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Deanna Gelak

Lobbying Issues, Work and Family Flexibility Policy, Adoption

Deanna Gelak leads the National Family and Medical Leave Act Corrections Coalition on behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management. The Coalition is a diverse non-partisan group of approximately 300 organizations, associations, and companies who are fully committed to complying with both the spirit and the letter of the FMLA. At the same time, the Coalition believes that the FMLA should be streamlined to reduce administrative and compliance problems experienced by employers.

Ms. Gelak has had appearances with/been quoted by:

The National Press Club, National Public Radio; MSNBC; NBC Nightly News; The Wall Street Journal; C-SPAN; The Washington Post; USA Today; Investors Business Daily; The Wall Street Journal Talk (radio show); America’s Voice; Monitor Radio; the Chicago Tribune; the San Francisco Chronicle; the Boston Globe, Roll Call, the Baltimore Sun; the Austin Statesman; the Mary Matalin Show, The Washington Times, Parenting, glamour and Working Woman magazines.

Ms. Gelak serves on the Board of Directors for the American League of Lobbyists and is an officer of the Board (Treasurer). She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resource Management (SPHR).

She formerly served as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management, a professional society with more than 100,000 members.

Ms. Gelak also served as Deputy Legislative Liaison with the Office of Congressional Affairs at the United States Department of Labor and was with the US House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor when the first hearing was held on the FMLA. She is originally from Niceville, Florida, and is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Ms. Gelak chaired the national Congressional Coverage Coalition, which successfully led the effort to apply private sector employment laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, to members of Congress and their staffs. After this achievement, Ms. Gelak addressed the issue of applying private sector laws to White House employees. Accordingly, legislation was passed by Congress and signed into law late in 1996 which applied the labor laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, to the White House.

Latest Commentary:

President Bush Wants to Give More Choice to Working Families Including Flextime

Posted on: Sunday, August 1st, 2004 by Deanna Gelak

We will do more to make America more job friendly and America's workplaces more family friendly. To keep American jobs in America, regulations should be reasonable and fair. To keep the jobs here at home, we must lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.) To keep American jobs here, we must end the junk lawsuits that hurt our small businesses. (Applause.) And to keep this economy growing so people can find work, we will not overspend your money, and we will keep your taxes low. (Applause.) We'll offer America's workers a lifetime of learning, and help them get training for jobs of the future at places like our community colleges. The education and training they offered can bridge -- can be the bridge between people's lives as they are, and people's lives as they want them to be. Good education means workers can realize their dreams. To make sure we continue to grow our economy, we will insist on a level playing field when it comes to trade. We want Missouri farmers selling Missouri crops all over the world. (Applause.) And we'll make sure American families keep more of something they never have enough of, and that's time -- time to play with the kids, time to...

More Commentaries by Deanna Gelak

08-01-04 - President Bush Wants to Give More Choice to Working Families Including Flextime
03-23-04 - Domestic Violence and Unborn Children

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