THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506100270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By SHAWN M. TERRY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
Participants at a conference for minority public administrators here Friday were told they needed to do more than just integrate their offices if they want to make a difference.
``The goal of a multicultural workplace cannot be accomplished by federal government intervention,'' said Janet McKenzie, an instructional systems specialist for NASA who headed a workshop on diversity.
``You need to determine what you need to do to develop relationships with people with whom you live and work.''
``The more you learn about a person, the more you can make a difference,'' said McKenzie.
During her workshop, McKenzie told the audience of about 50 that a multicultural organization should value and reflect the contributions and interests of diverse cultures and social groups in its mission, operations, products and services.
The two-day Conference of Minority Public Administrators was the first to be held in the region and drew numerous state officials, hundreds of local administrators and Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-3rd.
LaChele Gray, a health care administrator for the city of Chesapeake, attended a workshop that discussed such challenges as coping with the changing work force, learning a different language, being creative and computer literacy.
``We need to hear those messages to keep current,'' Gray said. by CNB