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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202-219-6871
Mary H. Silva, a seasoned career employee of the Labor
Department, is the new director of Job Corps, a 30-year-old program for helping
at-risk youth turn their lives around. Silva is the eleventh director of the
program and the first woman selected to hold the post.
In announcing her appointment, Secretary of Labor Robert B.
Reich hailed Silva's personal commitment to and professional experience in
employment and training programs, including Job Corps.
"Job Corps students are typically high school drop outs who
read at the seventh grade level, are minorities, come from a family living in
poverty and have never held a full-time job," said Labor Secretary Robert B.
Reich. "They desperately need the intense training Job Corps gives them in
preparation for a work world that often contrasts sharply from the daily world
they have known. Mary Silva knows the program from the top down. She will be a
tremendous benefit to Job Corps."
Silva, who has worked with Job Corps program for the past
10 years, most recently served as acting director of the program. Prior to that
she was deputy director and held a number of management positions in the
program. She also chaired the Job Corps National Task Force on Female
Recruitment and Retention in 1989.
Known for her personal contact with students and staff,
Silva has stayed overnight in more than 12 Job Corps dormitories.
"There is no substitute for direct involvement with the
students," Silva said. "Job Corps students have so many social, economic and
personal barriers to overcome, you can't help but be impressed by the strength
and determination they bring to taking control of their lives."
Since 1967, Silva has worked at the department on policy
development and building performance measurement systems for employment and
training programs targeting youth, women, Native Americans, and migrant and
seasonal farmworkers.
Silva, formerly Mary Mackelmann, graduated from Morgan
Park High School in Chicago and received her bachelors degree from DePauw
University in Greencastle, Ind. In 1966, she earned a masters degree in Latin
American Studies at the University of Wisconsin. She currently lives in Silver
Spring, Md.
Job Corps provides opportunities to over 60,000 students a
year at 110 campuses located throughout the U.S. with academic, vocational, and
social skills training, as well as job placement services.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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