New Faces at A-G Associates

A-G Associates is excited to announce the addition of nine new staff members; as our projects have grown throughout the past eight months, so has our team. Since October of 2022, A-G has added a new client with Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Transportation, Defense Human Resources Activity, and several community-based organizations that utilize grants under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

We want to introduce you to these employees and highlight the meaningful work they are doing to drive change and innovation for our clients. This exceptional group will only strengthen our ability to help transform organizations through evidence-based, human-centered solutions. For more detailed information on our staff and partnerships, visit our website.

Arushi Sharma, M.S. joined the A-G Team full-time in October 2022 as a Software Engineer after completing her graduate studies, during which she interned with A-G as a Software Engineer Intern starting in February 2022. Ms. Sharma currently leads software development (React and Django) of A-G’s Focus platform. Ms. Sharma has around four years of experience in the software industry, specifically, software development and testing using agile methodologies, and completed her master’s degree in computer science in a year and a half from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Jennifer Jiggetts joined the A-G Team in December 2022 as a Business Process Engineer for a Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) contract. Ms. Jiggetts operates within their Optimizing Healthcare Value Program (OHVP) to improve healthcare delivery, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce patient errors and harm in this complex environment. Ms. Jiggetts is a public health professional with over 15 years of experience working in a large healthcare system; she completed Lean Healthcare training and is currently receiving her MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Mackenzie Wolf joined the A-G Team in December 2022 as a Veterans Engagement Expert, currently focused on designing A-G’s Military, Veteran, and Family Center of Excellence (MVF-COE) which will strengthen SMVF communities by connecting government agencies, non-profits, private businesses, SMVF stakeholders, VSOs, higher education, and general audiences. The MVF-COE will provide behavioral health expertise, program management, training and education, program evaluation, strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, and capacity building services to these organizations. Ms. Wolf is a communications expert, writer, and editor with nearly two decades of experience serving and working in military and veteran communities, including her service in the United States Marine Corps as a cryptologic linguist; she graduated with honors from the Persian Farsi program at the Defense Language Institute and later pursued credentials in Dari, Tajiki, and Pashto.

Tori Crump joined the A-G Team in January 2023 as a Meeting Event Planner for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) contract. Her extensive hospitality experience enables her to oversee coordination of all aspects of events, including arranging and managing conferences/meetings, organizing travel details, and liaising with working logistics managers, corporate travel agents, and conference participants. Tori is in the process of securing her Certified Virtual Event Planner (CVEP) Certificate and her unique expertise includes founding an organization during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide support to young ladies in group homes and foster care with emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges.

Tamar Shealy joined the A-G Team in January 2023 as a Meeting Manager for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) contract(s). This includes management of pre- and post-event activities as well as onsite: travel arrangements, production of meeting materials, appropriate room setup, audiovisual equipment, budget development and management, and other considerations such as food and beverages. Ms. Shealy is a member of the Society of Government Meeting Planner (SGMP) with over 19 years of experience in management of meeting logistics and has an associate degree in culinary arts from Stratford University, Woodbridge, VA.

Dahkel Darling joined the A-G Team in January 2023 as a Data Analyst for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Authority (FTA) contract after joining the FTA team in October 2020 as an Administrative Support Specialist. His role includes monitoring and tracking tickets in the Customer Service Portal, ensuring response times comply, creating daily reports to track courses and training, tracking curriculum data, and managing registration for courses via DOT Learns Learning Management System (LMS). Mr. Darling is a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, VA.

Madison Merzke joined the A-G Team in January 2023 as a Data Scientist. Ms. Merzke supports various A-G projects with translation of data into actionable insights, including data visualization with Tableau, R code development, applied statistics, and process optimization. Ms. Merzke has four years of experience in public health data and received her Bachelor of Public Health and Master of Applied Statistics degrees from the University of Kentucky.

Brandee Reed, M.A. joined the A-G Team in February 2023 as a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Expert with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Authority (FTA). Ms. Reed assists with the implementation of FTA’s DEIA strategic plan via collecting data for federal reporting, monitoring KPIs, developing standard operating procedures, planning and executing cultural observance events, and creating innovative initiatives to support the expansion of FTA DEIA efforts. Ms. Reed has a diverse background including over ten years of experience in strategic planning, performance tracking, and communications and she received her Master of Arts from American University and her Strategic Project Management Certification through the Certified Public Management Program (CPM).

Diane A. Tate, PsyD joined the A-G Team in January 2023 as a Behavioral Health Subject Matter Expert. Dr. Tate has over 35 years of experience in management consulting with large and small Federal Government contractors in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area market and she holds a PsyD degree in Behavioral Health Leadership from Walden University as well as a BA in Psychology (minor in Sociology) and an MA in Developmental Psychology, both from Boston University.

Please join us in welcoming these invaluable new team members! Furthermore, we invite you to learn more about A-G’s projects and staff. If you would like to discuss a partnership with A-G Associates, please contact Chris Gonzalez at cgonzalez@a-gassociates.com or visit our website.