Distribution employee participates in 40th Annual BIG Conference

Tish Thompson, supply specialist with DLA Distribution’s Further Operations directorate and member of the DLA Distribution Headquarters Multicultural team, recently attended the Blacks in Government 40th Annual National Training Institute held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The theme this year’s event was “Leveraging Your Professional Attributes for Sustained Growth and Development”.

“As a member of the Multicultural team, one of my goals was to attend trainings that focused on diversity and inclusion.  There was more than enough to go around, quite honestly as a first time attendee, the amount of choices we had, it was almost over-whelming,” explained Thompson.

The training subjects ranged anywhere from “Diversity and Inclusion” to “Effective Presentation Skills” and “Effective Management of Federal Grants, Budgetary Analysis, Audit Resolution.”

“The trainings were thought provoking and energizing,” Thompson said. 

“The first word that comes to mind when describing the event is dynamic,” said Thompson. “Overall, the networking, knowledge-sharing, and coalition-building were phenomenal. I am looking forward to next year’s session in Dallas!”

Blacks In Government or BIG was established in 1975 and incorporated as a non-profit organization under the District of Columbia jurisdiction in 1976 by a small group of African Americans at the Public Health Services which is a part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Rockville, Maryland. Initially, it was thought that the umbrella organization would address only the problems at the Federal level. However, it was soon determined that State, County, and Municipal Black employees were faced with the same general type of employment problems.

BIG has been a national response to the need for African Americans in public service to organize around issues of mutual concern and use their collective strength to confront workplace and community issues. BIG's goals are to promote equity in all aspects of American life, excellence in public service, and opportunity for all Americans.