Building a “How Might We?” Culture: Using Human-Centered Design to Strengthen Performance and Quality Management

Brendan Conlin is chief program officer (CPO) at Congreso. In this capacity, he oversees the agency’s three programmatic divisions; Education and Workforce Services, Healthcare Services, Family and Housing Services, as well as the agency’s new Innovation Manager. Since his start with Congreso in 2009 as an English as second language instructor, Conlin has risen through the various programmatic levels of the organization, including serving as the director of adult education and vice president of education and workforce services.

Conlin’s role as CPO is to drive Congreso’s strategic plan, titled Mission 2 Impact, to carry out Congreso’s mission to move clients towards economic self-sufficiency and wellbeing.  Specifically, his work focuses on developing the infrastructure and capacity for using social innovation techniques to enhance Congreso’s services by embedding human-centered design and lean impact methods into the organization’s program design strategy. These methods help Congreso continuously analyze their 40+ programs for optimal effectiveness and client value, empowering teams to use rapid experimentation and innovation techniques to drive measurable impact for families.

In addition to serving as CPO at Congreso, he represents the organization and the needs of Congreso’s community across with city, overseeing its partnerships with Philadelphia Works, Inc., Philadelphia Youth Network, Lenfest Foundation, Eastern State Penitentiary, Penn State Abington, Harcum College, Temple University and other leading institutions throughout the region. He is most excited about how his work can influence systems affecting youth on the cusp of leaving school and gaining access to higher education and the workforce.

Most recently, Conlin launched Congreso’s first homegrown, web-based human-centered design toolkit within the agency and looks forward to continuing to optimize service delivery for Congreso’s clients, employees and community.

Jamie Hughes is Congreso’s vice president of programmatic development. In this role, she oversees Congreso’s grants team and grantwriting efforts, as well as works closely with agency leadership on mission to impact projects and vision to drive Congreso’s growth strategy. Hughes also works closely with Congreso’s administrative teams to maximize agency operations and systems for efficiency, including budgeting and contract management.

Hughes started at Congreso as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in the education and workforce services division, working with the adult education department to expand GED and English as a second language classes and testing programs. Since that initial role, she has served as education and workforce services division manager and most recently director of programmatic development to support the agency in a variety of programmatic and administrative capacities.

Prior to working at Congreso, Hughes worked for a nonprofit community development organization in the Dominican Republic for several years, working with communities across the country in education, health, and water system projects. She holds a BA in Spanish and Latin American Studies from American University in Washington DC, as well as certificates for Spanish and medical Spanish translation.