Former secretary of labor to speak at graduation

Alexis M. Herman, America’s 23rd Secretary of Labor, the first African-American and the fourth woman to head the U.S. Labor Department, will be the keynote speaker at Winston-Salem State University’s Spring Commencement, Saturday, May 10, at 9:45 a.m. in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Under Herman’s administration, unemployment was at a 30-year low, African-Americans and Hispanics were employed in record levels, and workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths declined to an all-time low. Former Secretary Herman has been widely credited as an important leader in the effort to move people from welfare to work. As U.S. Secretary of Labor, Herman headed a $39 billion annual budget and a work force of 17,000 people across the country. Under her leadership, the department received a clean audit on its fiscal year 97, 98 and 99 financial statements. Herman is a native of Mobile, Ala., and a graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans. At the age of 29, she joined President Carter’s administration as the youngest director of the Women’s Bureau in the history of the labor department. In the 1980s, she became a successful entrepreneur and labor market expert. In 1993, President Clinton appointed her assistant to the president and director of the White House Public Liaison Office. In May 1997, Vice President Al Gore swore her in as U.S. Secretary of Labor. A recipient of several honorary degrees from major colleges and universities around the country, Herman has also been honored by numerous charitable civic and public policy organizations. She received the Sara Lee Foundation’s prestigious Frontrunner Award and the YWCA’s Volunteer of the Year Award. She was named “One of the 10 Most Fascinating Women in Politics” by George magazine, and “One of the 50 Smartest Women in the Money Business” by Money magazine. Herman also received the prestigious Tribute to a Black American Award from the National Conference of Black Mayors. Since leaving the U.S. Department of Labor, Herman has continued to lend her expertise to corporate enterprises and nonprofit organizations. Presently, she serves on the board of her alma mater, Xavier University. She is the chair of the Coca-Cola Co.’s Diversity Task Force, a senior advisor to Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., a member of the Board of Directors of the Cummins Engine Co., director of MGA/Mirage, Inc. and Presidential Life Insurance Corp. She is president and CEO of New Ventures, an independent consulting firm, in Washington, D.C.