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Meet the DCC Ambassadors

The DCC Ambassadors are diligent working professionals who enjoy using their communication and interpersonal skills to network, promote, lead, innovate, and assist others in the use of DCC. They also assist the DCC Community Manager in developing content, listening to the community for feedback, and marketing DCC within their bureaus.

List of DCC Ambassadors
Ambassador (Alphabetical by Bureau) Bio

BIA

LaCroix, Christopher 

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 Christopher LaCroix is a Forester currently serving with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Forestry.  As an individual who constantly seeks opportunities for networking and personal development, Christopher was captivated by the chance to become a DCC Ambassador. One of Christopher's objectives as a DCC Ambassador is to create awareness among his colleagues within the BIA Department of Forestry about the benefits and opportunities offered by the DCC program. Additionally, Christopher has ambitious plans to participate in short-term assignments or details that would broaden his knowledge and expertise in his field. He looks forward to making a positive impact within his organization and helping his colleagues thrive in their careers.

BIA

Updike, Inge 

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 Inge Updike is a Management Analyst for the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (IA), Office of Information Management Technology (OIMT) in Reston, VA.  Prior to working for Indian Affairs, I worked for DOD – Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for 7 years specializing in Logistics at both their Philadelphia and Fort Belvoir location, the U.S Dept of Treasury – Financial Management Services, as well as served in the U.S Army as a 92Y Supply Sergeant. She is excited to have the opportunity to represent the IA OIMT office as a DOI Career Connections (DCC) Ambassador and looking forward to promoting the DCC Program to the employees within her bureau. 

BLM

Hall, Azure

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 Azure Hall is a Public Affairs Specialist with the Bureau of Land Management. She is passionate about professional development and skill sharing and believes that DCC is a powerful tool within the DOI. She is working with the communications team to provide information about opportunities within DCC across the DOI.

BLM

Gross, Tara 

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 Tara is a Human Resource Assistant for the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming.  She started with the federal sector in February of 2023 and is looking for opportunities to fully utilize her training and skills. She is excited to learn more about the Department of the Interior through DOI Career Connection.  She works with the Recruitment and Placement team here in Wyoming and looks forward to collaborating with other offices.  

BOEM

Benedetti, Deanna

Program Analyst

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 Deanna is currently a Program Analyst in the Office of Budget and Administration (OBA)-
Administration and Compliance Branch.  She has been with BOEM since 2011. Deanna believes that employees should have a place to go to look for opportunities to enhance their careers.  They should feel empowered and inspired, and not "stuck."  What drew her to DCC was just that, a location for employees to go to broaden their experience through details and short-term assignments. 

BOEM

Brunson Jones, Alyson

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 Alyson Brunson Jones works for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs in Sterling, Virginia as a Program Support Specialist. Alyson has only been with the agency since January of 2023, but has worked at Walter Reed Military Medical Center and served in the United States Marine Corps in Communications as a radio operator during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Alyson is extremely excited and honored to be serving as a DCC Ambassador for the Department of Interior. She has always gone above and beyond to help others and believes that DCC will help her to grow and learn from others so that she can take that knowledge and share it with others so that they can be successful in their careers with DOI as well.

BOR

Christensen, Kelly M

Administrative Officer

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Kelly is currently an Administrative Officer for BOR. Most of her career has been either as an Administrative Officer or a Realty Specialist in the Oil and Gas Industry for the BLM and other agencies.

She wanted to become a DCC Ambassador because as a Diversity Change Agent and Special Emphasis Program Manager she sees the need for outreach and coordination for underrepresented groups/communities to advance in their positions. In her experience, she feels as though the options that DCC offers are underutilized and most supervisors/employees don't realize the opportunities that are available. She has personally seen the benefits of DCC and want to help educate and encourage people to use this as an opportunity to advance or supplement their career.

FWS

Paulson, Lori

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 Lori Paulson is a Financial Specialist with The US Fish and Wildlife, Joint Administrative Operations (JAO) User Support Team in Lakewood, Colorado. She has been with US FWS for almost 4 years. Prior to that she was with The Department of Veterans Affairs, The Bureau of Reclamation, and is a proud Navy Veteran. She is excited to share the mission with other colleagues and services. She believes networking brings together wealth of information that is a value to share across individual teams, services, and throughout the bureaus. She is very honored and excited for this opportunity.

FWS

Gould-Fehrs, Sherri L

Acting Secretary

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Sherri started her federal career in 2016 with Denali National Park & Preserve, moving to US Fish & Wildlife in 2020.  She is an administrative assistant for the Office of Subsistence Management, and enjoys being there to help others, to share her knowledge of her Unang ax culture, and proud to have been part of creating an informal peer/mentor group for Indigenous employees across Fish & Wildlife Service.  Sherri joined the DCC team in 2022, as a way to share knowledge with others and help them succeed. As part of being a Diversity and Inclusion Change Agent, she sees DCC as an opportunity to help promote job satisfaction and retention.

NPS

Cardea, Dominic D

Instructional Design and Technology Specialist

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 Dominic Cardea is an Instructional Design and Technology Specialist with the National Parks Service. DCC offers a way for individuals to connect with other people with similar career trajectories across the bureaus and to explore potentials they did not know existed. Dominic is passionate about helping people make those connections at the individual and community level. As a DCC ambassador he feels he can help raise visibility, get people to look beyond their immediate roles and surroundings, and to be a leader in creating an innovative network of professionals.

NPS

Allen Genoway, Shekeetah

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 Shekeetah Allen Genoway recently joined NPS at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve. Previously she was with the Utah Bureau of Land Management in January 2023 as the Administrative Officer for the BLM West Desert District in Salt Lake City, UT.   
She’s been fortunate to gain a broad spectrum of land management experiences working for the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture. It’s important to her to work for a land-based agency and be part of preserving our country. 

NPS

Mullins, Veronica R.

Supervisory Human Resources Specialist

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 Veronica has over three decades of experience in Human Resources (Staffing, Recruitment, Classification and Retirement/Benefits) and all of it with the National Park Service. Currently she is a Supervisory Human Resources Specialist with Interior Region One – North Atlantic. She considers herself as a continuous learner and is very much solutions driven. She enjoys working with her staff and watching them grow beyond what they thought they could do. She wanted to be a DCC Ambassador to know how best to utilize the platform for the NPS in addition to networking and collaborating with employees in other bureaus of the DOI.

OTS

Sanchez, Bernadette

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 Bernadette works for the Office of Trust Services (OTS) as a Program Specialist for the Pathways program where she’s always enjoyed working with students in higher education. Currently, she’s overseeing the Workforce Planning & Development office as a Program Analyst for OTS. Bernadette is excited to join as a DCC Ambassador to foster connections across DOI and to become a resource to those seeking opportunities in the DOI Workforce. She’s eager to assist managers and HR Specialists while increasing employee engagement, retention, and employment gaps.

OIG

Horton, Monty 

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 Monty is currently a Special Agent in the DOI Office of the Inspector General, located at the Western Region Office of Investigation (WROI), Sacramento, CA. He has been with DOI OIG since 2022 and has over 16 years of federal service. He is an advocate for gaining experience through expanding work opportunities.  Monty has seen the difference positive leaders and good career placement can make on the lives of federal employees.  

SOL

Hatami, Belqis H

Human Resources Specialist

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 Beqis has been in Human Resources since the start of her federal career working in various agencies. She currently holds an HR Specialist position in the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor. She is excited to be a part of DOI Career Connection because she is passionate about employee growth, engagement, and development. Belqis said each individual and office is naturally creative, resourceful, and unique in its own way. DCC creates that bridge for individuals to learn from each other, share knowledge, and broaden their understanding of DOI.

USGS

Perez, Angel

Intelligence Operations Specialist

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 Angel Perez works for the USGS in Reston, Virginia as an Intelligence Operations Specialist. He joined the USGS right after he retired from the Army and have been in this position since July 0f 2019. Outside of the USGS, he also works as an Adjunct Professor for Liberty University. He wanted to be an ambassador for several reasons. He wanted to represent the U.S. Geological Survey and its employees. He said many do not know the programs and opportunities available, and he wanted to be able to provide this information to them so that they can grow professionally. Angel said as a leader, it is not just about individual growth but growing and succeeding together.

USGS

Wilson, Stuart W

CAWSC ITT Chief

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 Stuart Wilson was born and raised from Olympia, Washington. He has held several positions within USGS since 2012. He is currently the Information Technology Supervisor for the California Water Science Center. Before that he spent a couple years working for Verizon, and 5 years in the United States Army. What excites him most about being part of the DOI Career Connection Program, is the ability to help professional develop folks and advance them in their career within DOI.

USGS

Giordano, Madeleine

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 Madeleine Giordano is a Biologist specializing in the study of benthic algae at the Great Lakes Science Center. One of many reasons Madeleine chose to work for USGS was the diverse experiences and plentiful opportunities for cross-training offered by the Department of the Interior. She is a strong advocate for career broadening and believes that having a diverse range of work experiences has been crucial for her own professional growth. Madeleine's newest venture is as an ambassador for the DOI Career Connections program, assisting others to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities available.