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How one Hollins alumna uses her psychology expertise to humanize the workplace

BY MARIN HARRINGTON M.F.A. ’23

Photo: Elizabeth Kolmstetter ’85 (fourth from right) poses with CISA colleagues for a “Wear Blue” in support of Human Trafficking Awareness Day in January 2023.

For Elizabeth Brownlee Kolmstetter ’85, her self-described “practical personality” is the perfect fit for a career in public service.

In November 2022, Kolmstetter joined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as the organization’s first-ever chief people officer. “It’s wonderful and thrilling to be asked and thought of for this position,” she said. “This model of having a chief people officer focused on workforce strategy, workplace culture, and the people who are here to get work done is pretty new to the government. Now we have the focus and capacity to use a human-centered approach to understanding and addressing what’s happening within the organization. Is our culture healthy, and what is the employee experience? Are people getting what they need to bring their best selves and talent to their work every day?”

Kolmstetter earned her B.A. in psychology and computer science from Hollins before completing her M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from Virginia Tech. “Industrial and organizational psychology is a science dedicated to improving the well-being and performance of people and the organizations that employ them, which includes finding proven ways to create a healthy workplace culture,” she explained. “A lot of organizations put a bunch of words or core values on a poster and they have a few informational sessions and maybe even a campaign, but until you feel those values and see them in the behaviors of the leaders and the employees, they aren’t the culture yet. The culture is how things actually get done.

“An organization’s culture is important, particularly an intentional focus on cultivating a strong culture versus just hoping it happens. We can do evaluations, we can set specific goals, and we can measure to see if we’re achieving these goals. I’ll be putting a lot more of the strategy and more deliberation around how we’re doing as an organization and if we’re meeting the goals surrounding our cultural principles at CISA.”

In addition to an emphasis on a healthy workplace culture, Kolmstetter is equally invested in researching and growing workforce engagement and strategy. “We measure workforce engagement through different surveys and ways of researching how people bring their best selves to work every day. What are the barriers that they’re facing? If we remove those, we tend to see engagement go up—which is critical because it helps us attract new talent and retain the talent we have. People want to feel good about the work they’re doing and be able to bring their talents to that work.”

“People are better able to perform their best when they are healthy and feel a sense of belonging.”

“When it comes to workforce strategy, I’m a big believer that there aren’t really prescriptive career ladders anymore, where you do one thing and then another and go up the hierarchy. Work and jobs are just not that static anymore, especially with the pace of technology advancements. Careers are a combination of experiences and skill development, and each one is going to be different, just like every person is different, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t help people understand how certain experiences and skills will open opportunities for them. If someone aspires to be promoted to a certain position, we want to help them understand what skills and knowledge they need to get there, so that even if that exact job changes or goes away, they are set to advance in their career.”

After more than 25 years in the field, Kolmstetter was recently selected by President Biden to receive a 2022 Presidential Rank Award, which honors senior executive service, senior-level, and scientific-professional employees for their performance and service to federal agencies over an extended period of time. She was recognized in the Meritorious Executive category for her work as director of the Talent Strategy Engagement Division for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Only five percent of senior executive service employees across all government agencies can receive the Meritorious Rank award each year.

Kolmstetter is eager to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to workplace innovations. While a student at Hollins, she wrote a paper about a little-known concept called artificial intelligence. In 2017 and 2018—years before the coronavirus pandemic created a work-from-home surge—she led a study at NASA which piloted remote work to much success. Now, as CISA’s first chief people officer, she hopes to be at the forefront of a national movement toward human-centered workplaces.

“The pandemic has really highlighted well-being and health. How can people bring their best talents to work if they’re dealing with their own or their family’s stress and health issues? There’s no compartmentalizing of a worker doing work from a person with outside-of-work responsibilities anymore—there is a total blending of lives in and out of work,” Kolmstetter said. “Action-forcing events in our country tend to be big, tragic ones. Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, anything involving the loss of life. Our brains are going, ‘How could this have happened?’ But all of a sudden, we become more focused on humanity, and we understand that society does not work if we don’t take care of each other.

Elizabeth Kolmstetter visits the CISA booth at the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Job Fair to see a cyber system demo and meet students interested in cyber internships.

“I just read a study where the number one thing people said was important during the pandemic was knowing somebody at work cared about them—having someone ask, ‘How are you doing? Are you and your family okay?’ Not, ‘Did you get these 10 things done on your task list today?’ We’ve got to keep this as part of our model of a healthy workplace. Mental health care is a huge need now, and some employers are still in a mindset, ‘Isn’t that someone else’s business to take care of?’ The top-rated workplaces are those that recognize it is their business to provide assistance programs, supportive leaders, and well-being focus because people, not ‘cogs in a wheel,’ are coming to do work for them. People are better able to perform their best when they are healthy and feel a sense of belonging.”

Kolmstetter’s time at Hollins in particular shaped her passion for fostering caring environments. “I went through a really serious health condition my entire time at Hollins, and my friends were always there for me, even when I studied abroad in London and had to be hospitalized. There’s a sense of caring and I never felt I was on my own. The faculty, staff, and whole community will work with you if you need something.” Also a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, she added, “With President Hinton, I think we were very purposeful about hiring a president with a big heart. She embodies that heart of Hollins, which includes learning how to care for others as evidenced by the superb Culture of Care that got us through the pandemic as a community.”

Kolmstetter’s mother, Paula Brownlee, was president of Hollins from 1981-1990. Kolmstetter did not attend Hollins until her sophomore year, after transferring from a coed university. “My first year of coed college, the guys were the ones running everything. They were in the student government, they were the heads of clubs, we all watched the male sports teams. I picked up on that because I was trying to get engaged, but it was hard. Once I attended Hollins, I was able to get into student government, be a student tour guide, group leader at orientation—participate in any activity that I wanted to try. If I wanted to move into a leadership role, I never felt like it wasn’t an opportunity.

“That self-confidence, especially for women, is critical. The foundation I received during my time at Hollins was essential. We had to write essays, we had to think critically, we had to express and defend our thoughts out loud—both because of the small classes and the amazing, dedicated professors who weren’t just giving multiple-choice tests. I think that all women need to have the freedom to develop and practice those skills.”

Just like she aspires to encourage her colleagues to bring their whole selves to the workplace, Kolmstetter is also optimistic that Hollins will continue to nurture compassion. “I hope students take advantage of what we call the ‘Hollins Bubble.’ It’s kind of an oasis that’s different from the real world because it’s such a caring place to try new things and be supported no matter who you are. It’s important that students feel valued so they can go out in the world and treat other people the same way.”

Marin Harrington is a current student in the creative writing M.F.A. program who will graduate this May.