2012 Government Contact Center Council Workshop Speakers & Panelists
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Jonathan Browne |
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Kathy Conrad |
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Speaker & Panelist Bios
Michael Ahmadi
Program Management Officer
Office of Communications
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
LCDR Michael Ahmadi is a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) for a large-scale information dissemination/health communications contract with more than 28 million public touch points. Mike directs and manages contractors who provide agencywide contact center, order fulfillment, website, and email marketing operations, as well as provides technical assistance to subject-matter experts to develop, distribute, promote, and evaluate behavioral health educational materials and communications projects. Under his direction, SAMHSA completed merging its two former clearinghouses into a single point of access, making it easier for professionals and the public to find, use, and share behavioral health information.
Mike has a Master of Public Health in Health Education and Behavioral Science from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Jonathan Browne
Senior Analyst
Forrester
Jonathan Browne, based in London, examines the best practices of companies creating groundbreaking customer experiences online, including the mobile Web and new social computing channels. He leads Forrester's research in European interactive design agencies and personas.
Jonathan is a founding member of Japan's Persona & Customer Experience Association (formerly Persona Consortium), a nonprofit organization that researches the use of personas. He has delivered presentations on customer experience topics in London and Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan. Jonathan has been cited in publications including Forbes, The Economic Times (India), Nikkei BP, and thisismoney.co.uk. He has written articles for Nikkei Information Strategy magazine, Web Tantosha (Web Manager) magazine, and he has presented a series of videos on the Softbank Business + IT website.
Jonathan graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Japanese studies.
Michelle Cartegena
Manager, Contact Center
Office of Civil Rights, Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Michelle Cartegena has been with the federal government for 9 years. Michelle entered the call and contact arena in 2010 when TSA was recompeting their contact center contract. She has quickly gathered lessons learned as a result of bringing on a new contractor to service TSA's thousands of customers and the traveling public.
Kathy Conrad
Principal, Deputy Associate Administrator
Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies (OCSIT)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Kathy Conrad helps lead development and implementation of major government-wide programs that are increasing transparency, citizen participation and innovation in government. OCSIT's strategic initiatives include award-winning platforms and tools such as USA.gov, challenge.gov, and data.gov, all of which enhance citizen engagement and collaboration with government. OCSIT serves as an effective catalyst for innovation across government and is facilitating use of emerging technologies, including new media, Web 2.0 technologies, mobile, and cloud computing, to improve customer experience and increase operational effectiveness and efficiency.
Kathy has a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Biology-Psychology.
Adrienne Diggs
Planning and Coordination Division Chief
Customer Service and Public Engagement Directorate
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Adrienne Diggs is responsible for oversight of reporting, facilities, human resources, communications, business processes, contracts, quality assurance, and budget formulation and execution, for the Directorate’s $59 million annual budget. Adrienne's mission is to increase performance capability by providing leadership in operational integrity and resource management.
Prior to working for USCIS, Adrienne was a Program Manager of International Operations for MCI, establishing customer service centers for lightly branded products in Argentina and Mexico.
Angela Garner
Division Chief
Customer Service Division
USCIS
Angela Garner has more than 25 years of demonstrated call center and customer service experience and expertise. She has worked for numerous Fortune 500 companies and has always played a primary role in leading change in these organizations. Angela has worked at Toyota Financial, MCI, Citibank Financial, Telespectrum Worldwide, and Datatrac Financial Services. She has held a variety of positions, including Corporate Quality Manager, Operations Manager, Site Manager, and senior advisor to the VP of call center operations.
Angela joined the USCIS in 2005. She currently is responsible for performance and strategic planning for more than 800 employees in six locations.
David Kaufmann
Federal Information Specialist
USA.gov and the National Contact Center
GSA
David Kaufmann works with USA.gov and the National Contact Center to improve their customer service. He is also a member of the Federal Citizen Information Center's social media team and a participant in the Center for Excellence in Digital Government's First Fridays Usability Testing program.
Tanya Lowe
National Contact Center Director
Office of Public Affairs
DOL
Tanya Lowe provides complete contracting officer representation for all of the 12 task orders under the Blanket Purchase Agreement contract that supports the DOL Contact Center Public Communication Services. The NCC is a comprehensive communications and customer service program that supports the mission and goals of DOL by providing the public with consistent, accurate, and understandable information services covering a wide range of programs and initiatives through nationwide toll–free, email, texting, and publication fulfillment services. The NCC supports all DOL agencies with subject matter expert program management oversight.
Mark Miller
Senior Director, Contact Center Solutions
J.D. Power and Associates
Mark Miller is a recognized authority on maximizing the customer experience across contact center channels and has presented research and analysis at 20 recent industry events. Mark has more than 18 years of performance improvement consulting experience working with small, medium, and Fortune 500 clients in a dozen industries to improve sales, customer service, and technical support operations.
Prior to joining J.D. Power and Associates, Mark ran contact center operations in multiple industries and served as a strategy and operations consultant to senior–level management. He also was an executive in direct sales and support operations for sporting goods, computer and networking services, offshore software development, and Internet security industries.
Mark has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin, was selected as a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society, and received his M.B.A. in Marketing with honors from Regis University.
Jacob Parcell
Mobile Gov Manager
Digital Services Innovation Center
GSA
Jacob Parcell works with federal agencies to clear a citizen-centric path for mobile access to government. He is the community manager of the Mobile Gov Community of Practice, which is a cooperative collection of more than 50 federal agencies interested in implementing citizen–facing mobile products, including mobile Web, SMS (messaging), and apps. The Mobile Gov Community launched the Making Mobile Gov project last summer and shares practices on the Mobile Gov Wiki.
Richard Shapiro
Founder and President
The Center for Client Retention (TCFCR)
Richard Shapiro provides research, training, and consulting services to Fortune 500 companies on how to improve the customer experience.
Before founding TCFCR, Richard was with Automatic Data Processing, Inc. for 18 years. In his last role, he was Vice President of Customer Satisfaction and Client Retention. Richard has been a speaker at numerous Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP) and pharmaceutical industry conferences. As an influential force within the customer relationship and market research industry, Richard has been interviewed, as an industry expert, by a variety of media outlets, from The New York Times to CBS News.
He holds a B.S. degree in Marketing from the University of Bridgeport. His first book is The Welcomer Edge: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business.
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Page Reviewed/Updated: September 18, 2012
