It has been a whirlwind few weeks since I accepted the appointment as Director of Public Assistance, I've begun to get around the state and look forward to continuing these initial visits to our various offices. I am honored and excited to be asked to join the DHSS team, and to work with you to fulfill our mission of helping Alaskans achieve self-sufficiency.
I would like to thank Tony Lombardo for laying the groundwork for success, both through the many projects he initiated to help improve the way we do business in DPA, and for the personal assistance he has given me in these first few weeks. I would also like to thank the many DPA staff and partners I have met and who have provided such a warm and friendly welcome. I am impressed by the talent and dedication I have seen among our staff. I am excited to work with each and every one of you.
By way of some background on myself, I have moved over from the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development, where I served as Director of the Division of Business Partnerships and as Executive Director of the Alaska Workforce Investment Board. This experience has allowed me to hit the ground running, as I have been fortunate to work with DPA staff and partners on many occasions.
I want you to know that my door will always be open and phone line always available to you. I am genuinely interested in hearing from you about your ideas for how we can enhance the way we do business. I am also confident we will continue to experience significant progress in DPA performance and success in our ongoing projects and initiatives. I look forward to meeting and working with all of you as we continue the important work of our division.
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to Alaska families. We are a division of talented people and we have many opportunites ahead of us. Working together, we can seize these opportunities and do what we do best: help Alaskans achieve self-sufficiency.
Thanks again, and I look forward to working with all of you.
Katherine (or Kitty) Farnham
Director