May 11, 2018
Meet the DHS Digital Service Champions: May 2018
In honor of Public Service Recognition Week, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some of the champions who support our team at the Department of Homeland Security. While the USDS mission is clear — to deliver better government services to the American people through technology and design — our work would not be possible without the civil servants we partner with.
David A. Blair
Chief, Transformation Delivery Division, USCIS Office of Information Technology
How long have you been in government? In what roles?
20 years (11.5 U.S. Navy and 8.5 Federal) / Division Chief, Program Manager, Test Manager, and Navy SEAL.
How have you been working with the US Digital Service?
I have been working with USDS since it was founded in 2014. I work at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and run their Transformation program — a program to drastically improve how USCIS operates its business through technology. We’ve been working with USDS in developing the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS), a system that has delivered timely, secure, and available immigration benefits.
What is your favorite thing about being a civil servant?
I’m a very mission-focused individual, and will often seek out those opportunities/problems that might be seen as overly challenging to others. I also have a deep-seated belief in the concept of public service, so having the opportunity to do something that satisfies both my belief system and preferences is a key driver for me.
What is the coolest thing you’ve done in the last 6 weeks?
Not all of these are the last 6 weeks, but for the first time that I can remember, the agency is seeing a huge return on investment with I-90 streamlined processing. The average processing time for I-90s, the application to renew or replace a green card, has dropped tremendously (I believe from 120+ days to less than 28 days). Also, ELIS has processed 8+ million cases as of last week.
Shila Cooch
Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security Chief Information Officer (DHS CIO)
How long have you been in government? In what roles?
I have been in the Federal Government for 15 years — on the hill for a couple of years and the bulk of my time in DHS — S&T, Under Secretary for MGMT and OCIO.
How have you been working with the US Digital Service?
I support the team in bringing staff on board and in any other way I can.
What is your favorite thing about being a civil servant?
The people and the mission — working with so many people with different backgrounds to solve a problem and making a difference to keep America safe.
What is your favorite motto?
Treat others as you want to be treated — it doesn’t matter who they are or what position they hold. I also love the quote from Walt Disney, “Keep Moving Forward.” If you stop moving forward you stop making progress.
What is the coolest thing you’ve done in the last 6 weeks?
I was able to go to the CIO Summit in Tucson, AZ and meet with CIO’s from a number of large companies. It was interesting to learn that they all have the same problems we do and even more interesting to see how they are addressing the problems.
Oz Turan
Program Manager for FEMA’s Grants Management Modernization (GMM)
How long have you been in government? In what roles?
I’ve served in the government for over six years as a Program Manager, a Financial Management Branch Chief and as a Deputy Director for a Program Management Office. Prior to that, I supported the government as a contractor for about eight years in various program and financial management roles to include leading client engagements. And much further back, I served four years in the U.S. Army. In total I could say I’ve been supporting the government in some shape or form for over 18 years.
How have you been working with the US Digital Service?
I’ve been working with the U.S. Digital Service team since January 2018 when their services were first made available to the GMM program. USDS brought in a team of highly talented individuals with strong skills sets in agile development who are helping to ensure the GMM program is on the right path to success so that FEMA may ultimately better serve and support survivors and grant applicants. USDS is providing us support in a number of critical areas such as solution architecture, product design and prototyping, data migration, and also acquisitions. Being Federal employees, the USDS team also has the advantage of being empowered to take on greater responsibilities that might not be possible with a contractor. Plus the rest of our team members are greatly benefiting and expanding their skills from the knowledge and best practices that USDS brings to the GMM program.
What is your favorite thing about being a civil servant?
I enjoy serving in something much bigger than myself and contributing (in whatever way I can) to making our society a better place to grow and live. As a former business process consultant, I also like the challenge of continually finding new ways to improve efficiency in the government.
What is your favorite motto?
Perseverance. Everything is possible with enough determination and focus.
What is the coolest thing you’ve done in the last 6 weeks?
It’s not so much as something cool that I’ve done personally but something very cool that I’ve observed in my program team. Over the past 6 weeks, our team has reached a critical mass in size and talent that will allow us to deliver working software to users in the next several months. That is pretty cool. It takes time for a large program like GMM to get through the initial planning stage and necessary approvals, but we’re finally at a point where we can start to deliver what we’ve promised.
Amy Wheelock
Business Lead of USCIS’ eProcessing Integrated Project Team
How long have you been in government? In what roles?
My entire federal career has been spent in the immigration and border management enterprise. I joined legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1996, focusing on IT investment management and enterprise architecture (EA), and continued that EA effort for the first DHS CIO. I gravitate toward positions that need a strategic enterprise perspective, which led to being a Strategist at US-VISIT and Chief Strategist at USCIS at the beginning of its Transformation Program. After time overseas and a break from federal service, I rejoined USCIS as a Senior Adviser, focused on leveraging technology to meet operational needs.
How have you been working with the US Digital Service?
Over the past four years, I’ve relied on USDS’s technical expertise to help with so many efforts: Ensuring that critical technology challenges are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction; guiding business units to understand new practices and capabilities; and leveraging their private sector experience to ensure the approach we are taking to eProcessing makes sense. It’s the partnership that makes the difference.
What is your favorite thing about being a civil servant?
It’s true that government can be hide-bound and slow to change. But it’s also true that people of good will and intellect can drive positive change to deliver the promise of real technological advancement. I want to be part of making that difference.
What is your favorite motto?
I can’t decide! It’s either “Absolutely” or “Let’s give this a go!”
What is the coolest thing you’ve done in the last 6 weeks?
Being at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg with my family — great weather, no lines — just a fantastic time.
Jennifer Higgins
Associate Director for the Refugee, Asylum and International Operations Directorate (RAIO)
I am fortunate to serve as the Associate Director for the Refugee, Asylum and International Operations Directorate (RAIO) within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Comprising more than 1,800 talented and dedicated employees, RAIO has a global presence at 24 U.S. embassies and consulates, deploys officers to conduct refugee processing activities in dozens of locations abroad, and maintains eight asylum offices within the United States. Our core mission is to adjudicate humanitarian and other immigration benefits around the globe while combating fraud and ensuring national security.
How long have you been in government? In what roles?
I’ve been with the federal government since 1999 — hard to believe it’s already been 19 years! My career has been focused primarily on balancing the United States’ longstanding humanitarian traditions with its national security mandate. I started my career as a Presidential Management Fellow and have worked as an Immigration Officer interviewing asylum applicants in Arlington, Virginia and adjudicating refugee applications overseas; served as a Regional Desk Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean; managed domestic Asylum operations; served as the Deputy Chief of the Refugee Affairs Division; and became the Deputy Associate Director of RAIO in 2014. I’ve also had the chance to get a broader perspective of USCIS and DHS in acting roles, including serving as a Senior Advisor to the USCIS Director and the Deputy Chief of Staff for the DHS Deputy Secretary.
When I first joined the federal government, I truly believed that I would go out into the world to serve others and change their lives. And while I know that my work has impacted many people over the years, what I didn’t realize at the time was that my decision to work in public service, specifically working on refugee and asylum issues, was a decision that would forever change MY life and give me experiences and perspective that I cherish each day.
How have you been working with U.S. Digital Service?
We’ve had a great working relationship with USDS for nearly 3 years now and continue to find creative and exciting ways to partner together on identifying and implementing efficiencies to our processes. We started working together at the height of the refugee crisis, at which time USDS conducted an end-to-end review of all refugee adjudication procedures to identify opportunities for process improvements. During this time USDS also worked with refugee officers to develop and pilot the Refugee Officer Adjudications Systems Tool (ROAST) and an e-Assessment. These tools not only assisted adjudicators in their day to day work, they were also a precursor to a really exciting project we’re currently working on called the RAIO Conflict Data Mapping (CDM) Tool, which provides real time country conditions information to adjudicators during an interview. These efforts improve the efficacy of our work and ensure that our officers have the tools they need to do their jobs well. Finally, with the current crisis at the southwest border and the need to address the growing asylum backlog domestically, USDS has been a key partner in reviewing asylum processes to identify opportunities for streamlining much like they did with the refugee program. The first outcome of that review has been the development of an electronic assessment for asylum officers and new scheduling tools that will save time and resources. While we find the technology and tools coming out of our partnership with USDS to be incredibly creative, I think what I really appreciate about RAIO’s partnership with USDS is that they really have a passion for our mission and can bring their expertise to assist us in achieving it in a better way. These invaluable contributions are felt by our workforce, and ultimately the applicant.
What is your favorite thing about being a civil servant?
That’s easy. I get to work with some of the most talented and dedicated individuals that share the same passion for public service. Even on the hardest days that passion is infectious and makes working in the federal government incredibly fulfilling for me.
What is your favorite motto?
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
What is the coolest thing you’ve done in the last 6 weeks?
I’m not sure this counts as cool, but I certainly felt accomplished after leading a group of pre-teen girl scouts on an overnight camping trip! I was tasked with teaching them how to tie knots which I quickly had to master the night before the trip! I’m happy to report that if you ever need to learn how to tie a clove hitch or a bowline, I can help!
The best of technology.
The best of government.
And we want you.
We’re looking for the most tenacious designers, software engineers, product managers, and more, who are committed to untangling, rewiring and redesigning critical government services. You’ll join a team of the most talented technologists from across the private sector and government.
If you have questions regarding employment with the U.S. Digital Service, please contact us at usds@omb.eop.gov and visit usds.gov/join.
