Rafael DeLeon, Esquire
Director
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Administrator (OA)
Office of Cooperative Environmental Management (OCEM)
BIO
Mr. DeLeon is employed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he has worked since 1987. Mr. DeLeon is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and currently serves as the Director of the Office of Cooperative Environmental Management (OCEM). As the Director of OCEM, he manages a professional staff that is responsible for providing guidance and oversight for EPA’s ~50 federal advisory committees that are established pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). EPA’s committees provide recommendations to the President, the Administrator of EPA, other EPA senior officials, and EPA program offices.
Prior to this position, Mr. DeLeon served as the EPA Director of Human
Resources. In this capacity, he headed the office that is responsible for identifying,
establishing and implementing Agency-wide Human Resources and Human Capital
programs, policies and procedures. These areas included, but are not limited to: outreach,
recruitment, staffing, classification, hiring, benefits, employee development and training,
performance management and rating systems, organizational development and
reorganizations, retention, early out and buyouts, human capital and strategic workforce
planning, succession planning, quality of work life programs and labor and employee
relations.
Prior to being the Director of Human Resources, Mr. DeLeon worked in EPA’s
Office of General Counsel (OGC) as a staff attorney, Assistant General Counsel and
Associate General Counsel. As Associate General Counsel, he established
and managed a team of attorneys in the Civil Rights Law Office. This office is primarily
responsible for providing legal guidance and advice to EPA officials on all matters
relating to equal employment opportunity (EEO), special emphasis programs and civil
rights. Rafael also served as the Acting Director of EPA’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Mr. DeLeon has won numerous awards during his career at EPA including the bronze,
silver and gold medals.
Before joining EPA, Mr. DeLeon worked as an EEO Counselor, Investigator and Specialist at the Departments of Labor, Justice and Defense. He is the recipient of a number of performance, human resources and civil rights awards from these agencies. Rafael is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree (BA). He also graduated from Georgetown University Law School where he received his Juris Doctor (JD) degree. He has been a lawyer since 1984.