Today we recognize the service and sacrifice of American Veterans and their families.
November 10, 2016
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Today we recognize the service and sacrifice of American Veterans and their families.
We are grateful to our veterans for ensuring our security and the security of our allies and partners over the course of our history.
And we know that veterans strengthen our Department of Energy (DOE) community and continue making meaningful contributions to the Nation long after they separate from the military.
At DOE, our commitment to veterans is clear. We have consistently outpaced our veterans hiring goals since 2014. In Fiscal Year 2016, veterans accounted for over 31% of our approximately 900 federal hires. We have also placed a special emphasis on hiring disabled veterans, who accounted for 14% of the veterans hired in the course of this year.
We also know that the broader energy workforce is in need of men and women with the skills, dedication, and leadership abilities that are displayed by veterans. We are pursuing several lines of effort to encourage veterans to join this dynamic sector of the economy. For example, DOE’s Solar Ready Vets initiative provides jobs training for service members who want to work in solar energy when they transition from active duty and the program is currently operating on ten military bases around the country. Thus far, virtually every graduate of this program has received a job offer to work in the solar sector.
We are also proud that DOE’s veterans have helped establish a new employee’s resource group called Veterans in Energy. This is the most recent initiative to be launched based on the recommendations made by the Utility Industry Workforce Initiative that the Department founded in June 2015. This is a group created for veterans by veterans in order to support the many former service members who have chosen energy careers. This growing group is poised to provide professional development opportunities and shape the future leadership of the energy sector.
As we reflect on the importance of Veterans Day, we remind ourselves of veterans’ sacrifices to the country in the armed forces and for what they contribute to DOE’s mission. We must continue to build bridges towards continued public service for tomorrow’s veterans in our low-carbon economy and we thank them for answering the call to ensure America’s environmental, economic and national security.
Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
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Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall served as Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy from October 10, 2014 to January 19, 2017.
She joined the Obama Administration on day one, serving from 2009 to 2013 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council and from 2013 to 2014 as White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control.
Before joining President Obama’s team, Dr. Sherwood-Randall worked at Stanford University, at Harvard University, and at the Council on Foreign Relations. In the Clinton Administration, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia from 1994 to 1996.
Dr. Sherwood-Randall attended college at Harvard and then went on to graduate school at Oxford University, where she was among the very early ranks of female Rhodes Scholars. After finishing her education, she began her career working for then-Senator Joe Biden as his chief advisor on foreign and defense policy.
Born and raised in California, she is married to Dr. Jeff Randall, a neurosurgeon, and they have two teenaged sons.
