Venice Goodwine’s career began in signals intelligence for the Air Force, a starting point that set her on the path that would land her in a position as the Air Force chief information officer.
“Through it all, I was drawn to harnessing the power of information technology and helping my organizations leverage it to further their missions in support of our country,” Goodwine said in an interview.
From that perch atop the Air Force’s IT shop, Goodwine revolutionized the department’s IT landscape, overseeing a $17 billion portfolio and leading the governance integration of three cross-functional directorates to provide needed digital tools to the enterprise and reduce duplicative IT services.
She pioneered a department-wide stakeholder collaboration concept for enterprise IT, trailblazed the elimination of duplicative IT capabilities, propelled the department’s Force of the Future vision as functional authority for 12,800 IT and cyber civilian personnel, and established a 400-person Field Operating Agency to develop timely, interoperable and value-driven IT capabilities for 600,000 daily users.
“I’m fortunate that the Department of the Air Force’s senior leaders ‘get it.’ They are focused on bringing cutting-edge technology to the warfighter to improve lethality and readiness, eradicating duplicative IT spend, and making the right IT investments for the enterprise,” Goodwine said. “We’ve made changes to go faster by aligning the organization responsible for IT service delivery with the chief information officer’s statutory authority. The result is rapid innovation through shorter, more frequent development cycles, driving responsiveness to mission demands.”
Across an impressive portfolio of responsibilities, Goodwine said she is most proud of her work as the functional manager and career field manager for the Air Force’s Cyber and Information Technology Civilian Career Field, which is responsible for cultivating a skilled civilian workforce and strengthening its culture of innovation. That work has spearheaded initiatives for more than 12,400 technical professionals, resulting in significant enhancements to the force renewal program.
“I love investing in people, as they are our most important asset,” she said. “I believe we do a good job of developing our civilians on par with their military counterparts.”
In an area of government laser-focused on furthering lethality, improving warfighting readiness and driving efficiency, she said her role was to get her department there by delivering effective IT with the “vast tools at our disposal.”
And for others looking to make a difference in government, Goodwine advises knowing where you want to go, communicating your plans and working well with others, including through mentorship opportunities. And “don’t let people tell you ‘no’ that do not have the authority to do so,” she added.
“Make whatever your current job is the most important job in government, and become an expert in that realm,” Goodwine said. “And have fun! If you’re not enjoying your work, it’s not worth it.”
Editor’s note: Venice Goodwine retired from government service and her role as Air Force CIO on March 20 of this year.
