June 2007: NTEU includes in its membership a large number of talented, motivated, hard working SEC employees. In this issue, we focus our attention on Shirlie Maultsby, a Chapter 293 member who works at Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Shirlie was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, and she lived in New York City for a number of years before moving to Washington. She has worked at the SEC for more than fifteen years. She spent most of her career at the agency working in a support staff position in the Office of Filing and Information Services, but she was recently reassigned to the Division of Enforcement, where she is the “go to” person assisting attorneys on formal orders and to-be-calendared memoranda, in addition to other responsibilities. “I really love working at the SEC,” she recently observed during an interview with Chapter 293 Works.

Several years ago, Shirlie decided that she wanted to earn a college degree to enhance her career potential at the agency. “For me to do anything to improve myself at the SEC, I had to go back to school. I wanted to know the details of what was going on at the SEC. I wanted to be more a part of its mission.” She enrolled at Potomac College in 2002, which is an institution that focuses on the needs of working adults seeking a degree. For the past five years, she has balanced her job responsibilities at the SEC with her course obligations at night and on weekends. Potomac’s academic programs are designed to integrate classroom theory with relevant practical experience, which enabled Shirlie to integrate the job that she does for the agency into some of her course projects. She just recently completed the credits necessary to earn her degree in business management. “The education has allowed me to enhance my thinking and understanding of the SEC and the language that is spoken at the agency,” she noted.

Shirlie has been a member of NTEU from the beginning. “It’s always good to be part of the union,” she said. “The union has done an excellent job for employees – the only thing that bothers me is people on the sidelines who reap the benefits but don’t join.”

She also has participated on Chapter 293's Advancement Committee, which consists of a number of SEC employees who regularly meet to discuss issues that affect SEC support staff, and ways to improve their situation at the agency. With respect to her committee service, she noted, “If we are going to be leaders, we need to focus on how to encourage people to do something to improve their own situation.”

One thing that Shirlie feels strongly about is the need for a Career Enhancement Program at the SEC, which she views as an important way for the agency to assist support staff from diverse backgrounds to receive the training and upward mobility opportunities necessary to assist them in advancing their careers at the agency. Although she has received some assistance with her educational pursuits from the SEC in the form of training funds, she still feels that a Career Enhancement Program “is really needed” at the agency. “People need to understand that they need to get out of the mind set that people are going to do something for you. We need to ask ourselves, what are we going to do for ourselves? A Career Enhancement Program would help the people who are willing to help themselves.”

Shirlie lives in D.C., and she likes the convenience of being able to walk around the city to do things. She is an active member of her church, Reid Temple AME, in Glendale, Maryland. In her spare time, she is an avid hand dancer – a form of swing dancing that developed in the D.C. area back in the fifties, which is still very popular in Washington – and she goes out dancing every week. She loves swimming and working out at the gym, and describes herself as a “baby boomer gym queen.” She also enjoys traveling to visit family in Florida, as well to other places like New York and California. She intends to start working on her masters degree this fall. Join us in congratulating her on her accomplishments!