ASK THE EXPERT PANEL SERIES
Join Us Tuesday, September 20 From 1PM to 3PM
Are you searching for “EXPERT” advice on issues impacting work outcomes?
Are you seeking an “ANSWER” to a persistent workplace challenge?
Come and experience our diverse panel of experts eager to answer your questions and share their experience and wisdom on the secrets of organizational effectiveness.
Highly effective organizations exhibit strengths across five areas: leadership, people, structure, processes, and systems. For an organization to achieve and sustain success, it must align its goals strategically in an effort to attain desired results. In essence, every employee’s contribution impacts the organization’s mission, and all work performed is defined and enabled by the people, processes, and systems. In an effective work environment, employees devote time to activities that create the most valuable output. Conversely, ineffective work efforts lead to lack of coordination, overlapping roles, mismanaged resources, inadequate work flow, reduced responsiveness, and conflicting communication. Identifying potential areas of weakness is critically important to improving organizational effectiveness. By focusing on areas where improvement is needed, organizations can create viable mechanisms for building future success and ensuring continued growth for years to come.
You Should Attend This Panel Discussion If…
- You are seeking to establish a clearly defined organizational vision, mission, goals, values and expectations
- You want to foster sufficient collaboration among teams to achieve desired results\
- You desire to implement metrics to measure organizational results
- You would like to institute standardized operating procedures to ensure business continuity
- You want to eliminate redundancy and duplication of work to improve work flow
- You want to create an internal control system with well-defined policies to drive compliance
- You are seeking to establish results-oriented processes that support efficient use of resources
The Effective Organization: Building Success from Within
Tuesday, Sep 20, 2016, 01:00 PM
Learning & Development Center | 4501 Leeland Street Houston, TX 77023 | Auditorium
Chris Brown, Houston City Controller, Office of the City of Houston Controller
Prior to being elected Controller in December 2015, Chris Brown served as Chief Deputy City Controller, where he managed the day-to-day operations of the Controller’s Office and oversaw the Executive Division of the office. Prior to being appointed Chief Deputy City Controller in 2009, Chris served as City Council Chief of Staff, overseeing community development initiatives and serving as a liaison to the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee.
Chris began his career two decades ago, as a trader for Coastal Securities, an investment bank, where he focused on analysis of high tech stocks. After several years, Chris co-founded an equity trading firm. Chris, as Head of Operations for the equity trading firm, gained first-hand experience with risk management, compliance, reporting, building operations and negotiating complex agreements.
Chris, a fourth generation Houstonian, has deep roots in the Houston community. Chris attended Texas Christian University and obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and later a Master in Business Administration from the University of Houston. Chris, his wife, Divya, an attorney, and their newborn daughter, Milana, reside in southwest Houston.
Barbara E. Hartle, Director and Presiding Judge, Municipal Courts Department
Judge Hartle was appointed to serve as Director and Presiding Judge for the Municipal Courts Judicial Department on May 5, 2010 by Mayor Annise Parker. The Municipal Courts Judicial Department and the Municipal Courts Administration Department were consolidated in September of 2010, and Judge Hartle was named the Director and Presiding Judge of the newly merged Municipal Courts Department.
Prior to this appointment, Judge Hartle served the City of Houston as both a full-time Judge and Associate Judge since 2006. Before joining the City of Houston as a Judge, she served as a Guardianship Attorney for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, as a Regional Adult Protective Services Attorney for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and served the City of Austin as an Assistant City Attorney-Prosecutor.
She has extensive law enforcement experience, including serving as a licensed Texas Corrections Officer, Texas Peace Officer, and as a Texas Adult Probation Officer. Prior to attending law school, Judge Hartle served as a Training Specialist and Program Administrator for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Community Justice Assistance Division.
Judge Hartle earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin, her Masters of Arts in Human Services from Saint Edward’s University, and her Juris Doctorate degree from Saint Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.
Scott Minnix, Director, General Services Department
Scott Minnix has been the Director of General Services Department (GSD) for the City of Houston since November 17, 2010 with oversight of Building Design and Construction, Property Management, Real Estate, Security, and Employee Development. He has responsibility for nearly $600M annual budget/spending and oversees the day-to-day building operations of nearly 400 facilities representing over 8 million square feet of occupied space. Prior to joining the City of Houston, he held an executive position for the City of Seattle as Director of Facility Operations in the Fleet and Facility Department.
An adjunct Professor at Houston Community College (HCC), Minnix is recognized nationally as a powerful educator and motivational speaker. He has a unique ability to coach and get positive results using best practices that optimize team and individual performance. Minnix has performed as a high-impact strategist throughout his 20-plus years of executive, operations, education/academic and HR leadership.
In 2015, Minnix achieved the FMP designation from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and attended the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA receiving his Certification in Driving Government Performance. He is actively engaged in the community and serves on the Boards of the Ensemble Theatre (Co-Chair); Texas Southern University’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology (Board of Advisors); IFMA (Vice President); and Rice University’s Design Alliance Board. Previously, he served on the Board of the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Additionally, he is an advisor to the World Youth Foundation and the Houston CSTEM Program.
A former officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Minnix earned a B.A. in Business Administration/Management from the University of Puget Sound and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington. He is an avid tennis player and golfer and attends Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
Carlecia D. Wright, Director, Office of Business Opportunity
As Director for the Office of Business Opportunity for the City of Houston, Carlecia D. Wright leads a City Department, which ensures that diverse businesses have fair access to and active participation in Houston’s procurement program. In this mayoral-appointed role since April 2011, Carlecia has implemented a proven three-pronged approach – transparency, efficiency and innovation – to provide a seamless, easy-to-navigate operation that supports the City’s procurement process, along with business development programs for small businesses that strengthens them structurally, operationally, financially and competitively.
Under Carlecia’s focused and strategic direction, the City of Houston’s highly ranked program has awarded over 25,000 contracts totaling $2 billion dollars to diverse businesses, and has become a model for cities around the country. Among other historic and innovative firsts, she garnered unanimous City Council approval to revise contract and procurement policy, and created Hire Houston First, the largest local procurement preference program in Texas and launched TweetMyJobs Houston, an online platform that has connected more than 20,000 individuals to 100,000-plus jobs.
A 16-year veteran of public service leadership, Carlecia’s commitment to economic and community development excellence is evidenced in the long-term impact she’s also made beyond Houston’s borders. She started her service after college as an Americorps NCCC Team Leader in San Diego, California, where she worked on service projects in Education, Environment and Community Development throughout the Western Region of the United States. Early in her career, Carlecia was instrumental in the transformation of the Brooklyn landscape by gathering support to change land-use and zoning regulations from community and business stakeholders, along with the approval of five independent governing bodies. During her tenure with the City of New York’s Small Business Services and Housing Preservation and Development departments, she worked closely with executive leadership in both departments on organizational priorities, strategy, change management and key policy initiatives. In 2006, she received the Frederick O’Reilly Hayes Prize, which honors aspiring and emerging leaders in New York City government, because of her role in converting several failed properties that were city owned into viable tenant-owned properties; and for her role in identifying city budget savings that turned a $14 million deficit into an $8 million gain for New York City.
Carlecia has received several awards for her achievements, including being named one of the 2016 Women to Watch in Business by the Houston Chronicle, awarded 40 Under 40 by the Houston Business Journal, received the prestigious Breakthrough Woman Award from the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and named one of Houston’s Most Influential Women by D-Mars Magazine. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia College of Chicago and a Master’s Degree from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. She is a graduate of the City of New York’s Leadership Institute, the Center for Houston’s Future, Leadership Houston, a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, and recognized as one of the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber Thought Leaders.
An active community volunteer, Carlecia works with several organizations that support women, including My Legacy Foundation and Dress for Success. She serves on the University of Houston’s College of Education Dean’s Advisory Council, sits on the Advisory Board of the Greater Houston Black Chamber and served as the president of her daughter’s school’s Parent Action Committee.
A native of Illinois, Carlecia is the wife of Philip Wright, Jr. and mother of Kaomi.
Mark A. Norton, Assistant Director, Municipal Courts Department
Mr. Norton is Assistant Director and Chief Technology Officer for Houston Municipal Courts. In his role, Mr. Norton is responsible for leading the Courts technology direction, support, and integration of applications and processes with internal and external stakeholders. A motivated self-starter, he is a diversely experienced professional with 30 years of top-tier performance in energy, oil & gas, consulting, and public sector. The emphasis of his career has been as an integrator of people, process, and technology. Focused on client success – both as an internal and external leader – he is highly effective at guiding and motivating high-performance teams to identify and optimize opportunities in local, regional, and global initiatives. His track record of success in programs of short and complex, multi-year durations is evidenced by consistently achieving or exceeding team and individual goals while developing diverse, enduring relationships.
We are your Center for Excellence!
Website: http://www.houstontx.gov/ldc/
Location: 4501 Leeland Street, Houston, TX, United States
Phone: 832-395-4900
Facebook: facebook.com/COHLDC
Twitter: @cohldc