Celebrating FMA Manager of the Year Kimberly Price
The Federal Managers Association has recognized Kimberly Price, President of FMA Chapter 191, Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), as FMA’s Manager of the Year – an award that she richly deserves. Kimberly has been an employee of the RRB since June 1990. Kimberly has spent at least two-thirds of her career in some form of leadership or management, rising through the ranks to her current position as Director of Policy and Systems, a position she has held since May 2015. Kimberly is both the first woman and the first African American to ever hold this executive level position.
Consensus building is one of Kimberly’s greatest strengths, and she has developed an expansive professional network with other organizations by identifying the internal and external politics that impact the work of the organization. She works with other RRB components, and with other agencies, to ensure effective working relationships and organizational coordination. She fosters relations to ensure coordination between the business process and information technology units within her organization, all while leading her own staff of analysts.
Kimberly has consistently been recognized for her outstanding performance and for inspiring and motivating others toward the accomplishment of goals. She is a coach and mentor who challenges her subordinates to constantly improve. She habitually administers human, financial, material, and information resources in a manner which instills public trust and accomplishes the RRB’s mission, and makes effective use of emerging technologies to enhance decision-making.
Kimberly manages and directs the activities and sets priorities and goals for sixty-one analysts and support staff. She works with her staff and her Information Technology (IT) management counterparts to develop long and short-range plans for the operation of the division and agency, often resolving issues with competing resources to ensure agency goals and priorities are accomplished. Kimberly actively looks for opportunities to connect with her staff. Recently, she set up a quarterly process which allows each staff member to individually spend quality time with her. These meetings are strictly voluntary, with the agenda set by the staff member. The meetings provide an opportunity for staff to express themselves freely to her about any work or personal matter, enabling them to build trust and understanding.
Kimberly and her management staff work congenially with the local AFGE union chapter on personnel matters, including any potential “hot topics” between labor and management. She also engages with the local AFGE by inviting them to her biannual Town Hall meetings with staff.
FMA’s Manager of the Year Award is far from Kimberly’s first leadership award. Notable among these is the Crescent Mood Award presented by the Phi Beta Fraternity, Inc. for excellence in the field of management. In addition to the Crescent Mood Award, she has been nominated for and awarded RRB’s Award for Excellence on numerous occasions.
Kimberly takes an active role in her FMA chapter’s charitable activities, most notably Deborah’s Place, which provides support and opportunities for women experiencing homelessness in Chicago. Deborah’s Place offers supportive housing and other services to help women heal and achieve their personal goals as they move on from the experience of homelessness.
Kimberly graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Her political science background has enabled her to be particularly effective on the advocacy side of FMA. In addition to meeting with her members of Congress during the “FMA Day on the Hill” activities, when called upon, Kimberly also meets locally with members to discuss issues concerning federal employees and managers.
The Federal Managers Association is proud to name Kimberly Price FMA Manager of the Year!
The views reflected in this column are those of FMA and do not necessarily represent the views of FEDmanager. To learn more about the Federal Managers Association (FMA), visit their website: FedManagers.org.