U.S. Office of Personnel Management www.opm.gov - Recruiting, Retaining and Honoring a World-Class Workforce to Serve the American People

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John Berry

John Berry is the Federal Government’s Chief People Person. As the Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management, he is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and setting benefits policies for 1.9 million Federal civilian employees. Calling this a new day for the civil service, he is reinvigorating the Federal workforce to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

John is working closely with partners both inside and outside of government to fulfill President Obama’s charge to “make government cool again by developing flexible, results-oriented HR policies and working to change how Americans view their public servants. His goal: build a workforce of dynamic innovators who put serving the American people at the heart of everything they do.

With over twenty years of experience in the Federal government, Berry is a passionate and aggressive advocate for public service and Federal workers. He first developed expertise in Federal employee and retirement issues during ten years as Legislative Director for Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland, now the House Democratic Whip.

During the Clinton Administration, Berry served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the Department of the Treasury, where he had direct-line authority over 40% of the Federal law enforcement community, including the Secret Service and the ATF. He then served as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the Department of the Interior.

From 2001 to 2008, Berry pursued his interest in conservation as Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and then as Director of the National Zoo, where John the Lion is named after him.