March 2023-Employee Spotlight

Elia Barros

This inspiring story highlights our CEO, Herby Duverné, and his commitment to empowering young professionals in the greater Boston community. Herby believes in investing in the community's future by providing opportunities for young college students to become security professionals. I am thrilled to showcase the incredible story of Herby Duverné's dedication to "giving back!" Herby has dedicated his time and resources to empower young professionals like Elia Barros, a Boston native who joined Windwalker Group while pursuing her college education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

To achieve his giving back goal in 2022, Herby commissioned me, Windwalker's Preparedness & Protection Interim Director, to recruit and coach young college students from Boston area universities to help them to become security professionals. I started the search on LinkedIn, saw Elia's profile, and assessed her as an excellent candidate to meet Herby's vision. After a rigorous interview process with Herby and me, Elia became the first student employed in the Windwalker Group Manager in Training Program. The program provides a full-time salary and unconditional flexibility while attending college to support graduating with a competitive Grade Point Average (GPA). Herby knows firsthand how hard it was for him in college to work full-time while attending Northeastern. Herby and the entire management team are excited to support Elia's transition to becoming an Operations Manager in Training.

Elia graduated in December 2022 with a degree in English and double minors in Criminal Justice and Sociology from UMass Boston. She attended Cristo Rey High School in Dorchester before pursuing higher education. Thanks to the support and guidance of Herby and me, Elia has become a vital member of the Preparedness & Protection team. She started as an Operations Manager-in-Training and quickly excelled, earning her the Manager of three non-account manager sites position. Her many duties include scheduling, ensuring quality uniforms, working with account managers on a day-to-day basis, and creating training plans for assigned security officers.

What's remarkable about Elia's story is the support and flexibility she received from Windwalker. Elia was able to become a successful manager with Herby's mentorship, and my guidance allowed Elia to balance her studies and work, which enabled her to graduate on time and pursue her intention of becoming a full-time employee at Windwalker Group. Elia's success is a testament to the support and flexibility that the Windwalker Group has provided. Elia is grateful for her opportunities, and Herby and I trust her abilities. Elia's hard work, dedication, and perseverance have paid off, and she is a true inspiration to other young professionals. Elia is a proud Boston native who enjoys working out and cooking and is passionate about community service. Elia is an example of the talent and potential within our community, and we are confident that she will continue to achieve many successes in her career.

Herby's and Elia's story highlights the importance of investing in young professionals and empowering them to reach their full potential. Herby believes their story will inspire others to invest in local talent, contribute to our community, and support young people in their journey to success. Herby also considers this story timely in celebrating Women's History Month and their achievements, raising awareness about discrimination, and taking action to propel gender equality in the workplace.

Brittany Yates

The commercial training practice would like to introduce Ms. Brittany Yates! Brittany is a Communications & Marketing professional with 10 years of experience strategically positioning clients in the non-profit, government, and corporate fields for success. She uniquely combines communications, marketing, instructional design, and project management expertise. She has been responsible for creating most of the engaging content for our WindwalkerXP™ product. Her background and knowledge have been vital for the success of our product. Currently, she is supporting the DOL contract for Government Services in a project management capacity to facilitate the change management requirements and instructional design initiatives. Ms. Yates is also a driven entrepreneur in her spare time, running a small Coffee and Tea business called Grind on the Go! We are fortunate to have such a fantastic team member and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Shavonda Watkins

The Government Services would like to recognize the dedication and commitment to duty of one of our team members on a small but essential subcontract we have at Langley AFB in Virginia. Mrs. Shavonda Watkins has been on our Windwalker team since July 2018 as a Medical Appointment Clerk. She assists military personnel and their families with appointment scheduling, medical care access, and many other responsibilities in ensuring a smooth-running Medical Treatment Facility (MTF). Not only has she continued to excel in her position for almost 5 years, but because of her commitment and talent, she has been asked to go above and beyond her usual role and provides services to providers (doctors and nurses), assist in preparing MTF personnel in scheduling and accessing templates, prepares for an attends Access to Care Improvement meetings, writes reports, and more. Mrs. Watkins is the best example of how our people help our clients Achieve Their Full Potential!

Yousif Alturaihy

In the last NewsFlash, we introduced Government Services Client Account Manager Yousif Alturaihy. In his first 8 months on the job, he has proven a valuable asset to our clients and team members who serve them well. We’d like to recognize Yousif for his task to benefit the whole company. For the past 5-6 months, Yousif stepped up to be our point person on renewing and expanding Windwalker’s ISO 9001 Certification. This certifies our standard company’s standard processes and is critically important to our ability to do business in the Government sector. We appreciate all Yousif’s almost singular efforts in coordinating across all Windwalker’s business units to ensure we maintain this vital certification.