Focusing on workforce engagement and readiness: A conversation with Angela Bailey

Angela Bailey has dedicated more than 39 years to public service, with 33 of those years in human resources. Ms. Bailey was appointed as the Department of Homeland Security’s Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) in January 2016. She is responsible for the Department’s human capital program, which includes human resources policy, systems, and programs for strategic workforce planning, recruitment and hiring, pay and leave, performance management, employee development, executive resources, labor relations, work/life and safety and health. She also serves on the United States Coast Guard Academy Board of Trustees.

She also served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from November 2013 to January 2016. In this role, she provided overall organization management to improve OPM’s performance, mission and goals through strategic and performance planning, measurement, analysis, and regular progress assessment. She was also responsible for managing OPM’s human, financial, acquisition and information technology to achieve OPM’s program results efficiently, economically, and effectively.

Ms. Bailey began her career with the Social Security Administration. She later worked for the Department of Defense in several different components and Defense agencies. She has served in many roles, including Budget Analyst, Labor Relations Officer, and as the Director of Human Resources for the Defense Contract Management Agency.

Ms. Bailey has a master’s degree in Leadership from Bellevue University and participated in Harvard University’s Kennedy School National Preparedness Leadership Initiative for Executives in 2012. She is a 2017 Meritorious Presidential Rank Award recipient and a 2019 National Academy of Public Administration Fellow.

Michael has two decades of experience with both the private and public sectors encompassing strategic planning, business process redesign, strategic communications and marketing, performance management, change management, executive and team coaching, and risk-financing.

Michael leads the IBM Center for The Business of Government's leadership research. As the Center’s Leadership Fellow, his work is at the nexus of the Center’s mission – connecting research to practice. My work at that the Center complements frontline experience of actual government executives with practical insights from thought leaders who produce Center reports – merging real-world experience with practical scholarship. The purpose is not to offer definitive solutions to the many management challenges facing executives, but to provide a resource from which to draw practical, actionable recommendations on how best to confront such issues. Michael also hosts and produces the IBM Center’s The Business of Government Hour. He has interviewed and profiled hundreds of senior government executives from all levels of government as well as recognized thought leaders focusing on a range of public management issues and trends. Over the last four years, Michael has expanded both the show’s format and reach – now broadcasting informational and educational conversations with dedicated public servants on two radio stations five times a week and anywhere at anytime over the web and at iTunes. Michael is also the managing editor of The Business of Government magazine, with a targeted audience of close to 14,000 government and non-government professionals. Additionally, he manages the Center’s bi-annual proposal review process that awards stipends to independent, third party researchers tackling a wide range of public management issues.

Prior to joining the Center, Michael worked as a senior managing consultant with IBM GBS (Global Business Services) and as a principle consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Washington Consulting Practice (WCP). He led projects in the private and federal civilian sectors including the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, FEMA, and the Veterans Health Administration. Before entering consulting, he worked in the private sector as product development manager at a New York City based risk financing firm.

Since 2003, Mr. Keegan has been a reviewer for Association of Government Accountant’s Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR)© program, keeping abreast of the most recent developments in authoritative standards affecting federal accounting, financial reporting and performance measurement. He is also a member of APPAM, the NYU Alumni Association, and the Data Center & Cloud Talent, USA. He holds masters in public administration and management from New York University and was the founder of its DC alumni group as well as previous treasurer of the NYU graduate school’s alumni board.