ACT-IAC Customer Experience COI June 2024

Join the ACT-IAC Customer Experience Community of Interest (COI) member meeting for a discussion on "Change Management and CX." 

When an organization decides to embark on a customer experience journey, it can be transformational. It will require fundamental changes to its people, processes and technologies. Such a transformation requires a rigorous focus on change management to help drive leadership alignment, stakeholder buy in, and employee readiness. As the Federal government enters a year of transition, customer experience (CX) will continue to be a priority. Change management is essential for driving enduring results in CX.

Hear from leaders in CX from key federal agencies and industry as they discuss:

• The key changes organizations make as they adopt a CX perspective.
• The challenges organizations encounter and how a change management framework can support an organization in overcoming those challenges, particularly in a time of administration transition.
• The importance of leadership alignment, stakeholder management, and employee readiness in creating a CX focused organization.
• Proven and successful techniques that can be readily implemented to facilitate the adoption of CX.

Networking happy hour to follow after the meeting.

Panelists

• Stan Kowalski, Director, Organizational Excellence And Strategic Delivery, International Trade Administration
• Nicole French, Customer Service Branch Manager, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), DHS
• Jennifer Purdy, Executive Director for VA Patient Experience, US Veterans Affairs

Moderators: Amanda Chavez, representing NuAxis Innovations, and Rachel Schwind, ASI Government

About the Panelists

Stan Kowalski is the Director of the Organizational Excellence & Strategic Delivery Office at the International Trade Administration (ITA), US Department of Commerce.  The scope of his team includes Customer and Employee Experience (CX/EX), Knowledge Management (KM), Organizational Development (OD), and Strategic Performance Management.  Prior to joining ITA, Stan served at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and prior to joining the Federal Government, he served as a management consultant for 20 years.

Nicole “Niki” French is the Customer Service Branch Manager within Civil Rights & Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement (CRL/OTE). In her role, Niki serves as the Customer Experience lead for TSA and manages the TSA Contact Center and TSA Cares, which receive over 1.5 million contacts each year. Niki believes that customer experience is core to TSA’s mission—increasing passenger trust and confidence, and strengthening the security of TSA and our nation.

Niki began her TSA career in 2007 as a Transportation Security Officer at the Manchester-Boston Regional airport, spent five years at the Transportation Security Operation Center within Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshals, and transitioned to CRLOTE in 2015.

Niki holds a Bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice and a Master’s degree in International Relations and Homeland Security from Salve Regina University.

Jennifer Purdy, LCSW, CPXP, leads the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) CX Tools and Implementation (T&I) Directorate.  She provides strategic direction to ensure an exceptional customer experience for Veterans across VA.  Mrs. Purdy manages the development and implementation of transformational initiatives, CX training, and consultation services with a staff of 54 spread across the country.  Under her leadership, the T&I Directorate has defined, designed, and deployed the VA CX framework and toolkits across VA. She is responsible for enterprise wide CX initiatives to include VA’s I CARE core values program.  Mrs. Purdy serves as Chair for the national VHA Patient Experience Committee and is the Vice- Chair of the VHA Organizational Health Council.  Mrs. Purdy is a member of The Beryl Institute’s Strategic Advisory Board.   Mrs. Purdy was honored with the 2019 Service to the Citizen Champion of Change Award. She is the daughter of a Vietnam Era Air Force Veteran, the wife of an Army Veteran and was born at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.