challenges YOU faced and results YOU accomplished in leading change, leading people, building coalitions, displaying your business acumen, and getting results. In sum, it’s your leadership autobiography. It’s about tooting your own horn to hear the sweet music and singing your way through a panel of interviewers. *Tell…and write your stories.

Wednesday, July 27

10:15 AM EST

Organizational Change Through Leading People- Case Studies and Tools for Room: 102A Improved Performance and Retention

Dive into two interagency case studies to witness how you can lead change through leading people in a federal agency. This workshop will provide a clear, practical distinction between supervision and leadership and the role that each play in building a team and improving performance by implementing a deliberate approach to incorporating team member character strengths into the organization's values, performance, and awards programs. Central to this workshop is the notion that change does not happen in isolation. It requires changing the way you lead people; it requires conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others and team building. Learn tools for how you can leverage the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to lead people through organizational change, increase performance and strengthen morale.

Thursday, July 28

10:15 AM EST

Commit to Excellence by Climbing the Ladder to Career Success!

Are you committed to Climbing the Ladder to Career Success? Where do you see yourself in five years? 10 years? 20 years? By attending this workshop, participants will learn the tools necessary to identify barriers that may prevent them from moving forward in their career. They will learn ways to identify personal career aspirations. During the workshop, the presenter will share tips on how to become an effective leader and continue to climb the ladder to career success. Participants will gain the knowledge to not only assist themselves with climbing the ladder to career success but also to assist others.