Meet Alexandra D'Amico Yale Travel's Interim Director
By Lisa M. Maloney, Yale Administration
Alexandra D'Amico or Ali, as she is known to colleagues, sits in her temporary office surrounded by bare walls, a stuffed travel bulldog and two computer screens filled with charts and information on Yale's Travel Management Program. In her first few weeks as Interim Travel Director, she has been busy studying and gathering data. Ali has been at Yale for almost five years. Ironically, she began her career as a human resource generalist (HRG) supporting Yale Administration (under which Travel sits). She was then promoted to assistant director in employee relations at the School of Medicine-managing five HRGs.
For the next several months, Ali will be reaching out to the Yale travel community for input. She plans to do a survey and several focus groups. "It's almost a year since the implementation of the Egencia tool, so it's a good time to be evaluating it. We will be looking to our community for feedback," said Ali. The travel industry has changed in the last 10 years with the use of online booking tools and slow demise of smaller travel agencies. With the recent retirement of Travel Director, Bob Zartarian, Yale Administration felt it was a good time to reevaluate the needs of the travel program to determine a five-to-ten-year strategic plan. "We need to ensure our program is keeping pace with the fast-moving travel industry," said Ali.
As part of her Individual Development Plan (IDP), Ali took on this stretch goal. "It is a great opportunity to review an organization and make suggestions on how it might look in the future," said Ali. A welcome challenge and a terrific learning experience, this is a real-time example of an M&P experiential learning opportunity. IDPs with these type of experiences have had a big push from Yale HR in the past several years. "If a department has a vacancy they should consider creating a learning opportunity for a current staff member or one from another department," said Don Relihan, Director of Support Services (which includes Travel). "We are happy to have Ali here and look forward to her recommendations," he continued.
Ali will be working closely with the Yale Travel Management Staff, including Marcia Kaplan, Yale Travel Coordinator and Carol Boyd, Senior Administrative Assistant. Marcia has over 30 years of travel experience and has worked with many departments to smooth out their travel needs and issues. Carol came to Travel recently but is quickly becoming an Egencia expert. "I'm so grateful to have their input and support during this interim period, their experience is invaluable," said Ali.
If you would like to be part of a travel focus group or survey, please email
Alexandra.damico@yale.edu.
