Tell us about your career journey in the motor vehicle industry.

I began my career with the State of Georgia as a parole officer with the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and I later joined the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) for 15 years.

I had a very extensive career at GOHS—I loved every moment. I became a highway safety expert and had the luxury of going to, at last count, 34 states to provide assessments and help them in their crash prevention efforts. I was very fortunate to have a great career at GOHS before coming to the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) in 2012 as Deputy Commissioner, and now serving as Commissioner.

What has your involvement with AAMVA been like?

As soon as I joined DDS in 2012, I was immediately introduced to AAMVA. Even before I started my first official day, there was a planning weekend for the AAMVA Region 2 Conference held in Atlanta that year. I met so many professionals in the motor vehicle community from various states whom I developed friendships with, and I remain friends with those folks to this day.

It has been a wonderful experience. Early on, I got involved in committee work with AAMVA. I also got involved with regional committee work and have been quick to volunteer for opportunities to serve on other committees and subcommittees within AAMVA International.

What are you most looking forward to in your new position?

I’m looking forward to working with AAMVA’s new CEO, Ian Grossman, to continue building on the association’s rich foundation.

AAMVA has had, for several years, a phenomenal leader in Anne Ferro. She brings an experience to this organization that has been nothing but positive. Without a doubt, Ian will continue the growth and positive experience of AAMVA.

I look forward to helping lead the way in working with our phenomenal associate members and partners who help us deliver services. We have, in my opinion, one of the absolute greatest groups of companies and vendors who are working and investing a lot of time and energy into helping us resolve problems and create even more ways that we can deliver efficient services to our customers.

What strengths are you bringing to your new role?

Relationship building is one of my biggest strengths, as well as leadership. In most positions I’ve held in state government, I’ve been asked to innovate. Some examples are coming to DDS and helping to expand our online services capability, bringing digital credentialing to our state and the overall modernization of systems that, quite frankly, were very antiquated. These innovations benefit not only our customers but our employees, as well. We have to deliver something to our team members that will help them do their jobs better and faster.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I rarely have any free time, right? It’s work, church, family, softball and golf. Those are the things that occupy my time.