Extraordinary Employees Build Bridges for UVA

Amanda Crombie’s outstanding dedication to collaboration and innovation has made a lasting impact on the University of Virginia community. Through her work with UVA Recreation and the Outdoor Adventure program, she has created inclusive, experiential opportunities that enrich the lives of students, faculty, and staff. Her leadership at the Batten School has been instrumental in the development of multidisciplinary courses, such as Teambuilding and Facilitation, and Outdoor Leadership: Building a Team, which offer students rare, hands-on learning experiences that build leadership and teamwork skills in outdoor settings.

Amanda’s commitment to cross-departmental partnerships exemplifies the spirit of the Hoos Building Bridges Award. She has championed the Challenge Course as a powerful tool for personal and team development, while also serving as a long-time fitness instructor, expanding access to wellness opportunities across Grounds. Her ability to bring together resources and support from various departments has significantly enhanced student engagement and experiential learning.

My interactions with Amanda are only a small part of her role/commitment to improving the University. I know that she has developed many other successful partnerships and programs across Grounds. She's one of those special people at UVA that has the capacity and drive to bring exciting visions to life. Amanda’s work is a shining example of what it means to build bridges across the University community. -- Matthew Busch, Nominator

Karen Forsman exemplifies the Hoos Building Bridges Award through her visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to collaboration at UVA Health. As Administrator of the Heart and Vascular Service Line, she has united diverse teams across specialties, departments, and institutions to deliver integrated, patient-centered care. Her initiatives—such as creating a bed coordinator role, launching critical alert systems, and developing programs for connective tissue disorders—have improved patient outcomes and operational efficiency. Karen’s partnerships with Radiology, Transplant Services, and community organizations like Riverside Health System have broken down silos and expanded access to advanced care. 

Her leadership is both strategic and deeply personal. Launching programs for connective tissue disorders, including Ehlers-Danlos and Marfan syndrome, demonstrates her commitment to addressing longstanding community needs. Her leadership extends beyond UVA, however, as seen in her work with the Earn While You Learn Program, the Riverside Health System, and MedAxiom Academy She fosters a culture of trust, innovation, and shared purpose, empowering her teams through initiatives like Quality Support Teams and clinical ladders for sonographers. Her presence in clinical areas, hands-on support, and recognition of team achievements inspire a collective mission rooted in compassion and excellence. As one moving moment at her annual Quality Symposium demonstrated, Karen’s work not only builds systems but also touches hearts—creating pathways that improve lives and uniting a team that believes deeply in the mission they serve.

Karen's colleagues had many examples of her building bridges at and beyond UVA:

• What truly sets Karen apart is her remarkable collaborative approach. She has an innate ability to bring together diverse teams, fostering an environment where everyone is eager to contribute to finding solutions. -- John Bennett, Chief Ambulatory Operations Officer, University Medical Center
• Karen’s leadership style is characterized by her mastery in driving engagement— she consistently inspires high levels of participation and commitment by creating inclusive environments where team members feel empowered and supported to contribute their best. This combination of emotional acuity and strategic team building has made her a pivotal figure in advancing integrated, patient-centered care for the Heart and Vascular Service Line at UVA Health. -- Reid Adams, Chief Medical Officer, University Medical Center
• She is not only a key operational leader but also a true teammate—someone who listens deeply, communicates transparently, and navigates complex challenges with grace and steadiness. Her ability to align stakeholders, support interdisciplinary work, and connect people across roles and departments is a hallmark of her leadership. -- Rachel Nauman, Administrator, Ambulatory Nursing
• Karen is a master class study in precise, effective communication… she always finds time to reach out to a front-line team member to drop a note of thanks, support or acknowledgement. Her inclusive, emotionally intelligent leadership continues to inspire trust, foster diversity, and drive meaningful change across UVA Health. Her work truly embodies the essence of the Hoos Building Bridges Award. -- April Howell, nominator
• Our Heart & Vascular Center imaging work is done in collaboration with our Radiology colleagues. Karen's longstanding relationships and trust from that group allowed us to collaborate at a higher level and effect substantive improvements in many of our collective imaging areas. -- Thomas Miller
• I think of Karen's work with our Community Partners ... and the Riverside Heart Surgery program. She has helped support that group and is part of the leadership team. Her priority has been to ensure the teams have what they need to take care of the patients. -- Judy Smith
• As a leader, Karen has an innate ability to create engagement amongst her team, building a foundation that takes on new challenges, initiates new programs, collaborates with other services or institutions, and promotes the values of our organization. -- Michael Gelvin
• Karen hosts leadership meetings with directors, managers, and leaders, but is includes our “rising stars.” This effort helps to prepare our team members to grow, professionally, in leadership, which supports succession planning -- Suzanne Waters
• I have been with the organization for a year and a half and believe my success as a contributor to our institution is in large part supported by Karen’s leadership. She is a shining example of "Hoos Building Bridges." -- Bernie Ammons
• I have always found Karen to be an approachable and fair Administrator for the Heart & Vascular Center as well as the Medical Center at large. -- Robbin Shifflett

Lela Garner is a standout leader and connector at the University of Virginia, whose work in sustainability, student engagement, and community-building exemplifies the spirit of the Hoos Building Bridges Award. Through her leadership in the Office for Sustainability, Lela has developed and managed a wide range of impactful programs—from Green Games and Zero Waste Ambassadors to the UVA Student Garden and Earth Month events—each designed to foster collaboration across students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

She is also the founder of the UVA Young Professionals Network, a grassroots initiative that has brought together hundreds of staff and graduate students across departments. Through thoughtfully planned social events—ranging from happy hours at local businesses to collaborative outings with the Virginia Fine Arts and Morven Kitchen Garden—Lela has created meaningful opportunities for connection, belonging, and even professional collaboration. Her inclusive approach, complete with calendar invites and name tags, ensures everyone feels welcome. As one nominator shared, “These events have not only made me feel more at home… but have actually led to professional connections which have developed into cross-university collaborations.”

Lela’s ability to turn visionary ideas into tangible, inclusive projects—like the Garden Story Walk and graduation balloon reuse initiative—demonstrates her deep commitment to sustainability and human connection. Her leadership style is marked by warmth, creativity, and a tireless dedication to helping others succeed.

Each nominator offered reflections that speak to Lela’s extraordinary impact.

• She is the very illustration of big, positive impacts that one person can have in their community. -- Christine Alencar
• Lela always gets the job done in an effective and friendly manner. -- Erika Herz
• Her willingness to teach students, collaborate with me and the students on projects, and imagine how we can work together to integrate classroom concepts with experiential learning is truly amazing. -- Kate Stephenson
• Lela exemplifies what it means to be a bridge builder, seamlessly integrating across departments and inspiring others through her commitment to partnership, sustainability, and community engagement. -- Bree Knick
• The Young Professionals Network events have not only made me feel more at home… but have actually led to professional connections which have developed into cross-university collaborations. -- Fiona Flynn
• Lela creates a culture of collaboration, no matter how large or small. -- Allie Berry

Together, these voices paint a portrait of a leader whose generosity, vision, and bridge-building spirit have made UVA a stronger, more connected community. 

Nic Miceli has been a transformative force at UVA, building bridges across departments, disciplines, and communities to address one of the most pressing challenges facing employees: access to child care. Since 2021, Nic has led the UVA Family Support Collab (FSC), guiding the group through the creation of a charter, conducting a university-wide market study and survey, and developing actionable recommendations that have shaped institutional policy. Her leadership was especially critical during the pandemic, when she worked directly with child care providers to navigate COVID protocols and ensure safe, reliable care for UVA families. Her efforts led to the adoption of several key recommendations, including the creation of her current role as UVA’s first Child Care Navigator—a position in which she continues to connect families with vital resources and support.

Nic’s work has expanded to include eldercare support and summer care options, all while maintaining a deep commitment to equity and inclusion. Her ability to listen, organize, and act has had a direct impact on the lives of countless employees, including one GME trainee couple who were able to continue their medical training thanks to Nic’s intervention in securing child care. 

Nic has demonstrated, over many challenging years, an outstanding commitment to leading collaboratively in order to enact meaningful improvement for UVA employees. She approaches everything she does with incredible thoughtfulness and respect. She applies an equity lens to all of her work, asking not just who is "not at the table" in discussions, but also "why not?" She is a stalwart champion for all and is explicitly so for the more vulnerable in our community. -- Diane Farineau, Nominator

Christoph Reinicke has led several impactful projects at UVA that demonstrate his commitment to innovation, collaboration, and operational efficiency. Some of the specific projects he has spearheaded include:

Development of Power Apps: Christoph has been a key leader in a university-wide initiative to create custom, low-code Power Apps within the Microsoft ecosystem. These apps address complex challenges such as:

• Data governance: Improving frameworks for managing and securing institutional data.
• Employee onboarding: Streamlining the onboarding process for new hires across departments.
• Self-service application tools: Enabling departments to build their own internal tools to meet specific needs without relying heavily on central IT.

Cross-functional collaboration: He has brought together IT professionals, analysts, and functional users from various schools and units to co-design these tools, ensuring they are scalable and adaptable across the university.

Operational efficiency initiatives: Christoph has worked closely with administrative, academic, and service units to align technology solutions with their unique workflows, improving both user experience and institutional effectiveness.

Beyond his technical expertise, Christoph is a connector of people and ideas. He actively builds bridges across academic units, administrative offices, and external institutions, creating collaborative spaces where shared challenges are met with collective solutions. His approachable communication style and strategic vision have helped break down silos, accelerate project timelines, and embed IT as a true partner in the University’s mission. Christoph’s leadership style is innovative, inclusive, and deeply committed to building a stronger, more connected UVA.

Christoph approaches collaboration not as a transactional necessity, but as a strategic opportunity to bring people together around shared challenges and collective solutions. He is not just a connector of systems and processes, but of people. -- David Gellner, Nominator

This nomination tells a powerful story of compassion, collaboration, and life-changing support from a team of UVA professionals who went above and beyond for the son of a faculty member a student and his family during a medical crisis. The experience had a profound emotional and practical impact on the son’s family. Faced with the terrifying medical diagnosis, they were thrust into a whirlwind of medical decisions, logistical challenges, and emotional strain. The support they received from UVA—through Dr. Kristen A. Atkins, Dr. Nathan Roberts, and Mandy Eppard—provided not only critical medical coordination but also a deep sense of care and reassurance during a time of immense uncertainty.

Dr. Kristen Atkins, Pathology Division Chief at UVA Health and a family friend to the nominator, immediately stepped in to coordinate care, navigate logistical hurdles, and provide emotional support. Dr. Nathan Roberts, oncologist, not only offered expert medical care but also listened deeply to the son's wishes, helping him return to college to complete his senior year while ensuring continuity of treatment. When a last-minute insurance issue threatened to derail his chemotherapy, Mandy Eppard, UVA’s Health Ombudsman, worked tirelessly—while technically out of office—to resolve the crisis, coordinating with AETNA and the son’s university to ensure his treatment could begin on time.

For the son’s parents, the ability to maintain a treatment plan that allowed their son to stay in school and live as normally as possible was life changing. The nominator described feeling “despondent” when insurance complications threatened to derail everything, and “forever in debt” to Mandy Eppard for resolving the issue. The family’s sense of relief and gratitude is palpable: they were able to focus on supporting their son emotionally and physically, rather than being consumed by administrative barriers. Ultimately, the experience reinforced their trust in the UVA community and highlighted the extraordinary impact that compassionate, coordinated care can have on a family in crisis.
The nominator’s gratitude is deeply felt in his words:

• Of Mandy Eppard: Doing her job changed my son’s life – and our lives – in ways that we do not have words to describe.
• Of Dr. Roberts: He treated my son as a whole individual, not just another cancer case.
• And of Dr. Atkins: She was calm, cool, and beyond empathetic.

This team’s extraordinary efforts not only ensured the son received timely, effective care but also allowed him to continue living his life as a student, not just a patient. Their actions embody the very essence of the Hoos Building Bridges Award—bringing people together across roles and institutions to make a profound difference.

Pipelines & Pathways (P&P) is a standout example of bridge-building at UVA, connecting internal departments and external partners to create meaningful workforce development opportunities. Since January 2023, the program has placed 300 individuals into employment, conducted 82 training programs, and participated in 130 community outreach events. These accomplishments are made possible through deep collaboration with hiring managers, HR professionals, training providers, local governments, and community organizations. P&P’s HOOS Training Programs–including HOOS Driving, HOOS OnDemand, HOOS Caring, HOOS Greeting, and customized computer competency course for UVA Business Services and Parking & Transportation employees–exemplify this model, offering paid, cohort-based training that includes both technical and soft skills development. Participants become full-time, benefited employees from day one, and receive wraparound support services and case management to ensure long-term success.

The P&P team plays a hands-on role in every phase of the process—from workforce needs assessments and curriculum development to recruitment, onboarding, and post-placement support. Their efforts have not only increased access to employment at UVA but also strengthened community ties and improved retention through inclusive, team-oriented training. Programs like “Pathways to Success” for reentry populations and customized workshops for departments like UTS demonstrate the team’s adaptability and commitment to equity.

By fostering partnerships across schools, units, and the broader community, Pipelines & Pathways is building a more inclusive and connected workforce—one bridge at a time.