As a strategic advisor to federal OCIOs, part of my professional journey is to support the mission of our federal health-based agencies, including The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As their mission states, ACF provides national leadership, creating opportunities for families to lead economically and socially productive lives. ACF’s programs are designed to help children to develop into healthy adults and communities to become more prosperous and supportive of their members.
When one thinks of ACF, your mind might understandably drift toward the frontline workers, the policymakers, or the many initiatives undertaken to support vulnerable children and families across the United States. However, behind the scenes lies a team of dedicated professionals whose work is instrumental to ACF’s operations and mission: the technical team enabling the great work done by ACF, better known as “ACF Tech.”
Given today’s digital orientation in all that we do, every facet of government operations also relies heavily on technology. From data storage to communication tools, and from case management software to public-facing websites, the technical infrastructure supports and amplifies the agency’s reach and effectiveness. Without the dedicated efforts of the technical team, ACF would face significant challenges in fulfilling its mandate. ACF Tech provides the backbone of the operation.
With all this in mind, Kevin Duvall, ACF Tech’s fearless leader (and Chief Technology Officer) put his mind to having a “Home Day” where all the Divisions of the ACF Tech team could come together for a full day and plan out what the main priorities would be for the 2024 fiscal year to help support the ACF mission. His vision was “to live our values while emphasizing collaboration and unity.” Aided by his Deputy, Audrey Story, and his Executive Officer, Tina Newell, they organized interactive activities where divisional teams could break out to collaborate on their priorities and to build a backlog of the actions they would take in the coming year to address them. It was an energizing day where no idea was a bad idea, encouraging all to participate, getting everyone on the same page for the start of a new fiscal year. After participating in the day’s activities, I have a sneaking suspicion that they are going to be successful.
While ACF Tech may not typically be on the frontline, their work directly impacts ACF’s ability to serve children and families. By ensuring that technology runs smoothly and securely, the team empowers the ACF programs’ caseworkers, administrators, and other ACF professionals to focus on what they do best: supporting and uplifting vulnerable communities. ACF Tech’s expertise and dedication are foundational to ACF’s success. As I alluded to above, I have a feeling it is going to be a good year for ACF Tech and ACF.
Todd Hager is Vice President of Strategic Advisory for Macro Solutions, providing leadership in strategy, innovation, modernization, and team enablement. His work has been instrumental within HHS starting with the COVID response, working closely with the HHS, ACF, and ARPA-H CIOs to plan for and modernize the infrastructure and teams, while helping to develop agile, “service-forward” orientations within and between teams. Todd is the Industry Chair for the ACT-IAC Emerging Technology Community of Interest (COI) and is a 2021 Federal 100 Award winner. He is a certified PMP, a Certified Scrum Master (CSM), ITIL v3 certified and CMMI v2 certified.
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