Celebrating Excellence: Josie Birch, MNIT's Rising Star

We are thrilled to announce that Josie Birch, an MNIT program manager was selected as one of this year's Rising Stars by Route Fifty and Nextgov/FCW. This award recognizes individuals in the government IT community who share a sense of duty, commitment to excellence, and devotion to public service.

Josie supports the disaster recovery program for MNIT partnering with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), and her journey in that work has been remarkable. In March of 2023, she began a new role of developing, testing and maintaining the disaster recovery plans for MnDOT's 57 high and medium-priority applications. Under Josie’s leadership, the disaster recovery program developed into a fully functional system with clear goals and metrics by which its progress could be measured.

Working closely with application development, operational support teams, and other partners Josie has made a big difference in IT disaster recovery. She’s made MnDOT safer from cybersecurity risks and created a more collaborative team. Leading through demonstration, she inspires others to focus on customer service and build robust interpersonal connections.

Josie’s award reflects not just her individual accomplishments but the collective success of the entire team. We asked Josie for her thoughts on the award, the challenges she faced, and where IT disaster recovery is headed.

A Conversation with Josie Birch

Q: What does this award mean to you?

Josie: This is an award for the team. It is a testament to the people of MNIT and our partners at MnDOT. It's a recognition of the incredible talents and initiative of everyone involved in the MnDOT disaster recovery.

We faced some challenges, but we got through them because the team and leadership were so supportive. That is what makes this award so special: how well our teams worked together. Everyone developing plans and processes for the project was on the same page, and that really excites me. So, this award recognizes all of us for doing great work together in support of a unified vision.

Q: Which disaster recovery initiative stands out most to you?

Josie: Improving the approval process.

Along with my supervisor Joella, I proposed a strategy to refine approvals. Everyone in MNIT MnDOT leadership was on board. They liked the new approach because, let’s face it, nobody likes dealing with unnecessary complications.

The result was that, as a team, we found ways to speed up approvals and move things forward more efficiently while maintaining our due diligence. With this change, we were able to get the right people to review and approve documents much faster.

This shift had a positive ripple effect down the line. It made the approval process quicker. But it was also very inspiring and motivating for the team. It showed us the impact of how creative solutions could increase the efficiency of our work. The fact that this brought real benefits encouraged us to make more positive changes in our processes.

Q: What issues do you see facing disaster recovery in the future?

Josie: Testing will be a key focus for the next 12-18 months. By validating our documentation with testing, we will have more robust capabilities in disaster recovery. We’re looking to create a testing effort that matches the documentation. Every application needs thorough testing. And we want to standardize testing in a way that validates an application with a clear number of steps for it to be up and running faster, and with a more predictable schedule.

In the broader scope, cybersecurity is always going to be a priority for disaster recovery. Our focus on testing and aligning with the larger cybersecurity goals will undoubtedly strengthen our resilience.

Q: What makes you a great leader?

Josie: I think the mark of a good leader is when someone doesn’t say they're a good leader. I don't consider myself a leader. And I'm not sure that I ever truly will.

I will say that it's a process. I really focus on continuous improvement – at work and in my personal life. That is where I like to be: doing good but not worrying about being perfect, and always learning.

My main goal is to make sure my team stays together. I suppose there's an element of leadership to that. I want to support my colleagues. And if that gets us to a better place then, great! Together, we'll keep making baseline improvements and continue moving disaster recovery in a positive direction. And who knows where we'll be down the road?

A bright future for disaster recovery

Josie Birch's leadership and innovative contributions have propelled the MNIT MnDOT disaster recovery program to new heights. Her commitment to teamwork, streamlined processes, and continuous improvement sets a standard for excellence. As we celebrate Josie's well-deserved recognition as a Rising Star, we eagerly anticipate the great strides and achievements that lie ahead for her and her team.