GGTI Impact Maker: Emily Bollen

GGTI Impact Maker in Action: Senior Systems Engineer, Emily Bollen , takes a holistic approach to her work. After 15 years with GGTI, she has done it all, giving her the opportunity to learn the different processes and roles for most, if not all, facets of our work. Today, Emily’s main teams are the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Data Champion Initiative and the In-Service Decision (ISD) Executive Secretariat, both of which provide further opportunity for a bird’s eye view of the ATO.

She would never say it about herself, but Emily has incredible fans in both her GGTI and FAA colleagues. She is consistently and notably regarded as someone who creates a positive working environment and quietly energizes those around her to do their best work.

Continue reading to learn more about Emily, our GGTI Impact Maker!

WHAT IS ONE ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF AND WHY?

About six years ago I was part of the team that helped make the In-Service Review (ISR) Checklist tool. Utilizing this tool is still one of my main tasks in my ISD support. The ISR Checklist has over 300 items that touch almost every requirement that a system has to complete in order to be approved for operational readiness and deployment in the field. It used to be a Word document, which made verifying requirements tedious and cumbersome. And keeping the Word document updated was almost impossible. Every time I would post an update it was almost immediately out of date, so it made our jobs a lot harder. With the help of my fantastic team, we created a way to make it an automated tool, so now programs can use it to store artifacts, coordinate with subject matter experts (SMEs), and let us know if they are having any issues.

This tool has helped make the ISD process, not only more efficient, but more effective, because all of the required items are stored in one place right there in the tool. This allows us to perform more trusted quality assurance. For example, an item cannot be closed out without SME concurrence and because everything is housed within the tool, we are able to see and verify which steps have been completed and which have not.

The other great thing about continuing to work on this checklist is that we are consistently making improvements and enhancements based on user feedback. One recent update we made was the ability to send SMEs a notification email when a Program Office is ready for their concurrence. Little things like that make a big difference.

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE PARTS ABOUT WORKING AT GGTI?

I’m sure it’s been said before, but it’s definitely the people. One of the things I really enjoy is that I feel like everyone is so good at their jobs, so it makes working as a team really easy. I learn so much from the people that I work with. I’ve always enjoyed learning the different parts of any given project instead of just focusing on my part, so I can have a better understanding of what other roles do. The people that we work with make it easy to learn about the other areas of any given task. I always feel like I can ask people questions about their roles, and everyone is always more than willing to share.

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN?

Some of the best advice I received when I was first hired was that our job titles really don’t matter. At the end of the day the most important thing is to help your team succeed in whatever capacity is needed, which means helping out in different ways and knowing how to work on a team. I really value being a good team member. I don’t need my name to be on my accomplishments. It’s more important to me that my team succeeds.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO OUTSIDE OF WORK.

My hobbies are running, reading, and traveling with my family, but something my husband and I are passionate about is adopting senior dogs. We care a lot about the senior citizens of the dog community. One of the things I love about them is that they tend to snooze a lot. With a senior dog you know what their personality is going to be like and what you’re getting. It’s sad, but far too often, people get rid of or abandon their senior dogs so they can get a younger one. Lilly, the first senior dog we rescued, was a stray and the animal shelter believed she was abandoned because of her age. She was the sweetest, best dog. Melo, the second senior dog we adopted, had heart issues, so he wasn’t on the top of anyone’s list, but he was on ours. One of the things I’d love to do is open a senior dog daycare one day, if we ever have enough property.

Emily’s eye for micro- and macro-level processes and her wealth of experience brings valuable insight and knowledge to our team. She makes working as a team, not only successful, but enjoyable. We at GGTI are grateful to have her as part of our team!

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