Company: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Website: https://www.dhs.gov/accessibilityday2021/speakers#pace
Brandon Pace is the Section 508 Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Headquarters (DHS HQ) in Washington, DC. Mr. Pace is within the Office of Accessible Systems & Technology (OAST), widely recognized across the federal government. Mr. Pace excels in his strategic role, providing leadership and technical support in multiple areas, such as 508 program management and reasonable accommodations. His unwavering dedication ensures that employees and customers with disabilities have equal access to information and data.
Since integrating into DHS in 2012, Mr. Pace has nurtured strong alliances, not just within the confines of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), but also with various offices. His collaborations span DHS Office of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties (CRCL), DHS Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO), DHS Office of Public Affairs (OPA), and the EEO Offices of numerous DHS components. His influence reaches even beyond DHS, extending to other federal agencies. Mr. Pace has been pivotal in weaving assistive technology into the fabric of the DHS network, striking a balance between rigorous security measures and cost efficiency. His trailblazing methods have set the stage for more streamlined operations within DHS, prompting many federal agencies to follow in his footsteps.
As a result of Mr. Pace’s innovative work, DHS now utilizes proactive tools such as the DHS Accessibility Requirements Tool (DART) and the DHS Section 508 Playbook. These contributions have elevated DHS into an exemplary role within the federal accessibility community. Recognizing the significant value of DART, the General Services Administration (GSA) adopted this strategic approach, using it as a model to develop a government-wide accessibility requirement tool. This adoption further underscores the influence and impact of Mr. Pace’s innovative contributions.
Mr. Pace’s leadership extends to his involvement in various technical groups at DHS, such as the DHS.gov Web Liaisons, Windows 11 Working Group, Microsoft Office 365 Working Group, and Network Service Change Working Group. Through strategic collaborations, including those with the U.S. Access Board and various federal agencies, Mr. Pace led innovative accessibility dialogues with Microsoft, fostering the development of user-centric features in Microsoft Teams, a preferred video conferencing platform across federal departments.
Born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, Mr. Pace pursued higher education at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. He is a proud alumnus of the DHS Next Generation Leadership Program Cohort 5 and holds certification as a Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC). He has served in detail assignments at the Executive Office of the President (EOP) in 2015 and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2017. His tenure as the President of the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing DHS employee resource group spanned four years, during which he spearheaded the efforts to earn the group official recognition by DHS.
