Meet your AIIM peer Joan Darkortey. Joan joined AIIM in January of 2020 and attended AIIM20 where I had the pleasure of meeting this very diverse woman. Joan is a very busy young lady as she actively serves on the Diversity Advisory Council (DAC), OAS Division D&I Team, and served as Co-Chair of Blacks United In Leadership Development (BUILD) ERN from 2016-2018 while managing her role as a Senior RIM Analyst. You can find Joan in the community here.
Name Joan Curran Darkortey, EMBA, CIP, CLSSGB
Position Sr. RIM Analyst and Consultant
Company Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Where do you live in? Atlanta, GA
How long have you worked in information management? Approximately five years directly in RIM, but an additional 4 years indirectly while working in the Legal department.
What does your work entail? Do you have company support? How are you helping drive the goals of your office through your work? As a Sr. RIM Analyst and Consultant, my primary responsibility is to help staff understand and comply with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s records and information management (RIM) policy using the “Team Approach”. My team and I do this by ensuring staff meets annual compliance requirements, including records and information life-cycle management with an emphasis on annual disposition. We also spend a great deal of time promoting RIM awareness enterprise-wide; linking the benefits of RIM compliance to business line efficiency and productivity; and promoting continuous education through RIM Academy – an online site dedicated to educating RIM Liaisons through tutorials, videos, tips, and tools.
What has been the biggest success in your career in information management? When I started working in RIM, I felt that we were viewed as compliance agents instead of valued business partners. Similar to Auditors, we were seen less as helpers and more as people who were going to get a business line in trouble. One of my primary goals was to change the way RIM was perceived within our organization. I knew I had to come up with creative ways to demonstrate that our business is their business – that RIM is here to help them to be more productive and successful. When I began managing the RIM Liaison program, I rolled out many robust awareness campaigns that were both fun and engaging. I always presented topics and resources that were meaningful to business lines and at times brought in “heavy hitter” industry experts to shed a light on success stories from their organizations. I also facilitated many cross-department partnerships and collaborations on topics ranging from data management, information security, information mapping, metadata management, O365 adoption, team collaboration, diversity, Green shred-drive campaigns, and any other topic of interest to business lines. In almost five years, my efforts have resulted in RIM becoming both a highly visible and sought-after business partners throughout our organization. Now when people see me and my RIM counterparts, they greet us with a smile and sometimes we even get hugs. It’s amazing! We have become valued business partners.
What’s your current biggest work challenge? RIM compliance is a journey and not a destination, so the challenge remains to continuously improve. As technology advances, we too have to continuously innovate. We can’t get comfortable with what we have achieved so far. With records, data, and information being rapidly created and increasingly moving to the cloud, challenges and opportunities continue to present themselves. Additionally, COVID-19 has created a disruptive change in the way we work. Therefore, records and information managers have to remain agile and on the cutting edge seeking innovative new ways to help our organizations access, maintain, and ensure the integrity of information assets.
What does Intelligent Information Management mean to you? It means managing information in an intelligent, collaborative, innovative way. That’s what I strive to do every day as a RIM Consultant.
What are the top 3 things you are looking to get from your AIIM membership? Collaboration with other industry practitioners. tips, advice, and training that I can leverage in my organization and a support system to help me flourish professionally.
What’s one thing you’re looking forward to in 2021? I’m looking forward to the pandemic going away and life returning to a “new normal” where large gatherings won’t risk personal health and/or the welfare of others.
What is your end goal and how do you think we can help you achieve it? For over 12 years, I have worked in roles of increasing responsibilities in preparation to contribute at the Director and/or Officer level. I look forward to continued professional growth, mentorships and sponsorships to achieve this milestone in my career.
More about Joan -
Joan joined the Atlanta Fed in 2015 in her current role as a Senior RIM Analyst responsible for promoting District RIM awareness, business line consulting, and managing the RIM Liaison program. She is an O365 Adoption Champion and the immediate past Secretary of the Federal Reserve System’s Records Management Forum (RMF).
She actively serves on the Diversity Advisory Council (DAC), OAS Division D&I Team, and served as Co-Chair of Blacks United In Leadership Development (BUILD) ERN from 2016-2018. Prior to joining the Atlanta Fed, she worked at the Cleveland Fed for 8.5 years in various roles in Supervision & Regulation, Office of the Corporate Secretary and Legal, and Chaired Strengthening Talented African American Resources (STAAR) ERN.
Joan holds a B.A. in Political Science from Emory University, a paralegal degree from Clayton State University, and an Executive MBA in Business Strategy from Cleveland State University. She is a certified information professional (CIP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (CLSSGB), and litigation paralegal. She is the recipient of the 2014 Crain’s Cleveland 40 under 40, 2017 FRBA Corporate Citizenship Award, 2017 Cleveland State University Alumni Board Outstanding Public Service Award, and a lifetime member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society.
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