VEIAA Newsletter: Fourth Edition - Welcome to the newest VEI graduates!

VEIAA Newsletter: Edition 4 - Fall 2023

Hello VEIAA members and welcome to the fourth edition of the VEIAA newsletter! We are excited to welcome the newest VEI graduating class and keep you in touch with upcoming events and VEIAA happenings.

The first exciting event to close out 2023 is the official structure change within the VCU L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. The Performance Management Group (PMG) will now be merged within the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute (GEHLI) and the Center for Public Policy (CPP). You can read more about the merge of these groups in the Press release here.

For 2023, the VEIAA Board has worked hard to offer a networking social and both virtual updates and in-person learning opportunities for alumni, which have included partnering with CMA (CMI Alumni Association) and the VCU Wilder School. The board is hard at work now to plan additional opportunities in 2024. More information to come.

The VEIAA Board is excited to announce new board officers and committee members. Our newest elected board officers include President John Kissel: DMAS, Vice President Marilyn Bibbs Freeman: DGS, Secretary Brandy Brubaker: DMV, and Treasurer Antonio Terry: TAX. The appointed committee members are Todd Barnes: DVS, Jerry Butler: DMV, Nikki Cox: DSS, Fernanda Crandol: DARS, Angel Deem: VDOT, and Robert Jenkins: DHP. Congratulations to our newly elected VEIAA Board!

We hope you find this newsletter informative. If there are certain topics that you would like included in subsequent newsletters, please let us know with this quick survey.

Thank you!

- VEIAA Board

Congratulations to the Fall 2023 graduating class of the Virginia Executive Institute!

Join us in welcoming the new VEIAA members!

VEI Fall 2023 Graduating Class: (Class pictured after graduation at the Capitol)

Back Row (Left to Right):

Juan Zelaya - Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency

Kelly Zeoli - Department of Social Services

Zacc Allen - Department of Corrections

Cassandra Harris - Department of Elections

Danita Scherff - Disability Determination Services

Middle Row (Left to Right):

Allen Blair - Department of Human Resources Management

Michael Alston - Department of Medical Assistance Services

Angela Wright - Virginia Employment Commission

John Kirk - Department of Wildlife Resources

Zach Trogdon - Department of Rail and Public Transportation

Rose Durbin - Department of Corrections

Tiffany Yacomeni - Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency

John Northon - Department of Emergency Management

Joel Maddox - Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Andrea Macgill - State Corporation Commission

Bottom Row (Left to Right):

Tashmeen Malik - Department of Taxation

Jessica Lee - Department of Corrections

Tyhisha Pittman - Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Michelle Prosser - Virginia Housing

Amanda Davis - Department of Forestry

Allison Richter - Department of Transportation

Rob Davenport - Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Lester Brantley - Department of Wildlife Resources

Sara Page - Department of General Services

Thank you to Rose Durbin, Kelly Zeoli, and Amanda Davis for volunteering to be the Fall 2023 class representatives for VEIAA. We look forward to having you involved with the VEIAA board.

VEI Leadership Challenge Presentations

A key feature of VEI is the opportunity to discuss and address real issues being encountered by state government. As part of the VEI experience, each participant works in a small group on a critical problem facing the commonwealth.

Here are the VEI Fall 2023 Graduation class's Leadership Challenge Presentations:

A Virginia Crisis: The Fight Against Fentanyl
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: The Retention Tension
Navigating AI Adoption in Government for the Commonwealth
Virginia State Employee Mental Health and Well-Being: The Role of Leadership
Public Sector Digital Transformation

We encourage you to check out the presentations here and read the descriptions here and please reach out to any of our esteemed VEI graduates for questions or how we can implement these ideas going forward.

Visit the website to see the

Leadership Challenge Presentations

Help celebrate and congratulate the VEI graduates!

Share in the celebration and help to congratulate the newest VEI graduates on the LinkedIn post!

VEI Fall 2023 Pictures

To see pictures from the presentations, graduation, and the two weeks at VEI, feel free to browse them here.

Take the Survey

Please share your input to better serve you!

VEIAA wants to provide the most meaningful events, opportunities, and networking. As we plan the events for the rest of the year, please provide your input on what best suits you and your needs.

GEHLI - VCU Wilder CORNER

Continued Learning for VEIAA members

We were thrilled to hold the Virginia Executive Institute this fall! We continued to have wonderful guest speakers and fall leadership challenge presentations at the Capitol with some esteemed guests. Some of these presentations and groups have continued past VEI graduation, including the "A Virginia Crisis: The Fight Against Fentanyl" group presenting to the OAG's office and working with them for their Fentanyl campaign. The "Public Sector Digital Transformation" group also had many agencies reach out about how to implement Microsoft Box at their offices.

With the merging of the Centers and Institutes, the GEHLI team at the Wilder School (and as you used to know us as PMG), are excited to offer a full program list with 10+ opportunities to learn and grow. To see a snapshot of these programs, look here.

We are in the process of developing a new website to combine these 10 programs from the former PMG and GEHLI websites. This will be launching in 2024 and will include new alumni pages. Our consulting side of the house, CPP, is also getting a new website this year.

We are grateful for the VEIAA community and especially for the hard work of the board and class representatives. Again, congratulations to our newly elected VEIAA members! We hope everyone has started the new year off happy, healthy, and had time to restore and connect for the holidays.

All our best,

Your GEHLI - VCU Wilder School team

Visit PMG and Connect with us on LinkedIn

GEHLI - VCU Wilder UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Continued Learning for yourself or your colleagues

Please share these upcoming Professional Development Courses with your team and colleagues:

VEI: Virginia Executive Institute
Spring 2024:
Week 1: April 15 - 19
Week 2: June 3 - 7
Apply Now - Application due Friday, January 26, 2024

For additional 2024 program dates and more information, visit our Professional Development page.

VEIAA Mission and Objectives

The why of your Alumni Association

Mission:

To extend the VEI experience by providing opportunities for education, professional training, leadership development, and networking with fellow alumni and state leaders to achieve enhanced performance of state government.

Objectives:

Develop opportunities for alumni to learn, connect, serve and lead.
To provide continuing education in leadership development.
Enhance communication and collaboration opportunities among state government executives.
Create a forum to recognize and promote the qualities and assets of the VEIAA.
To actively recruit participants for VEI.

Learn More about your Alumni Association

VEIAA

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You are receiving this email because you are a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute (VEI) and a member of the alumni association, the Virginia Executive Institute Alumni Association (VEIAA).