PDP - Key Persons
In 2019, in addition to her other duties, Alaina Maldonado became the primary project support staff person working on the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's (OTDA) Upstate Homeless Services Training Resource System project. This project provides training to all levels of staff that implement homeless and housing services in the community. In 2019, the project offered in-person training only, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 halted all in-person training. This became particularly difficult for the Homeless Services Training project, as it had not yet done any instructor-led Webex classes. The general assumption at this time held that this method of instruction could not work for shelter provider staff. In addition, the training audience for this project did not use, the online registration system customarily used for OTDA and OCFS projects.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant II
- Member of the Child Welfare Department
Amy is a critical member of the Child Welfare Department; her work on the Child Forensic Interviewing (CC31) and the Youth Development and Runaway Homeless Youth Training Project (YDRHY) are of particular note this year. Amy possesses multiple talents and skills that have contributed positively to her projects. Amy displays effort above and beyond her required duties, and as a result the Child Welfare Department has consistently had the actors needed for trainings, webinar participants' questions are responded to quickly and with knowledge, and course registrations are managed with accuracy and expedience. Amy's organizational skills contributed to the success of two Learning Exchanges-the Spring Directors' Retreat and the Fall Youth Wellbeing Summit on YDRHY. Amy facilitated a seamless registration process, despite not all attendees being in the registration system.
Job Titles:
- Senior Programmer / Analyst Project Leader / IT Department
Since his arrival in 2015, Aria has continually applied his strong design and programming skills to transform aging systems into 21st century models of efficiency while simultaneously responding to requests to develop complex new features and solutions. The results of these efforts have significantly strengthened PDP's place as a technology leader.
His tireless work on the EIP Event Approval Portal involved major rewriting and development aimed at creating the next generation EIP Database. He markedly improved the functionality of the database using a seamless transition process. Aria also brought a fresh set of ideas to the Information Systems and Programming group. His work helped streamline many processes and improve security, as well as modernize several aspects of our internet presence.
Aria created the Standardization Series, now the cornerstone of .NET application development at PDP. He relied heavily on these standards during the recent development of the new training portal. This state-of-the-art portal provides many new features to Health Safety and MAT trainers including; course management, self-service rosters for trainers, electronic certificates with code verification, reporting features, and automatic reminder notices and alerts.
He quickly grasps core business needs, and with his expert programming skills is able to design robust applications from scratch. Aria is equally talented at re-developing and enhancing PDP's many existing applications. A recent example is the consolidation of several of PDP's membership databases, creating a central application to manage over a quarter of a million accounts.
Aria embraces the "DevOps" model daily, meaning he works equally with development staff and operational staff. He readily shares knowledge, techniques, and ideas with fellow developers and PDP staff. A quiet, yet highly effective leader, Aria's efforts have modernized and advanced many of PDP's most relied upon applications.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant / Department of Early Childhood Training
Caroline has worked for PDP for almost 12 years and she continues to be a loyal and dedicated employee who can be relied upon each and every day. She takes great pride in the role she plays in supporting the safety of New York's children in care. Caroline is always willing to not only take on any job but also to learn new systems and technology to take the MAT program to the next levels of excellence. 2015 did not just bring Caroline a new work location it also brought her new professional challenges. Caroline was identified as the person to take on all aspects of Medication Administration including:
Entering on average 89 training schedules per month
Processing rosters for an average of 323 people per month
Processing MAT rebates
Designated as the first line contact with trainers and medication administrants
Assisting Medication Administrants with MAT renewal and certification issues
In order to accomplish all of this Caroline has worked with Dora Anderson in implementing a new system of communication with trainers to both verify and enforce MAT program procedures. This called for Caroline to learn Excel for data entry, tracking, and reporting and how to use Outlook in new ways to execute no less than 12 different types of communications that are processed and tracked to 111 different MAT trainers for an average of over 200 emails per month along with countless phone calls. On a daily basis Caroline is a resource for her co-workers, MAT trainers & Administrants, and supports the MAT program in hundreds of different ways to keep the children of NY safe with a smile.
Job Titles:
- Education Specialist / Department of Media Production
Casey produced the Pyramid Model webcast series that received an APEX award for excellence earlier this year. She also produced the Preventing Expulsion and Suspension e-learning course, which features interviews that Casey conducted with Dr. Walter Gilliam of Yale University, a national expert on this subject. Additionally, Casey was the featured narrator of the Health and Safety classroom training video.
Even more notably, Casey has been the driving force behind the 5-hour Foundations in Health and Safety e-learning course. She envisioned the creative museum concept that serves as the navigation tool for the course She pushed herself, her colleagues and our sponsors in finalizing modules to meet the December 31 launch. Over 5000 trainees have taken the course to date and kudos continue to roll in, including this one from Karen Kissinger from the Division of Child Care:
Casey, we have already received positive feedback on the Foundations of Health & Safety online training. This includes providers, union representatives, and CCR&Rs. Thank you so much for your work. We appreciate your efforts to research, draft, revise, be the on-screen talent, nudge us as needed, and put all the pieces together while showing flexibility. Because of you and the PDP team, we expect several thousand-child care providers to gain knowledge and skills to keep children safe and healthy. We are also well positioned to meet federal requirements that providers obtain high-quality training in these topics.
This glowing testament demonstrates without question that Casey is most worthy of this recognition.
Job Titles:
- Education Specialist / Department of Temporary Assistance Training
Cecilia has worked for PDP since 2002. She is very experienced in several program areas, ranging from Temporary Assistance and Employment Services policies to mental health awareness and interviewing competencies to HEAP eligibility to auditor training.
During 2016, the Department of Temporary Assistance Training experienced several overlapping staff vacancies. The timing and span of some of these vacancies created many challenges in meeting PDD's deliverables. Without hesitation and with a smile, Cecilia stepped up to fill many of the gaps and training assignments going way beyond expectations. In addition to her own existing work, she willingly filled multiple training and team leadership roles. This included delivering a significantly higher volume of training, developing new curriculum on very short notice, participating in search activities for new training and development staff, and actively contributing to the on-boarding process for new staff.
Most notable, Cecilia delivered two, six-day Employment Services Training Institute's for TA and SNAP offerings independently, as well as most of two additional six-day deliveries (this is a program designed for co-training). She also supported several four-day, two-day, and one-day programs consecutively and in one case overlapping one another. She consistently received extremely positive trainee and sponsor feedback. In fact, one of Cecilia's trainee groups presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers to thank her for her outstanding delivery and fortitude.
Cecilia is a model for fostering positive behavior and her peer coaching contributes to building staff morale by helping team members develop and expand their knowledge, skills, and abilities. She has coached and mentored multiple trainers, willingly sharing her knowledge and experience. Her efforts helped build subject matter expertise with new staff in an accelerated manner.
Besides her routine curriculum development assignments, Cecilia regularly attends trainer practice sessions and provides valuable feedback to new trainers. She always delivers trainer feedback in a positive way focused on building self-esteem and confidence. Cecilia continually challenges training team members to strive for improvement and excellence while reinforcing their strengths.
Cecilia is most deserving of this award based on the remarkable work completed this year and throughout her 14 years with PDP.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant II
Corinne was originally hired as a Secretary II in the New York Employment & Training Institute, funded by the Department of Labor. When that program ended in 2000, Corinne transitioned to a position in the Department of Child Welfare.
She brought her highly organized no nonsense approach to the Department of CW Training which meant that all assignments would be completed on schedule. She also became an expert in STARS and routinely helps to solve problems with the system.
Although she has worked on a number of different projects within Child Welfare, she is recognized today for her work on the Substance Abuse Education Project. This past year has been a transition year for this program, as a long tenured staff retired, and a newer staff member was assigned to the project. Corinne helped make this transition smooth by providing the new trainer with detailed information on local district contacts, voluntary agency information, and marketing materials.
Further, she proved again that she is efficient, detail oriented, helpful, accurate, and dependable.
Dan Meade creates and maintains websites, and designs digital and print materials. Dan constantly shows innovation in his work, pushing the boundaries of what is known, to make work more efficient and effective. Dan is a constant champion for web accessibility and web usability and demonstrates this commitment to those principles through his work and in communicating with clients and sponsors.
As a trainer on the Core Essential Skills for Experienced Caseworkers (CES) project, David Fortune was instrumental in leading this project during an interim period between Training Program Coordinators- ensuring training schedules were set-up and the completion of quarterly reports were done on time which provided many challenges particularly in the evaluation section since the HSLC system was not always correctly capturing the data. But David figured out how to get this done.
Dave has demonstrated that he always can be counted on to take the initiative to do whatever is needed for the CES project and is always willing to go beyond what is expected of him. For example, at the request of OCFS, he attended a three-day Training of the Trainer course on The Platinum Rule: Creating Partnerships from Top to Bottom. After the TOT, Dave was selected to be one of the Platinum Rule Trainers for New York State. This training brought the new OCFS Practice Model to life bringing the skills OCFS leadership needed to partner effectively and improve their interactions. The training is based on a continuous quality improvement philosophy asking every system to grow.
Most importantly, Dave is leading player in a change effort to improve OCFS culture by using data to drive decisions and asking colleagues to be active collaborators. Dave received extremely positive feedback in his ability to parallel the skills discussed in the training. His excellent facilitation skills allowed participants to explore ambivalent feelings and recognize how the skills being taught would support the worker. One member of the training team stated David's training skill is like "a flame for a moth, he draws you in and provides you comfort." That says it all!
Job Titles:
- Training Program Coordinator / Department of Temporary Assistance Training
In 2015, Deanna put significant time and effort, above and beyond her normal duties, to complete a host of work to further PDP's mission and organizational goals and support our OTDA project sponsor. Deanna took a lead role with OTDA's Hearing Officer Training Institute Development Advisory Committee. Deanna personally planned and facilitated two committee meetings, which exceeded the sponsor's expectations and received personal thanks for her effort from the OAH Downstate Director. Under Deanna's leadership, she and her staff completed the needs assessment, job task analysis and initial design phases of a new multi-component performance-based training system for OTDA Hearing Officers in record time of less than 6 months. This resulted in the development and submission of a comprehensive Training Plan for Hearing Officers, which included the following:
An 8 to 9-day Hearing Officer Policy Training Institute
A 5-day Hearing Officer Procedural Training Institute
Continued support and development of workshop topics for the Hearing Officer (Fall) Training Seminar
Training on Special or Advanced Topics (legal, policy, or procedural), as needed
Development and implementation of a supervisory support resource tool, Hearing Officer Training Path, to aid Supervising Hearing Officers in identifying resources for staff training.
This is not all that she did. Deanna also was at the lead in working with a team of instructional designers, writers, trainers, and project support staff to implement a new virtual classroom training via iLinc for Administering the MMS Mental Health Screening Tool and well as three new training courses based on emerging USDA-FNS and OTDA policies regarding SNAP work requirements and Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD). Deanna was on the front-line with this work, in the trenches with her sleeves rolled up and doing whatever tasks were necessary. Each of the three courses were designed for up to 250 participants and were launched in the new iLinc 12 webinar format only days after iLinc 12's implementation. Deanna was at the forefront of learning about, troubleshooting, and sharing best practices among PDP staff and departments in using this new webinar technology and dealing with HSLC interfacing requirements, which came with many glitches. Ultimately, with a great deal of thanks to Deanna's organization and guidance, the training team delivered 38 webinar offerings in a month and a half to over 3800 trainees.
TAMA expressed their appreciation and recognition of the exceptionally hard work that went into these projects. Among these accomplishments, Deanna continued to serve as the Editor of the PDP Communiqué and provides leadership in publishing a high quality themed newsletter which is widely acclaimed. Deanna has been a dedicated employee since 2005, and she has made outstanding contributions to furthering PDP's mission and organizational goals. Deanna has developed an outstanding reputation and is highly respected. We would have a very hard time being able to accomplish the quantity and quality of work we do without Deanna's continued contributions and leadership.
Job Titles:
- Trainer
- Senior Education Specialist
Ed Perka has been the sole trainer on the Substance Abuse Education Project for the past two years and has met all contracted deliverables. This past year, Ed conducted 83 days of training, reaching 1,194 participants from local Departments of Social Services and voluntary child welfare agencies. He has taken a very proactive approach to setting-up a training schedule that is inclusive of all regions throughout the state, and has done an excellent job in promoting the courses offered under this project by building solid relationships with key individuals in agencies.
Ed is a team player and has worked with staff across many projects on a variety of topics. He is recognized by colleagues and project sponsors as having expertise in the area of substance use disorders and is readily available when child welfare substance use questions arise.
Ed is committed to staying current in the frequently changing field of alcohol and drugs along with child welfare practices. Earlier this year, Ed presented a workshop at the 14th Annual NYS Alcohol and Substance Abuse Providers (ASAP) Conference in Buffalo.
Job Titles:
- Manager of PDP 's Instructional Technologies Unit
Ed Skawinski, Manager of PDP's Instructional Technologies Unit, constantly goes above and beyond to support the people he manages with their work. Specifically, he has a habit of rolling up his sleeves and jumping into his team's projects to help them meet the deadlines. He does this in addition to the many tasks associated with being a manager. He has a genuine desire to see his team succeed. A team member commented "Ed often takes time to review work that I have done, even when it is for another manager's department. Ed is also thorough in these reviews - he often takes the time to offer alternate ideas, constructive critique, and fresh eyes - all greatly helpful when looking at a project for a long time. The end result is that the product comes out even better!"
PDP "makes government work better." Ed makes his team work better, which allows PDP ITU to fulfill this mission. It is clear to everyone on his team that their efforts are appreciated. He does this by being supportive and trusting his team to deliver. Comments received from his team include: "Ed's ability and willingness to help out however necessary is so crucial to the success of not only the project I work on, but my success as his employee." "Very understanding and respectful of the fact that we are all professionals here. He's also very complimentary in his responses to daily goings-on. Daily pats on the back keep us motivated and make this a great work environment."
Ed cares about each and every project his team works on. He offers thoughtful and helpful criticism that improves/supports the project and worker's confidence. Comment from his team: "To insure a project was done to clients' specifications, Ed spent many hours after closing time talking with client to insure we provided exactly what they wanted."
Ed manages 12 people. He takes it upon himself to learn the specific details of each of their jobs and situations which allows him to understand current or potential deadline obstacles. Comment from his team: "I most appreciate Ed familiarizing himself with our programs and processes, so he understands the challenges of the work... the many application flukes to be overcome, and myriad details that go into each course. He has first-hand experience that course development is complicated and time-consuming, and he is a strong advocate."
In recognition of Ed's excellent work, we are pleased to present him with PDP's 2021 Outstanding Professional Staff Award.
Job Titles:
- Senior Education Specialist
Ellen was hired in January 2011, and at the time she was the only trainer in the Medical Administration Training Program (MAT). Without another trainer in the MAT program to learn from, Ellen was able to draw upon the expertise of various staff as well as her own initiative to not only learn a complex curriculum but become an expert training of the content in short order.
The MAT program on average recertify 20 trainers per year, but in 2011 Ellen completed 69 recertifications. This is a record for the MAT program. Ellen achieved this goal while working 80% during the first half of the year by being flexible in the use of her hours, often changing her days off to accommodate the schedules of the trainers she needed to recertify.
When not training, Ellen has reviewed all the MAT programs materials including countless curriculum, participant materials, tests and the online course materials in order to ensure consistency. Ellen worked diligently to ensure that the MAT course materials were updated and also available in Spanish. She has created a specialized MAT course which was presented in 2011, at a conference in Saratoga Springs. Ellen has also successfully assisted in the implementation of a new process for recertification which has met with positive reviews by trainers. Along with these achievements, Ellen for a period of time during the year was without a project assistant and during that time Ellen took on the additional responsibilities of that position.
Ellen continues to receive highly positive evaluations from the trainers she trains and is well respected by her peers and our sponsors.
Emily Harrison first joined PDP in June 2014 as a Project Staff Assistant, reporting to the PDP Finance & Project Support Unit Manager while providing support to now retired PDP Executive Director Eugene Monaco and the senior staff, June Mastan and Debbie McGuire. She very quickly jumped into her role playing a major part in proposal packaging and delivery, as well as coordinating many of the planning needs for the annual PDP Staff Recognition and Awards Program. She provided major assistance with the search and recruitment process, developing a new employee orientation program to help new PDP staff settle in quickly. If she did not know the answer to a staff person's question, Emily went to work to find it. Shortly after joining PDP, Emily played an integral role in our 2015 move from UAB and Corporate Woods to our current 4 Tower Place offices. In short, Emily quickly became an important "go to" person at PDP.
In recognition of her expanding role with both human resources and finance, Emily received a promotion in 2017 to Assistant Operations Coordinator. She took on even more finance and human resources responsibilities. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, we all quickly learned how to work remotely and use the many technical tools we had available. But Emily happily returned to the office once we received the all-clear to do so. Throughout the later part of 2021 and into 2022, PDP experienced a significant growth in the number of searches and recruitment activity taking place. The University also significantly expanded the role of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the search process with new policies, procedures and forms showing up regularly. Emily managed these many changes with patience, grace and efficiency - qualities that are her hallmarks. She kept senior staff and managers updated, and she worked with search chairs. Emily also kept the intranet continually updated, so staff always had a current reference place to go to.
It would have been difficult to have made it through 2021 without Emily's arduous work and efficiency.
In recognition of Emily's excellent work, we are pleased to present her with PDP's 2021 Outstanding Service Award.
Job Titles:
- Senior Trainer / Department of Computer Training Services ( DCTS )
In 2022, Eric was responsible for training 28 different programs to 1976 trainees. Excellent in the classroom and via WebEx, Eric has expertise in multiple state computer systems and his ability to speak the language of system developers allowed PDP to quickly update curriculum in response to system changes and enhancements.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director / Principal Investigator and Public Service Professor, Retired December 31, 2020
Gene Monaco first joined the Professional Development Program in 1985, after over a decade at Hudson Valley Community College overseeing Continuing Education and then Public and Community Service programs. During Gene's earliest years at PDP, he oversaw Program Evaluation, among other areas, and played a key part in the development of an early 1990's paid program of non-credit courses offered to public audiences, which took place in addition to our regular state contract work. There was also a summer camp program and training done in Somalia, to name just some early highlights from Gene's time at PDP.
Gene later served as PDP Executive Director for over two decades. During his time with PDP, he was instrumental in building it into one of the largest university-based continuing professional education programs in the nation. Gene's Rockefeller College biography lists his academic specialization as Government & Technology. He has over three decades of experience in the design and delivery of instructional activities using state of the art delivery modalities and in the development of curricula, training and research materials for continuing professional education geared toward the public service workforce. Gene was the driving force in PDP's expansion into online learning as an early adopter of then newly emerging delivery methods.
He has authored numerous journal articles and scholarly abstracts, and presented papers both nationally and internationally, regarding continuing professional education and workforce development. In addition, Gene is the co-author of two books on government and technology. Gene developed and led PDP's biannual newsletter, the Communiqué, overseeing 45 issues. It is a project about which Gene is particularly passionate and one that will continue after his retirement.
As we honor Gene for his Outstanding Service to PDP for well over three decades, we reflect on his dedication to the mission of PDP " to make a difference in a changing world by linking the learning, applied research, and evaluation resources of the University with the continuing professional education needs of the public service, and doing so with excellence in all that we do!
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant II
Since joining PDP, Fatma has approached her job tasks with curiosity and determination. Fatma continuously looks for ways to make processes more efficient and beneficial to all stakeholders. She has excellent technological skills and has been able to share those skills with others on the Administrative Team.
Job Titles:
- Senior Trainer / Department of Temporary Assistance Training
Greg truly shined in 2014, starting the year as an Education Specialist and ending it with a promotion to Senior Trainer. Greg consistently receives outstanding feedback from sponsors and trainees regarding his training deliveries, both independent and team deliveries, as well as being equally adept at delivering training in the classroom and via iLinc.
Throughout the year Greg was highly effective in delivering a high volume of training, completing curriculum revisions, and leading training teams for multiple programs. In 2014 Greg:
Supported seven different training programs of varying length (from ½ to 10 days in length) and completed 37 offerings of these programs
Delivered 122 days of project training (38 of these days were out of town)
Delivered 3 days of "Communicating With Impact" DDI training for PDP staff
Delivered 3 "Plan for Impact" DDI presentations for PDP Senior Staff, department managers, and department supervisors
Delivered 2 "PDP Branding Update" presentations at PDP department meetings
Job Titles:
- Education Specialist
- Trainer With the Child Support Training
Jeff has been a trainer with the Child Support Training and Outreach Project for over 25 years. Throughout this time, Jeff has either created or assisted in creating every training program CSTOP offers. As a trainer, Jeff is very highly regarded. To quote one recent trainee, "Jeff's command of the child support program allows him to effectively train all child support personnel from newly hired staff to senior staff. He has a great ability to include and engage others in learning opportunities that enhance, expand, and highlight the mission of the child support program."
During 2017, Jeff delivered a majority of classroom and online synchronous course offerings for CSTOP while he served as the primary mentor and coach for a new project trainer and assisted with the orientation of the new CSTOP training coordinator. Additionally, Jeff responded this past year to help orient and train new Child Support Services state office staff on the child support program. He also reacquainted fellow CSTOP staff with numerous CSTOP course offerings by delivering customized, condensed sessions targeting various topics and he conducted regular topical mini sessions for new project staff to help build content expertise.
Jeff has invested considerable thought and energy into the redesign and development of the new accounting series of courses, a complex and long-term project that is approaching its final stages. Jeff also provides content expertise as needed for work on a high-profile and high-priority deliverable, development of the comprehensive Child Support Program Manual.
Jeff is a model for peer-coaching, he devotes considerable time to sharing his expertise and to mentoring junior trainer colleagues by observing training deliveries, offering suggestions for overcoming stumbling points and providing expert explanations of complex content. Jeff has proven himself an invaluable resource on content for new CSTOP project staff as well as new state staff in the DCSS office. One colleague states "Jeff's flexibility and non-judgmental attitude comes to mind as does his ever-ready willingness to help someone in need."
Jeff is well deserving of the Outstanding Trainer award-Congratulations, Jeff!
Jennifer has become the go-to person on race equity and cultural competency training. Over the last two years, she created two curricula that have become mainstays in OCFS training plans. These foundation courses have improved the conversation New York State is having with caseworkers in attempting to reduce the racial divide in child welfare services. The responses she receives on her participant reaction surveys mostly speak to the environment she created to talk about what amounts to be a difficult subject for many.
Along with the Race Equity Cultural Competency course, Jenn was a vital partner in developing the Child Welfare Foundations Program classroom module of "Culturally Responsive Child Welfare Practice." Throughout this process, Jennifer has remained a reliable, informed, and effective resource to OCFS and represented PDP well.
In the second quarter, Jenn was recognized with the Customer Service Award for her work and contributions to PDP. This award demonstrated her exceptional customer service even in difficult, yet necessary, conversations. She has been recognized as the subject matter expert in this area and this recognition allowed her to address historically ignored systemic issues within the Child Welfare System with individuals at OCFS and PDP.
Due to the sensitivity of issues related to race and ethnicity, many of those reviewing her Race Equity Cultural Competency curriculum found some of the information presented challenging. For example, during the development and review of proposed activities and discussions, there was hesitation regarding approval for engaging in an activity and discussion related to white privilege. Jennifer was able to recognize both the need for this conversation to support growth within child welfare practice and the discomfort of OCFS staff responsible for curriculum approval due to lack of experience and context. She engaged the necessary individuals and provided an understanding of these areas to leadership within OCFS and PDP. This led to these individual's growth in knowledge and the ultimate approval of these training activities.
Job Titles:
- Training Program Coordinator
During 2018, Jessica made many outstanding contributions to the work of PDP. A significant quantity and range of new design/redesign, development, implementation, and project management work was accomplished largely due to Jessica's efforts as a Training Program Coordinator in the Department of Temporary Assistance Training.
Jessica is a highly effective professional who provides oversight and completes numerous tasks for multiple curricula and training projects. Programs under Jessica's oversight often exceeded expectations. Also, Jessica regularly provided coaching and mentoring to aid her staff in building and enhancing their competencies.
Due to vacancies and other mitigating factors within the team, Jessica performed a significant number of hands-on curricula and project management work in 2018 to ensure project objectives were achieved and timelines were met.
Jessica was and is unflappable. Mid-year, PDP learned of the need to transition all iLinc courses to the WebEx delivery platform by October 1. Jessica jumped in to work with her teams to accomplish this for 13 training deliveries.
Jessica also oversaw the successful implementation of multiple training initiatives. Most notably of these initiatives were: two new training modules during a series of seven Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Regional Training Meetings, one new training module during a series of eight Temporary Assistance Regional Training Meetings, four custom workshops during the Home Energy Assistance Program Statewide Training Conference, and 14 deliveries of the new Program Development and Implementation Considerations for People Affected by Poverty and Trauma course for OTDA staff. Jessica ensured each milestone, and high standards were met. Each of these programs was an elevated priority for OTDA and work was performed under short timeframes with limited resources.
In addition to all of this, Jessica volunteered to design and deliver a general session on The Affect of Poverty and Trauma on Decision Making and Behavior to approximately 200 attendees at the 2018 New York Welfare Fraud Investigator Association (NYWFIA) Training Seminar, for which she received kudos from the NYWFIA President and the OTDA Training Contract Manager. Jessica also co-developed and delivered two special presentations about PDP's Poverty/Trauma training work to the UAlbany President and PDP Senior Staff in May 2018, as well as to PDP staff in April 2018 during the annual PDP Staff Recognition Program. Moreover, Jessica has also been highly effective as the PDP Communiqué Editor. As Editor, Jessica plays an incredibly important role in coordinating the design and development of the periodical and ensuring it meets PDP's high-quality standards.
Job Titles:
- Project Staff Associate / Finance & Adminstration
Jessica is a UAlbany graduate joined The Research Foundation in 2004 as a Project Staff Assistant working in the Medication Administration Training Program.
Jessica's talents were readily recognized and she soon received a promotion to Assistant Manager of Administration in the Finance and Administration Unit. In January 2007, she received another promotion to Project Staff Associate and in July 2008, received a further promotion to the PDP Fiscal Operations Coordinator, the position she currently holds. Her work in both the finance and human resource areas is consistently outstanding. Jessica's strong organization skills and excellent attention to detail serve her well as she effectively and seamlessly juggles multiple activities on a daily basis. Overall, Jessica has done an outstanding job overseeing the daily operations of the PDP Finance office and has done a stellar job within the Human Resources area including coordinating all PDP recruitments.
Jessica serves on the campus Employee Assistance Program (EAP) committee and she has been active in organizing several of their campus-wide events as well as bringing other EAP programs to PDP such as last summer's Olympic Experience.
Jessica is well deserving of this recognition for her consistent and outstanding contributions which help to further the PDP's mission.
Job Titles:
- Manager / Finance & Adminstration
- Manager of Finance and Project Support / Finance & Administration
Julie made immediate contributions to PDP from the moment she came on board as Manager of Finance in February 2006. She quickly expanded the scope of her responsibilities becoming Manager of Finance and Project Support in 2007 to include finance, proposal submission oversight, evaluation processing, the copy center, and the PDP Room Reservation System. Numerous other vital organizational functions also take place in Julie's area including processing quarterly reporting, the search and hiring process, purchasing, and financial reporting. In 2019, Julie added responsibility for the OTDA Specialized Services project to her portfolio as well. Not surprising, Julie and her staff are also responsible for overseeing the organization of today's Annual Staff Recognition event! Without a doubt, Julie plays a major role in ensuring that PDP is a well-run and high-quality organization.
Sometimes you know you picked a winner and got it right, and Julie was one of those picks! From her first day on the job, it was clear that Julie was going to be an outstanding employee. She very quickly mastered our complex budgeting and financial processes, and soon established herself as a key resource person for all staff. Julie truly exemplifies the term "team player." In addition to her great technical skills, Julie brings a positive can-do attitude to the job. She has a strong work ethic and never misses a deadline, often putting in extra hours to complete important tasks. She is well known for her patience and grace particularly under pressure.
PDP's Managers know they can count on Julie for her expertise and quick turnaround when developing budgets and other documents during our near-constant proposal development process. She frequently consults with staff on a wide variety of financial issues and it is not out of the ordinary to see two or three staff in line at her door.
Julie is the recipient of several PDP awards for her outstanding work including the 2007 First Quarter Spirit Award, the 2009 Third Quarter Customer Service Award, the 2011 Outstanding Professional Staff Annual Award, 2011 Outstanding Team Annual Award, the 2015 Third Quarter Team Spotlight Award, and the 2017 Third Quarter Team Spotlight Award.
Now she has added the Executive Director's award to this list. Please join me in congratulating Julie on receiving this well-earned 2018 Executive Director's Award!
Julie does outstanding work on budget preparation, proposal coordination with the Research Foundation, and sponsor reporting for PDP most notable is her work on PDP's former and recently received awards for the Health Workforce Retraining Initiative Project (HWRI) for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, her work on the Higher Education Services Corporation Project (HESC), and the Public Service Workshop Program (PSWP) for the new two year award for 2012-2013.
All of the contracts required extremely detailed budgets and have significant contract reporting requirements. For example, in the case of the HWRI project, there were sixteen separate budgets times two for the two year allocation. The HESC project requires extremely detailed mid-year and end of the year reporting which can run up to 40 pages plus. The new PSWP agreement required several versions of the budget during the contract negotiation process with the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER) which began in the later part of 2011 and was recently finalized. Julie managed these tasks in addition to other budgeting and financial management responsibilities of OCFS and OTDA projects.
Lakia proposed and was supported by PDP's Leadership Team in conducting a multi-facet Personal Diversity study project that included staff surveys, development and delivery of diversity training program and assessment, and conference presentation and paper. Developing the program on her own time, Lakia has brought a new way of looking at diversity to PDP that emphasizes personal change and growth.
Her passion for this topic is infectious and her continued growth in this area is an inspiration to others. PDP program participants praised her training program as one of the best they had ever taken and Lakia delivered additional sessions as there was such demand from her colleagues. Lakia has shown herself to be a true leader in the field professional development.
LaToya Jackson of PDP's PSWP unit was charged with leading the effort to transition the 12-day, 8-month NYS Leadership Institute from a classroom-based training program to fully virtual when the pandemic began. Originally set to begin as a classroom training program in May, the virtual program was scheduled and delivered over a condensed 6-month period and began in September 2020 after months of planning and preparation that was ongoing through the final session and graduation on February 18, 2021. She was responsible for coordinating all aspects of training delivery, faculty and speaker preparation, facilitator preparation, and participant communication. LaToya was the "glue" that held together a complicated program delivery model demonstrating impressive critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills to allow for not only a successful transition to virtual, but in some ways superior training experience for the high-level State executives participating in the program.
LaToya personified PDP's well-respected reputation for meeting challenges head on and delivering a high-quality training experience despite myriad challenges. LaToya has not only taken it upon herself to learn and gain expertise in the program content on leadership, she evaluated and trained herself on multiple virtual delivery platforms, such as WebEx, GoToWebinar and Zoom, learning which platform best suited the needs of the program, with the least learning curve, and the most inexpensive alternative. Once Zoom was selected, LaToya shared her expertise using Zoom through one-on-one Zoom training for faculty and presenters, assisted co-facilitators with figuring out ways to leverage the technology, and led numerous rehearsal sessions with media staff and presenters to ensure sessions were delivered seamlessly.
The positive feedback from GOER, Rockefeller College, and PDP staff, as well as from NYSLI participants regarding LaToya's excellence was absolutely overwhelming over the last 6 months and at the final session and graduation on 2/18/21. This included recognition from Dean Rethemeyer of Rockefeller College and Michael Volforte, Director of GOER.
In recognition of LaToya's excellent work, we are pleased to present her with the PDP 2020 Outstanding Professional Staff Award.
Latoya Jackson has worked for PDP in many roles. In her most recent role, LaToya coordinates and supports the Leadership Development Program (LDP), a flagship PSWP leadership program for PEF employees and the new NYS Leadership Institute for MC's.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant II
Laurie provides program and administrative support for the field-based Child Support Training and Outreach Project since 2012. Laurie works tirelessly to ensure all CSTOP support needs are covered. She demonstrates initiative and good problem solving skills with tracking curriculum revisions as well as providing customer service related to course registrations, training location arrangements and travel reimbursements.
Project staff quickly learned they could rely on Laurie to cover all bases in supporting curriculum development and training delivery and to remind them of deadlines and changes in important information. She is diligent about making sure class materials are ordered, organized and ready for trainers. She arranges for training space and accommodations for trainings, processes and ensures accuracy with trainee travel vouchers, and works with hotels to ensure training arrangements and guest rooms meet program requirements. Laurie also attentively completes closeout tasks once trainings have concluded and provides information for quarterly reports as well as performs a final quarterly edit.
One of Laurie's strongest attributes is her flexibility and willingness to help with emerging CSTOP needs. A couple of years ago Laurie worked with the training program coordinator to set up a process, which is now routine, to keep trainers informed on the status of class registrations so they would know when enrollments were low and required extra measures to ensure courses had an adequate number of participants.
Laurie also assists the Finance and Project Support Team. She helps with processing PDP's large number of Level 1 and 2 training evaluations; she helps to ensure the PDP Room Reservation System runs smoothly, and provides signage and training room supplies. Laurie also helps the Finance and Project Support Team review travel reimbursements, inputs the data into the finance report database, and works diligently to make sure that any discrepancies are resolved and timely reimbursement payments are made.
Moreover, during 2017, Laurie provided project support for several Department of Temporary Assistance Training deliverables. This included the three-day Healthy Families Training Institute, 10 offerings of the one-day HEAP Eligibility and Certification Training, and other project trainings.
Appreciated and recognized by multiple PDP departments for her willingness to respond to needs and provide exceptional support, Laurie is well deserving of this Outstanding Administrative Support Staff award.
Job Titles:
- Senior Education Specialist
Lisa is a Senior Education Specialist with the Early Childhood Education and Training Program and a lead trainer with the Early Childhood Education and Training Program's Health & Safety Training unit. She is a highly dedicated and extremely hardworking individual responsible for training, monitoring, recertifying and general oversight of over 300 Health & Safety trainers across the state. Her training schedule also averages at least 95 days a year.
During this past year, Lisa has been instrumental in assisting in the development and delivery of 7 part Customer Service training for NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene. Despite minimal preparation time and content outside her area of expertise Lisa never complained about this additional work and found a way to produce high quality training and develop content proficiency in short order.
In addition, Lisa has been an outstanding coach and mentor for her coworkers as well as new trainers. Lisa's training evaluations are consistently outstanding and there are frequent comments citing her as an ideal role model for other trainers. She has an excellent reputation with our sponsor and is held in high esteem by the Health and Safety trainers which can be verified by the positive comments we consistently receive.
Most notable is Lisa's patience, sense of humor and compassion which combined with her commitment to work, makes her an exceptional employee and worthy of being recognized as PDP's recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Trainer Award.
When Mandy Parker stepped into the role of OTDA webmaster in June of 2014, expectations were high. The job had been well-served for many years but it did not take long for Mandy to exceed all expectations. Mandy's transition to OTDA Webmaster was brief; she swiftly adjusted to her new responsibilities and quickly developed a rapport with her main contact at OTDA PIO. Mandy completes between 15-20 web site updates per day and she constantly and cordially communicates with OTDA's PIO to discuss issues, to offer technical support, and suggest site improvements She is also an essential part of the Instructional Technologies Unit. She regularly goes beyond her normal job duties and is always willing to jump in and help her teammates.
Mandy frequently shares her talents and resources regarding web accessibility, testing, programing, and web design
She contributes web design and code to TrainingSpace. This included building an e-learning course for the Division of Disability Determinations
Mandy has diligently kept up-to-date with NYS branding requirements and is a frequently sought after expert for guidance on NYS branding and the NYS web guidelines
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Principal Education Specialist ( Retired )
Mary Kazmierczak was presented the 2014 Annual Executive Director's Award at the April 2015 PDP Staff Recognition and Awards Program. Mary, who recently retired after 28 years of service, put her mark of excellence on all her work. Mary managed PDP's Child Welfare Permanency Planning Project for the past 15 years. Prior to this, she served as Regional Office Project Associate assigned to the OCFS Albany Regional Office from 1986 to 2000.
Mary's numerous contributions to PDP and the children and families of New York State along with her efforts in furthering PDP's mission of helping government work better were her trademarks. On a statewide level, Mary's influence on child welfare practice has been significant. She guided development of NYS's first Foster Parent Manual and the Supervisor's Guide to Assessing Practice. She also assisted in NYS's efforts to not only establish a baseline of practice, but to also measure the impact of training on practice. She guided the revision of the Child Welfare/Child Protective Common Core training, the foundation training program for new child welfare caseworkers. During her time with PDP, Mary also worked extensively on the development of various child welfare training and practice initiatives.
With a management style that embodied a strength-based approach, Mary encouraged project staff to identify and build on their strengths, take initiative, and pursue excellence in promoting child welfare practice improvement throughout New York State. Mary's exemplary accomplishments, and the impact she has made on child welfare practice make her a most worthy recipient of the Executive Director's Award.
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Programmer
- Programmer / Analyst for the Instructional Technologies Unit
As a Sr. Programmer/Analyst for the Instructional Technologies Unit, Nathan makes a huge impact on every project. In 2016, time and again, Nathan's work was a game-changer. Nathan's problem-solving abilities and technical skills are in high demand with peers, supervisors, and project sponsors. Nathan received the PDP Innovation Award for the fourth quarter of 2016 for his efforts in developing the 2017 iteration of the OCFS County Plans application. He learned a programming language he was not familiar with and then went on to reduce the number of files from over 440 to less than 120, and reduced the number of lines of code by more than 50%.
Nathan took on another challenge, which resulted in the development of CFScormHandler. This code, although described by Nathan as "fairly simple," is a major breakthrough for PDP. It allows PDP learning management systems developed in ColdFusion to communicate with courses built in Lectora through SCORM, a set of technical standards for e-learning software. Thanks to Nathan's introduction of CFScormHandler, administrators are now able to see more detail about users' progress and completion for the 5-hour Foundations of Health and Safety training for PDP's Early Childhood Education Training Program. CFScormHandler will eventually apply to a large number of other PDP projects.
In mid-2015, OTDA requested that access to Training Space be expanded to allow NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA) staff to register for trainings without NY.GOV or HSLC accounts. Nathan was key figure in the design and development of the project, known as "TS Pass." In January 2016, "TS Pass" launched and upgraded throughout the year. As a result of this expanded access, HRA staff participated in 15 courses that were previously unavailable to them; resulting in over 18,000 course completions through 2016.
During the development of TS Pass as well as other projects, Nathan clearly demonstrated his project management skills and ability to explain technical details to his supervisor, coworkers, and sponsors. Above all, Nathan is an instrumental part of the ITU team, and brings enthusiasm to all of his work. Congratulations Nathan!
Pat Beck provides training, coaching, monitoring, and recertification to help ensure high-quality health and safety training and compliance with PDP's Health & Safety Program standards. Pat recently revised the Health & Safety Training curricula for family day care (FDC) and group FDC providers and for day care center, school-age child care, and enrolled legally exempt directors to more accurately reflect trainer experiences, her own field observations and training expertise, and feedback from OCFS. Pat's expertise is also reflected in the evaluation data, which show 100% of respondents indicated that the support from the PDP program staff during and after the training was sufficient. Pat is well organized, creative, and highly respected by her colleagues. Her ongoing commitment to excellence in training, tracking, and analyzing training delivery data and performance, as well as her decades of experience in the early childhood field, inform her actions and attitudes every day.
Peggy brought a wealth of PDP experience to her current position in the Department of Temporary Assistance Training, having provided invaluable administrative support to a number of PDP project areas over her 14 year career. This broad experience within PDP coupled with Peggy's focus on supporting our mission means her customers are assisted and projects are supported with great skill, clarity, understanding and empathy.
Peggy's work in 2011 spanned four projects: CEES01, DDD01, HRA01, and MGMTCRS - representing nearly 30 separate training programs. Peggy juggled multiple deliverables that ranged in size and scope, and customer needs, for which Peggy handled arrangements and registrations. This task included more than 100 deliverables, most of which were multi-day events with overnight accommodations and trainee travel reimbursements. Peggy also provided support to four large, high profile conferences with over 908 trainees in total.
Peggy provides excellent customer service to both internal and external customers. Internally, Peggy assisted customers who wandered by her desk from the training center or those who were looking for other offices. She also answers questions and offered assistance to staff outside of her department. Externally, for the Eat Smart New York conferences and the HEAP statewide meeting, Peggy researched and found ideal specialty folders and the project sponsors and trainees for both events were pleased.
A focus of Peggy's work in 2011 was working with trainers to assess curriculum to verify that most current materials are in project files, as well as to re-organize electronic project files and crate training materials. Peggy took the initiative for this and also helped set deadlines with multiple teams to accomplish these tasks. Peggy's continued dedication to PDP and her contributions in 2011 to meeting customer needs and PDP's mission have been outstanding.
Job Titles:
- Training Program Coordinator
Penny is a Training Program Coordinator and master e-learning course designer and developer with the Instructional Technologies Unit. Penny has a unique blend of instructional, graphic, and technical design skills that she uses to build high quality e-learning projects. Penny continues to develop her already advanced skills in Lectora and refine her interface design skills by synthesizing ideas about accessibility and usability with unique visualizations that link to the subject matter. Under a pressing timeline, Penny applied her instructional, graphical, and technical design skills and highly efficient workflow to create two micro learning modules for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the NYS Department of Health's AIDS Institute. She did this while also providing SCORM packages to the CDC for 18 learning modules to be installed into a CDC-owned learning management system. In preparation for moving these 18 modules, and at the request of the CDC, Penny updated all the curriculum for 18 modules. This was quite an intricate process to manage, but Penny handled this with expertise and finesse. Penny receives many compliments and expressions of gratitude from colleagues and coworkers for her thorough, professional, and top-quality product she delivers.
Job Titles:
- Coach
- Employee
- Training Program Coordinator / Department of Temporary Assistance Training
Peter is an incredibly dedicated employee and this award goes to Peter in recognition of his outstanding and continued contributions to furthering PDP's mission and organizational goals.
Peter also received recognition for 30 years of service to PDP. Countless times over the years, Peter stepped in with little or no notice to deliver trainings when others became unavailable despite having his own overfilled plate of work. Over the last year alone, Peter stepped in eight different times to deliver different programs due to the unavailability of staff.
Most notable is that Peter was outstanding in delivering each of these diverse programs despite having little time to prepare. Peter, a long-time DDI trainer, also managed to squeeze in another delivery of Essentials of Leadership training for PDP staff, and he has delivered many other PDP-DDI training courses over the years.
Peter is an amazingly outstanding coach and mentor to new trainers. He has an exceptional reputation with our OTDA sponsor staff and social service district customers, and he has been an outstanding representative to multiple advisory groups for PDP, most recently the OTDA Joint Application Design (JADS) group. Peter's subject matter expertise is strong, deep, and yes I believe to be irreplaceable. Peter actively continues to build his knowledge, becoming expert on new technology and content, such as training with iLinc and myWorkspace - which enabled him to lead us through a redesign of the Food Stamp Worker Training Institute this past year.
Throughout 2021, Susan Bippus shined as a master trainer and training team leader. She consistently demonstrated her outstanding training skills and subject matter expertise in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Welfare Fraud Investigation. Susan trained nine different training programs via Webex in 2021 and contributed subject matter expertise for two additional curricula.
She is masterful in training of complex OTDA policy and regulations. Susan consistently impressed audiences and achieved high to very high Participant Reaction Questionnaire results (4.5 to 5 range) and positive trainee and sponsor feedback. Trainee comments exemplify Susan's expertise: • "Susan Bippus is the best trainer I've had. She's personable and knowledgeable." • "The course pace was great, and Susan was a wonderful presenter! She made the information interesting and held everyone's attention. Very knowledgeable!" • "Course was awesome, the instructor Susan Bippus was great." • "Looking forward to more trainings with Susan. Great job." and (From and OTDA Hearing Officer) • "Susan is absolutely amazing, she needs to do all of our trainings!"
In addition to excelling as a trainer, Susan is an outstanding leader, coach, and mentor. Susan spent numerous hours teaching new training team members the training content and how to deliver a range of training programs, teaching the trainers how to effectively use Webex, coaching the trainers on developing and enhancing their training skills, and helping them to develop subject matter expertise.
Because of Susan's outstanding training skills and subject matter expertise, supervisors selected her to aid curriculum development and serve as the sole trainer for a special delivery of Hearing Officer Training: Intentional Program Violations and Administrative Disqualification Hearings. She put a great deal of thought, care, and preparation into this program, which was delivered to 144 OTDA Hearing Officers/Administrative Law Judges and administrators in November and December 2021. Although the audience was new to Susan, she confidently took charge to successfully update an older curriculum (last delivered in 2013) and convert the material from an in-person to a virtual format. Susan also played a key role in working with a colleague to convert the TA Overpayments, Recoupments, and Claims training from a one-day in-person format to a one-day virtual classroom format for delivery via Webex. Susan put diligent efforts into the leader guide, presentation slides, and training preparations. She and a colleague completed a successful internal pilot prior to the end of the year and are gearing up for statewide implementation in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Scientist
Since joining PDP in late 2011 as Senior Research Scientist, Susan Gieryic has worked tirelessly to raise the visibility of PDP's Evaluation Unit from a behind the scenes quarterly report-driven operation to an integral part of PDP. Previously a staff of one, Susan has grown the Evaluation Unit to now include two part-time Research Scientists and a Graduate Assistant. These additions are a direct result of the increase in the scope of our evaluation work as our sponsors have made evaluation a higher priority.
Susan approaches her work in a determined manner offering keen insights to design optimum evaluation instruments. She prepares excellent reports and analyses and has paved the way for introducing NVivo qualitative software.
Susan volunteers for new projects and she takes on every assignment with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. She is a good mentor to the evaluation staff, has added significantly to the depth of our evaluation work, and is highly regarded by PDP staff and our sponsors.
When the Research Foundation initiated remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic effective March 17, 2020, Terri adapted quickly to the change of her required duties. For example, it was initially thought that Terri could not continue HWRI work remotely but was able to keep processing the paperwork using RDS and CISCO. Terri worked with the IT Department and figured out how to keep both going without losing time and kept the payments going for the HWRI students seamlessly. The first day CISCO was up and running a college called with a voucher that was about to expire. If Terri did not have the ability to answer the call remotely and process the paperwork, the college would have missed the voucher deadline and the student would have lost their tuition money.
Terri's dedication to her work responsibilities, evaluating and assessing tasks that could be more efficient, and taking the initiative to make improvements where possible contributes to PDP's success with internal and external activities. She consistently demonstrates expertise in administrative support, competence in customer service and interpersonal communication skills. Terri is a valued PDP employee who is always willing to help while maintaining a positive attitude and an open mind to new opportunities.
Terri also does an outstanding job working with several state agencies as well as various colleges to process nursing grant requests. She is often recognized by the DOH program liaison for her excellent customer service under the HWRI project. For example, the program liaison wrote, "Thanks, as always Terri, for going above and beyond and reaching out to the school.".
In recognition of Terri's excellent work, we are pleased to present her with the PDP 2020 Outstanding Administrative Support Staff Award.
Terri has worked for PDP since 2002 and is responsible for providing project and logistical support within PDP's Evaluation Department, the Finance and Project Support Department, and the Specialized Services for Employment and Economic Supports project. In April 2016, Terri assumed the responsibility of processing training evaluation survey data.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant II / Regional Office Project Associate Program ( ROPA )
In her 26 years at PDP, nobody has ever had a bad word to say about Virinia. Throughout the years, she has been the glue that has kept the Regional Office Project Associate program (ROPA) together. She has been the face for PDP at the Office of Children and Family Services for a quarter of a century and has made everyone feel welcome.
Virinia manages many things for the ROPA staff in six regional offices, ensuring their extensive travel is processed efficiently and assists with keeping them on task to meet their deadlines. She is authentic, empathetic, and logical; the three legs needed to create trusting relationships with everyone.
One of our ROPA staff explains why Virinia is awesome: "Let me count the ways ¦ She has an incredible amount of patience. She NEVER loses her temper no matter how silly a question we may ask. She will tell us directions to the same thing every day if needed and never shows any aggravation with us. She will find the answer to any question we ask, even if it is not in her job description. She has an incredible eye for details, which saves all of us. She never says "no." She makes sure each of us are aware when something is going on, such as project milestones or staff leave, which is important because we go months without talking to each other."
Virinia Hickman surpasses expectations in her support of the ROPA program and we are so appreciative of her service and dedication to PDP.