The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced March 17, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person May 10.
Next is Chief Operating Officer finalist in the Public & Private Company category Tina Dolph, chief operating officer at CRDF Global. Here, she talks about the company’s response in support of Ukraine, opening a fourth hub office, CRDF’s primary focus areas going forward and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2022/2023?
When I joined CRDF Global in May 2022, my focus was on expanding the footprint of our operations and impact through our regional hub offices. Over the last nine months, our team has worked tirelessly to establish a fourth hub, starting from the ground up.
On March 22, 2023, we officially cut the ribbon on our newest office in Manila, Philippines. This office complements our other hubs in Arlington, Virginia; Amman, Jordan; and Kyiv, Ukraine. We can now officially say that the sun never sets on CRDF Global.
What are you most proud of having been a part of in your current organization?
At CRDF Global, our mission is to make our world safe, secure and sustainable through science, innovation and collaboration. Our team creates and leverages partnerships around the globe, with the U.S. and allied governments, to build capacity in security assistance, global health, international exchanges, food security and cyber security.
Since I have joined the team, I have been most proud of how we have responded to the war in Ukraine. We have over 50 team members on the ground continuing the important mission of building cybersecurity capacity with the Ukrainian government in spite of being in the middle of the war, and our global team has come together to ensure our Ukrainian colleagues are supported.
In the early days of the conflict, we offered resources and safe spaces outside of the country, while colleagues in Jordan and the U.S. helped to shoulder some of the workload. Since that time, not only have we continued to deliver excellence to our government partners, we have also supported our colleagues as they continue to endure the hardships of war. We are living our corporate value of caring about each other and the people we work with, and I simply couldn’t be more proud to be part of this team.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
My focus at CRDF Global is to continue to find ways in which we can address the most critical global security issues. I’ve spent time talking with our partners in the Department of State, Department of Defense, CDC and NIH, and the areas of greatest concern where we can have the most impact are global health and cybersecurity. These are both areas where we’re already positioned to serve, and we’re hiring additional experts to help us strengthen the concepts and solutions that we can implement.
Recent expansions to our teams both here in the U.S. and in our hub in Amman, Jordan include global health specialists. We have also just recently hired our first chief technology officer whose focus will be to develop a digital resilience framework that we can use to strengthen our cybersecurity offering. This is a very exciting time for CRDF Global, and I can’t wait to see the impact we will make in these areas.