Noreen Hecmanczuk
Department of Labor
2017 fellow
Noreen M. Hecmanczuk is the Director of the Office of Succession Planning and Employee Engagement at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration. She identifies strategies to reduce succession risk, fosters and promotes the continual development and engagement of the workforce, and positions the agency to have a deep bench of talent in the pipeline to meet future needs.
Previously she served as a Communications Officer at the National Science Foundation where she established an integrated internal communications program to reach a workforce of 2,400 employees and a visitor population of 60,000 per year; managed NSF’s crowdsourcing ideation tool, known as IdeaShare, where employees could build, rate, and comment on ideas to improve agency and government policies, programs, and operations; and served as the Foundation’s Emergency Communications Officer interfacing with federal, state, and local law enforcement to provide real-time information to staff and visitors.
Noreen began her federal career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service where she served in a variety of roles in the Offices of Congressional Relations; International Policy; Executive Management; Public Affairs, Education, and Outreach; and Field Operations. Her USDA career began at a time when foodborne illnesses related to E. coli and Salmonella were not well-known and spanned high-profile food safety emergencies including the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, mad cow disease, bird flu, and numerous large-scale nationwide recalls of food products. She is proud to have been part of the team that modernized the nation’s meat and poultry inspection system to ensure it is based on science and has safeguards in place to protect public health.
Noreen earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Public Service and a Minor in Business Administration from Penn State University. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband Dave, their three smart, strong, and beautiful daughters, and her loveable mutt, Hudson.
Director, Succession Planning and Employee Engagement Mine Safety and Health Administration Department of Labor.
