Equal Opportunity Office earns award

  • Published
  • By Stefan Bocchino
  • 377th Air Base WIng Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base --  The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center Equal Opportunity Office received the General Counsels Alternate Dispute Resolution award at the 2011 ADR worldwide conference May 19 in Leesburg, Va.
The award covered the time from Oct. 1, 2009 to Sep. 30, 2010. Col. Kelly Davila-Martinez, AFNWC vice commander and Ofelia Mejiaortega, ADR program manager, were on hand to receive the award.
"I felt honored, happy a n d very proud, because finally, after taking the ADR program under my wing since 2007, the faith and dedication to the program was going to be officially recognized as the best in the Air Force for 2010," said Mejiaortega.
The ADR program distinguished itself during this period through significant enhancements in the delivery of dispute resolution services to civilian employees as well as military members assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base. The program staff set new records, increasing program utilization by 37 percent and producing the highest mediation customer satisfaction rate in the last five years.
"The success is the result of the collective efforts and complete commitment to the ADR program by all the collateral and full-time mediators, as well as their supervisors for allowing them to take time from their regular jobs to mediate," said Mejiaortega. "I also want to thank all our mission partners, American Federation for Government Employees Counsel 214 and all employees at Kirtland AFB who believed and trusted the ADR program and allowed us to help them resolve their workplace disputes and concerns."
The purpose of the mediation program is to provide expeditious dispute resolution for civilian and military members. Mediation is a voluntary option and does not replace formal systems. Its goal is for all parties to request mediation before seek redress through other avenues.