TEXAS, USA — One of the top FBI Agents in North Texas is on a mission to help change the face of his organization.
He says has a great career and hopes others consider making the same move he did despite having no law enforcement background whatsoever.
Supervisory Special Agent Clyde Ellis entered the FBI at a time when there were not many people who looked like him.
"I am an African American and I am an FBI Agent. But I am an African American first," Clyde Ellis.
Ellis, affectionately known as 'J-R', made his huge, unexpected career change years ago and now he hopes to get others to follow suit. It all started with one of the deadliest acts on American soil. After the 9/11 tragedy in 2001, J-R paid close attention to the FBI's response.
"They were front and center working the investigation," said J-R, "I saw them on the news a lot. I would say that was the first time that the FBI really caught my attention."
J-R eventually attended an FBI recruitment fair, much like the one he's about to hold in Dallas-Fort Worth. That's where the Oklahoma native got all his questions answered about the government agency. It's also where, much to his surprise, he was bitten by the FBI bug.
"Here I am now, coming up on 16 years in the bureau," he said.
As one of the bureau's top agents, he hopes to recruit a diverse group of people like schoolteachers in the classroom, nurses and medical staff from hospitals, and folks with different backgrounds just like his.
"My background is IT," said Ellis, "I'm a dad, I have children, I go to football games, I go to basketball games, so you do have that healthy balance of the demands of the job."
The basic requirements to land an FBI job include being a U-S Citizen between the ages of 23 and 36 years old and having a bachelor's degree with 2 years of work experience. Of course, the physical fitness training is part of the 20 weeks at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
J-R has some serious goals for the variety of people he hopes will attend the FBI's July 28 diversity recruitment fair. He's inviting people who want to be potential FBI Agents to complete the application by the July 25th deadline on Monday.
After applicants pass the screening process, the recruiters will share the location of the job fair. That's where people can do what he did almost two decades ago and get their questions answered about the life of an FBI Agent. That includes those questions about the myths of working as an agent.
J-R also shared who he hopes to see walking through the door, and why it's important everyone is welcomed at the FBI, regardless of race, background, ethnicity, gender, religion and all those things that make America unique.
"We should have people of all different nationalities to be part of this organization so we can better represent the communities that we serve every day," said Ellis.
Since the Diversity Agent Recruitment Event is Thursday, July 28, all potential applicants must apply by Monday, July 25 at www.fbijobs.gov. Applicants will receive details on the location after they are screened. Click here for the direct application link.
The FBI leader stressed that there are what he calls 'soft skills' people have from different professions that are vital to the future of the government agency. As a Supervisory Special Agent who has worked and earned his way up the ranks in the FBI, J-R serves as an example for others in a government agency that he says now offers equal opportunity for all.