IEEE Annual Election: Region 2 Candidates (Eastern USA)

Rhonda L. Farrell, Ph.D., CCMP, CMQ/OE
(Nominated by IEEE Region 2)

CEO
Global Innovation Strategies
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
http://drrhondafarrell.com​​

Dr. Rhonda Farrell, CEO of Global Innovation Strategies, has a technical and management consulting career spanning 35+ years, serving USMC to Fortune 500, state, civil, and Federal government agencies, driving organizational development, innovation, and transformation. In her various roles she works constructively with executives, leaders, and staff horizontally and vertically within and external to the organization to understand the current state, conduct gap analysis, recommend, and implement strategic initiatives across the people, process, and technology spectrum using a structured design of experiments approach.

She is typically responsible for multi-year portfolio strategic planning, annual business planning, and the design and fielding of corresponding performance management-related targets, metrics, and measurements. She has also been key in building out the supporting policy, processes, and procedures, and automations, which bolster efficiencies, effectiveness, and productivity gains.

Successful growth initiatives include launching and growing international communities expanding to over 98 countries, serving practitioners across the globe.

Statement

If elected to serve as the IEEE 2023-2024 Region 2 Director-Elect, I pledge to work constructively with the Region Director, the other Regional leaders across the globe, MGA, TAB, IEEE-USA, our supporting staff, and volunteers to ensure alignment to, and operationalization of, the IEEE and IEEE-USA strategic goals, in support of key RD initiatives. Harnessing change management, innovation, organization tools, and strategic communications, I’d work at all levels to support the continued post-COVID-19 revitalization of the Region, by enabling the build-out of a strong pipeline of leaders across the 20 Sections, better integrating our Affinity Groups, Society Chapters, and Student Branches to ensure we grow membership consistently, and cohesively ensuring that we have a robust event portfolio providing programmatic coverage across the most relevant and growing technological areas, communities, industries, and topic areas.

I’d work across and within to actively embed affinity groups, YP, and student elements into as many program channels as possible, expand support for K-12 STEM and CYBER programs, and continue to deepen the focus on integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion across our Region.

IEEE Accomplishments and Activities
(S’09-GSM’12-M’15-AF’18-M’18-SM’19)

Rhonda has worked broadly across IEEE, IEEE-USA, MGA, and many TAB-related OUs, including serving under five Region Directors to operationalize strategic goals in some manner from 2010 to 2022. She has crafted positive relationships with Regional Officers, Committee, Section, Chapter, and Student Branch leaders and members across the globe from her many years of Service, including the following:

• IEEE-USA: VP of Communications and Public Awareness (2022), Public Policy Industrial Representative (2021-2022)
• IEEE, MGA & Region 2: Strategic Planning Coordinator, GUOS Committee, Region Vitality Coordinator, Student Representative, Conference Coordinator, VOLT Volunteer (2015-2022)
• IEEE Section: NoVA Director, Section Vice Chair, Secretary, Membership Development (2011-2017)
• IEEE Affinity Group: NoVA/DC Women in Engineering Chair (2016-2017)
• IEEE Chapter: NoVA/DC Computer Society Chair (2011-2016)

Her breadth of experience with the organization has enabled her to build offerings using the triad of strategy, mission, and operational initiatives to drive successful innovation, collaboration, and leader and member outcomes. Her change management, innovation, and continuous improvement experience allows her to lead proactively, collaboratively, and in a relationship-oriented way to bring people together constructively under the auspices of the mission, vision, and goals, and in support of the cultural expansion of the various OUs to reach WIN-WIN-WIN outcomes. 

She harnesses her consulting background to provide leaders and teams organizational assessments, recommendations, strategic, business, and operational plans, integrated master schedules, electronic Section Vitality Checklists, balanced portfolio budgets using quantifiable prioritization, and performance management progress reports and dashboards to consistently drive awareness, shared understanding, and a collaborative approach on the way forward. With these she has helped to more clearly define roles and responsibilities and drive deeper engagement for mutual benefit.

She was seminal in putting together and fielding an outreach plan to drive awareness, education, and collaboration using communications, marketing, and publicity to drive member recruitment, retention, and engagement.

Felicia Harlow 
(Nominated by IEEE Region 2)

Senior Security Research Engineer
Air Force Research Laboratory Sensors Directorate
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Beavercreek, Ohio, USA

Felicia began her current career at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) after retiring from the US Air Force in 2005.  She started out in the Information Directorate working on distributed collaborative systems, then moved on to the Sensors Directorate where she began developing cyber protections for avionics systems and is currently a security research engineer developing technology tools and solutions for the Department of Defense security & intelligence community. Her diversified experience included managing a US$10M state-of-the-art lab supporting multiple in-house research missions and to her current focus on managing a multimillion-dollar digital transformation effort for the AF Security community enterprise.

She received her B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida (summa cum laude) and her M.S. in Computer Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. She lives in Beavercreek, OH with her dog, Bixby.
 

Statement
 

As a 14-year IEEE volunteer, I have been committed to the success of my Section & Region. Extensive experience in volunteerism and career helped me develop excellent communication, time and resource management skills. I’ve also trained and inspired other volunteers on their journey. I’ve learned directly from my experience the crucial qualities embodied by the most successful region directors and would fully devote myself to this position during my potential term. 

With my knowledge and experience in IEEE, my objectives are simple and practical:

• Re-engage section membership:  The region needs to reach back to the disengaged section members to show them the value of their membership.
• Financial Transparency / Revenue Streams: Members need to know that we are being good stewards of membership dues.  We need additional revenue from conferences and workshops to counter declining membership.
• Develop mentorship programs for volunteers, students and young professionals: Region membership is aging and a wealth of knowledge of IEEE and career planning could be passed through programs between life and senior members to energize young professionals and students.
   

IEEE Accomplishments and Activities
(AF’07-M’09-SM’12)
 

IEEE COMMITTEES/BOARDS:

• IEEE-USA Conferences 2016-2018
• IEEE MGA N&A 2020-2021
   

REGIONS:

• R2 Executive Committee - Secretary 2014-2017, 2019-2020
• R2 Conferences 2013-2014, 2016-2017, 2022
• R2 Webmaster/Information Management/vTools Representative 2014-2017
   

SECTIONS/CHAPTERS: 

• Dayton Executive Committee - Secretary 2008-2011, 2016-2022
• Founding Chair - Dayton WIE-YP (Women in Engineering/Young Professionals) Affinity Group 2015-2016
• Dayton PACE (Professional Activities Committee for Engineers) Chair 2011-2019
• Dayton Webmaster 2014-2021
   

IEEE-HKN/HKN: Member
 

CONFERENCES:  

• IEEE WIE Forum USA East Organizing/Steering Committee - 2015-present

o   General Co-Chair - 2017, 2019

o   Registration/Local Arrangements Chair 2015-Present

• WIE International Leadership Conference 2018-2019 Vice Co-Chair
• International Conference on Collaboration Technologies and Systems (CTS) - 2007-2016

o   Organizing/Steering Committee, Local Arrangements & Social Events Chair 

• International Conference on High Performance Computing (HPCS) - 2011-2016

o   Local Arrangements & Social Events Chair

• National Aerospace & Electronics Conference (NAECON) 2008-2021

o   Multiple positions over many years: Steering Committee, General Co-Chair, Vice Chair, Tutorials Chair, Local Arrangements Chair, Registration Chair
 

OTHER:  Computer Society Member, Women in Engineering Member
 

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• 2016 WIE Inspiring Member Award - Honorable Mention
• 2015 Founding Chair of Dayton Section WIE-YP Affinity Group (First such joint group in IEEE)
• Founding Organizer for revived R1/R2 WIE Forum (2015-Present)
• Submitted/prioritized vTools enhancements from 2014-2017, (i.e., e-notice and events) 

o   Consolidated region volunteer inputs for recommended improvements

o   Organized & conducted west area volunteer training sessions in region

• Co-organized inspiring and successful STEM workshop for Boolean Girls as General Co-Chair of 2019 WIE R1/R2 Forum
• Co-organized first combined R1/R2 social activities at 2017 Sections Congress