The Bottom Line - Fall 2020 - 38

GOC CONTINUED
agencies like The Department of Employment
Services, The Office of Contracting and
Procurement, and The Office of the Chief
Technology Officer who were responding
to the pandemic in an emergency capacity.
Consequently, we needed to execute our
transition swiftly and ensure that we continued to deliver services without interruption.
Fortunately, we were able to work through
the challenges. We received laptops from
the Office of the Chief Information Officer
(OCIO). Normally, it takes a couple of days
for IT to image (and return) a laptop. But
during this pandemic, the dedicated staff of
the Office of the Chief Technology Officer
(OCTO) IT team imaged 10-15 laptops
within two days of receiving them. In addition, GOC Staff Assistant Joseph Harrison
and Clerical Assistant Crystal Gibson were
on hand to provide logistical support and
distribute essential equipment to keep
operations running smoothly. Internally,
we quickly tackled the learning curve with
applications like Teams, Zoom and WebEx.
Accounting and Budget Managers Gashaw
Woldehanna, Michael Bolden, Christine
Mukolwe, Valerie Brown, and Tanya
Hatchell-Thomas developed training presentations for new staff who on-boarded during
our shift to a remote environment. Through
these efforts, we were able to address our

38 | THE BOTTOM LINE

personnel needs as well as our operational
needs.
Although we were interacting well
remotely, some functions like revenue processing required an on-site presence. Our
accounting team members LaKisha Kelly,
Mynetta Edwards, Sia Kiawu, and ChinYee
Chong took on the responsibility for this
task. Our dynamic Accounts Payable
(AP) team led by AP Manager Chanelle
Hendricks kept payments up-to-date and
on-time in all areas including all city-wide
Fixed Costs. Additionally, the AP team
along with Agency Fiscal Officer Alemayehu
Awas played a critical role in ensuring that
payments were made to allow for the delivery of emergency supplies and equipment to
support the pandemic response.
These acts of awareness, collaboration,
and sense of urgency have become characteristic of our team. The Cluster collectively seemed to grasp the magnitude of
the moment and stepped up as needed,
often without having to be instructed. The
fluid exchange of information, coordination of activities, and flexibility towards new
ways of doing business truly illuminated
what is great about the Office of the Chief
Financial Officer. The operational pressures
caused by the increased workload, multiple

The Bottom Line - Fall 2020

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