Subscribe
As Carlie Thompson started to think about her career after graduating from college, she set her sights on finance, probably at a commercial lending institution. She never considered federal service until a former classmate talked to her about DFAS.
Now, Thompson has been working at DFAS for the last four years as a financial systems analyst and recently was recognized as an Outstanding Employee with a Disability by the Defense Department. She was awarded a plaque at the 39th Annual Secretary of Defense Disability Awards Ceremony at the Pentagon in early October. She was also recognized Oct. 23 by DFAS Director Teresa McKay in front of DFAS senior staff members.
Thompson was one of 23 military members and DoD civilians recognized for their achievements in their respective agencies. October is National Employees with a Disability Heritage Month. This year's theme was "The Right Talent, Right Now."
Thompson traveled to the ceremony and was in attendance with Mrs. McKay, and DFAS Director for Equal Opportunity Programs Roxanne Olson; Systems Division Chief Casey Prunier; a former supervisor and ASL interpreter Jennifer Place-Lewis.
According to Olson, "Carlie is a super example of the kind of DFAS employee I think we would all like to work with every day, so I was pleased her supervisors chose to recognize her in this way."
Thompson said that she feels "humbled and grateful" for receiving the recognition.
"I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to have all that attention on me. I shy away from the spotlight," Thompson said. "But I felt very grateful that someone recognized me for the work I do, and that's good enough for me."
She describes the work she does as an informal team lead working with U.S. Military Finance Operations at DFAS Indianapolis.
According to Thompson she works to provide 100% customer satisfaction on all issues and ensures everyone gets the access needed for successful operations.
She always gives her best on the job, which is how she was raised, she said. "My parents said to always do your best, and don't listen to your detractors, but at the same time, be thoughtful and considerate of others," she said.
Thompson is from the small community of Moscow in northeastern Pennsylvania. She grew up in a family where she was the only child who was deaf. She also spent much of her time in schools in which she was the only deaf student.
Thompson graduated high school and headed to the Rochester Institute of Technology, which has a large Deaf community, especially at the National Institute for the Deaf, one of the colleges within the university. Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Saunders College of Business at RIT.
At RIT, she met Ashleen Evans, an RIT graduate now working for DFAS. Evans had entered the Leaders in Motion program after graduation, and she encouraged Thompson to go to the RIT job fair to find out more about DFAS. There, she met Dan Neumann, a DFAS employee who was at the time the Leaders in Motion program coordinator. She applied and was accepted.
She came to DFAS as a LIM associate and worked in several directorates. She said she was greatly influenced by DFAS leaders such as Jerry Christensen and Mike Lindsay.
"I could see the amount of work they were doing, and I understand the system better," Thompson said. "It makes me think that I could actually be in a position like them someday."
She also said that she considers Christian Hanawalt, a fellow RIT graduate who is a few years her senior, as an informal mentor. Hanawalt was one of the first of many RIT/NTID students who have found their professional home at DFAS. Now, Hanawalt is a supervisor paving the way for others to follow.
"I never thought about working for the government. I saw myself working for a bank or financial institution," Thompson said, "but since I came here, I love my work with the federal government."
Since she arrived at DFAS, Thompson has served as the Special Emphasis Program Manager for People with Disabilities She also has served as secretary. She recently sat on a forum of various special emphasis committee chairs to discuss inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
"The reason I joined PPWD is I wanted to educate people not only about being deaf or deafness, but also about the diverse group of people with disabilities," Thompson said. "We are all human beings, and having a disability shouldn't be stereotyped."
Thompson has also been one of several members of the Deaf community who volunteer in weekly, 30-minute classes in American Sign Language for employees interested in learning the basics of signing.
"I've always enjoyed teaching people how to learn my language, so we can communicate," Thompson said. "You never know if you'll bump into a deaf individual somewhere, and it's nice to have some basic communication skills."
On the job, Thompson said she relies on email and videophone to communicate with co-workers. She also finds other creative ways such as notes and voicing. She figures it out. When she has to attend a meeting, an ASL interpreter is present. She said that there are plenty of ways to communicate with people on the job, and she doesn't consider her deafness as a disability.
Overall, the DFAS population has about 80 employees who identify as deaf or serious difficulty hearing according to figures provided by the Scott Coburn, the Disability Employment/Reasonable Accommodation program manager. About two dozen of those are located at DFAS Indianapolis.
Among those of the Deaf community is Ken Kramer, a past recipient of the same DoD award, and a DFAS employee since the early 1980s.
"I love hearing Ken tell stories about what DFAS was like back then, because he's been here since basically the beginning of time," Thompson said jokingly. She acknowledges the strides that have been made since Kramer started working in government to accommodate all types of workplace challenges.
For the future, Thompson has her sights set on a leadership position. "There aren't a lot of deaf people who are supervisors at DFAS," Thompson said, "so, I wouldn't mind taking on that challenge," Thompson said.
As she continues to work and grow professionally, Thompson said that she's found a home with the federal government.
"I can't imagine leaving," Thompson said.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2019 14:21 |
| Story ID: | 357945 |
| Location: | INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Financial analyst receives DoD-level recognition, by Christopher Allbright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
