Policy & Practice August 2018

our do’ers profile

In Our Do’ers Profile, we highlight some of the hardworking and talented individuals in health and human services. This issue features Gregory S. Jackson, Chief Information Officer, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Name: Gregory S. Jackson Title: Chief Information Officer Years of Service: 12 years in the public sector; 15 years in the private sector Rewards of the Job: Implementing digital solutions as a safety net for Ohioans when “life happens,” largely due to no fault of their own. We are here to help the laid-off dad find a new job after his previous employer abruptly shuts down; or assist the stay- at-home mom who is getting a divorce and needs training to get back in the workforce while taking care of three kids; or see that the children are taken care of after their dad is strung out on opioids while recovering from back surgery; or watching out for the senior citizen who is being abused by home care workers. For all of these examples, I’m rewarded every day I come to work.

Accomplishments Most Proud Of: Heading down a culture-change management path with our Office of Information Services where we now strive to achieve the vision of one team, inspiring each other to embrace innovation, deliver value-added services, and create digital business solutions. Future Challenges for the Delivery of Public Human Services: Using mobile and cloud-based digital solutions to provide the same level of service—perhaps even a better user experience—than citizens have become accustomed to when interacting with commercial entities like Amazon, insurance companies, and financial institutions. Little Known Facts About Me: I’m an avid jazz fan with amateur playing skills on the saxophone and piano. Outside Interests: Live entertainment—concerts, plays, and musicals.

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of the health and human services’ workforce. Individuals’ primary motivation for attending an NSDTA conference is the expectation they will receive valuable information and ideas they can use on the job. Survey results suggest NSDTA conferences, which emphasize content relevance, best practices, and engaging and interactive presenta- tions, are well positioned to meet attendees’ expectations. Details and registration informa- tion for the conference are available at www.nsdtaconference.com.

years ago, we saw how far behind we were in our training and workforce efforts and it pushed us to seek more training and technical assistance resources to improve.” 5. Increased collaboration and knowledge sharing The collaboration and knowledge exchange that occurs at NSDTA con- ferences helps promote shared use of training and organizational effective- ness materials and models across states and to develop long-term rela- tionships to support development

learned to their job, which supports the utility and relevance of conference topics. 4. Enhanced capacity demonstrated in training and workforce develop- ment programs Ninety-two percent of respondents agreed that the application of what they learned at an NSDTA conference has helped to improve how training and organizational development is facilitated within their organization. One respondent noted, “after attending our first conference a few

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