Dr. Alissa Johnson: She Keeps IT flowing at The White House
Deputy Chief Information Officer, Executive Office of the President/White House
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dralissajay
Twitter: @dralissajay
Bio:
Keeping the IT lights on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a big job which spans management of cyber-security and the Obama administration’s Web presence. Dr. Alissa Johnson’s prior experience includes work within the Dept. of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She has worked within many Intelligence and Defense agencies as well as private sector companies.
Innovating in field of work:
• Dr. Johnson challenges the norm. She pushes her team to change the course of how IT is being delivered at the White House.
• She distinguished herself in 2013 by providing a road map for IT customers in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) that includes new goals and objectives focused on stabilization, preservation, innovation, and efficiency. It has the agility to accommodate the rapidly changing environment, the changing needs of the customers based on political focus areas, and sets the vision of future projects.
• She led the development of a scorecard for projects that ultimately helps to ensure that customer satisfaction is met. These pioneering efforts lay the foundation to build, update, and communicate the vision.
Role Model:
• Dr. Johnson speaks to many schools and organizations about leadership. She is down-to- earth, and shares relate-able stories that impact all when she speaks.
• She had her 1st daughter during her last year in undergrad and got out of the hospital with her 2nd child the day before her Master’s Degree program started. Now, this may not be the path for everyone, but she teaches that life “gets in the way” and you can always find ways to juggle all of the things that life has to offer.
• She shows a true genuine passion for her work and for life.
• Spoke at the CxO Talk last week and spoke on fedscoop on cybersecurity threats and challenges
• In February she received an award as one of the top 100 leaders in government who had the greatest impact on the federal IT Community.
Reinvention / Momentum
• Dr. Johnson is always creating a new path. She has no limits and talks a lot about being from a small town and ending up in the White House.
• Most people in the White House worked on the campaign or know others that are in the political field, not Dr. Johnson. She appled on President Obama’s transition website and years later, she was called to serve.
• She believes in the power of asking and this is an example of asking and getting. She created a completely different path for herself. She took a major risk because she joined the administration with only 1 year left in the President’s first term. It was a gamble and is a great example of her disrupting herself.
Regarding the timing of the birth of her children, “life gets in the way and you can always find ways to juggle all of the things that life has to offer.”