Miliani Jiménez, Ph.D., Research Psychologist, Transition to Veterans Program Office (TVPO), has been selected as a participant for the class of 2019 Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP). ELDP supports the Department of Defense (DoD) civilian leader development continuum at the “lead people” level, and is designed to equip participants with the warfighter perspective.
Jiménez designs, leads and reports on the Transition Assistance Program’s (TAP) evaluation activities for the DoD.
“Since graduate school, when I first started doing research for the Army, I knew I wanted to be a part of the bigger picture. I knew that I wanted to make a difference and impact our service members’ lives. Over the years my research was the conduit for this impact. Now through TVPO I’m able to make a difference in yet another important aspect of our service members’ lives – at the culmination of their career as they are about to start a new chapter in their lives,” said Jiménez. “This program gives me the opportunity to grow as a leader within the DoD, to better understand the journey our service members take by experiencing a day in the life of those who fight to protect our freedoms, and I know that this year’s experience will give me a unique perspective and greater appreciation for how transitions can be improved considering greater DoD operations.”
The Secretary of Defense directed the development of ELDP in 1985 to provide deliberate experiential leadership development opportunities for future leaders. The mission of the program is to develop leaders who have an understanding and appreciation of the global missions of the DoD, the complexities and challenges that our warfighters face in carrying out that mission, and to afford, through hands-on immersion training, opportunities for experiential learning that enhance the capabilities required to support and lead a military and civilian expeditionary workforce.
“I’m really looking forward to the hands on training that our team is going to receive,” said Jiménez. “I hear we will be getting in the mind frame of the warfighter, interacting with service members at all levels, undergoing some of the mental and physical training they partake in throughout their career, and meeting and really getting to engage with service members.”
ELDP combines hands-on/experiential military training to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the mission of the warfighter and the national security environment. The program also provides exposure to senior military officers and civilian executives, introduces new concepts along the development continuum, and offers virtual sessions for continued learning and practical application for an unparalleled and challenging leadership training and professional development experience.
During the 10-month program, Jiménez will be visiting many places, such as San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as overseas locations, including Seoul, South Korea. Some of the activities that Jiménez will be participating in include obstacle courses, rappelling, land navigation, hiking, a bayonet assault course, daily physical training, aviation survival training, basic underwater demolition/Navy SEAL training, and a leadership reaction course.
No stranger to challenging situations, Jiménez has stated she is ready to take on whatever gets thrown her way, much like she has had to do throughout her career.
“We couldn’t be more fortunate to have Dr. Jimenez as a member of the TVPO team,” said Tamre Newton, Acting Director, TVPO. “She is paving the way for future leaders in the DoD and I am confident her skills will take her far in this program,” she added. “We are looking forward to the insight this program will bring her and how it will impact not only the TVPO team but the overall TAP.”
Simultaneously, Jimenez, will continue to assist with the development and execution of the TAP curriculum participant assessment, which is the key outcome metric for assessing satisfaction of the program and learning for transitioning service members. Jiménez also contributes to the TAP Interagency Performance Management Working Group whose primary objective is to develop, implement, and monitor the TAP Interagency Evaluation Strategy in order to assess and improve the effectiveness of TAP. Through her work on the interagency TAP evaluation effort, she regularly collaborates with representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Personnel Management, and the Small Business Administration, as well as representatives from the military Services.
Prior to joining the TVPO team, Jimenez was a Senior Research Psychologist for the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). At ARI, she conducted research on the effectiveness of teams and organizations, including leadership, multi-team systems, and inclusive organizational climates.
Jiménez is an accomplished researcher with eight publications and 42 conference presentations. She received the 2014 American Psychological Association Early Career Achievement Award, having been selected from an extraordinary pool of 40,000 candidates based on her achievements and demonstration of astute leadership in the field of psychology. Furthermore, her organizational culture research has been featured on the Society of Industrial and Organizational (IO) Psychology website, “IO at Work”.
Jiménez obtained her B.A. in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Central Florida.
“I am exceptionally grateful for this opportunity,” she concluded.
Date Taken: | 09.26.2018 |
Date Posted: | 09.26.2018 14:41 |
Story ID: | 294492 |
Location: | US |
Web Views: | 331 |
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