\n\n\tF<\/span>or Elizabeth Brownlee Kolmstetter \u201985, her self-described \u201cpractical personality\u201d is the perfect fit for a career in public service.<\/p>\n In November 2022, Kolmstetter joined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as the organization\u2019s first-ever chief people officer. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful and thrilling to be asked and thought of for this position,\u201d she said. \u201cThis 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\u2019s 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?\u201d<\/p>\n 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. \u201cIndustrial 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,\u201d she explained. \u201cA 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\u2019t the culture yet. The culture is how things actually get done.<\/p>\n \u201cAn organization\u2019s 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\u2019re achieving these goals. I\u2019ll be putting a lot more of the strategy and more deliberation around how we\u2019re doing as an organization and if we\u2019re meeting the goals surrounding our cultural principles at CISA.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to an emphasis on a healthy workplace culture, Kolmstetter is equally invested in researching and growing workforce engagement and strategy. \u201cWe 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\u2019re facing? If we remove those, we tend to see engagement go up\u2014which is critical because it helps us attract new talent and retain the talent we have. People want to feel good about the work they\u2019re doing and be able to bring their talents to that work.\u201d<\/p>\n “People are better able to perform their best when they are healthy and feel a sense of belonging.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWhen it comes to workforce strategy, I\u2019m a big believer that there aren\u2019t 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\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2014years before the coronavirus pandemic created a work-from-home surge\u2014she led a study at NASA which piloted remote work to much success. Now, as CISA\u2019s first chief people officer, she hopes to be at the forefront of a national movement toward human-centered workplaces.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pandemic has really highlighted well-being and health. How can people bring their best talents to work if they\u2019re dealing with their own or their family\u2019s stress and health issues? There\u2019s no compartmentalizing of a worker doing work from a person with outside-of-work responsibilities anymore\u2014there is a total blending of lives in and out of work,\u201d Kolmstetter said. \u201cAction-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, \u2018How could this have happened?\u2019 But all of a sudden, we become more focused on humanity, and we understand that society does not work if we don\u2019t take care of each other.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI just read a study where the number one thing people said was important during the pandemic was knowing somebody at work cared about them\u2014having someone ask, \u2018How are you doing? Are you and your family okay?\u2019 Not, \u2018Did you get these 10 things done on your task list today?\u2019 We\u2019ve 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, \u2018Isn\u2019t that someone else\u2019s business to take care of?\u2019 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 \u2018cogs in a wheel,\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Kolmstetter\u2019s time at Hollins in particular shaped her passion for fostering caring environments. \u201cI 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\u2019s 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.\u201d Also a member of the university\u2019s Board of Trustees, she added, \u201cWith 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Kolmstetter\u2019s 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. \u201cMy 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\u2014participate in any activity that I wanted to try. If I wanted to move into a leadership role, I never felt like it wasn\u2019t an opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cThat 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\u2014both because of the small classes and the amazing, dedicated professors who weren\u2019t just giving multiple-choice tests. I think that all women need to have the freedom to develop and practice those skills.\u201d<\/p>\n 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. \u201cI hope students take advantage of what we call the \u2018Hollins Bubble.\u2019 It\u2019s kind of an oasis that\u2019s different from the real world because it\u2019s such a caring place to try new things and be supported no matter who you are. It\u2019s important that students feel valued so they can go out in the world and treat other people the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n How one Hollins alumna uses her psychology expertise to humanize the workplace BY MARIN HARRINGTON M.F.A. \u201923 Photo: Elizabeth Kolmstetter ’85 (fourth from right) poses with CISA colleagues for a “Wear Blue” in support of Human Trafficking Awareness Day in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[135],"class_list":["post-11742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-winter-2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11742"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11863,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11742\/revisions\/11863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Elizabeth](\"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Kolmstetter_400x378.jpg\")
Marin Harrington is a current student in the creative writing M.F.A. program who will graduate this May.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"