The WAEPA annual meeting for 2023 may be over, but you can still learn about the organization from its leader, CEO M. Shane Canfield, as well as hear about critical future-thinking personnel topics from leading federal chief human capital officers.

Watch the full on-demand meeting above.

Canfield shares details about the nonprofit organization, which offers life insurance coverage exclusively to current and former civilian federal employees.

He points out that WAEPA does not collect dues or receive grants, which ensures that it manages the company to benefit its plan participants. “We have to run the company like a for-profit business,” he said.

Following Canfield’s session are discussions with three CHCOs — Carmen Garcia of the Office of Personnel Management, Erin Moore of the Energy Department and Tracey Therit of the Department of Veterans Affairs — led by Federal News Network Reporter Drew Friedman.

The wide-ranging conversation covers topics from the return to office to reimagining federal employment.

“We have seen both now and in the past — and we’ll continue to see in the future — how this hybrid work environment that we are becoming more comfortable and familiar with is helping us both with diversity and being agile in responding to those things that we don’t expect,” Therit shared.

Agile is a critical piece of the puzzle moving forward, and it requires listening to and responding to federal employees, Garcia said.

“When we hear certain things that resonate from our employees, we share it across the board. That helps shape our individual strategies … really making sure that our supervisors and managers are having those conversations with employees is so crucial,” Garcia said.

Equally important is providing resources to help current employees continually grow and gain new skills, Moore noted.

“We recently launched a new tool that uses machine learning to support upskilling or reskilling. It actually recommends lessons based on an employee’s role, incorporating their previous learning activities,” she said. “We make sure that our employees also have access to mentoring programs and rotations to broaden their professional experience.”

Read a full article about the CHCO discussions now. And learn more about WAEPA here.