Employee Spotlight: Meg Duffy

Let’s get to know Meg Duffy! Meg grew up in New Jersey and lived in several different places before moving to DC almost 10 years ago. Meg received her B.S. in Elementary Education from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and her master’s in School Counseling from The College of New Jersey. Keep reading to learn more about Meg, her journey to FMP, and her involvement in FMP’s Charity Committee!

Tell us about your professional/educational background.  

Before I joined FMP in November 2021, I spent my entire professional career in the education and non-profit sectors. Right after college, I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and volunteered for 2 years. My first year, I taught 4^th grade in Denver, CO and my second year, I facilitated a teen dating violence prevention program for middle and high school students in the Chicago Public Schools district. These 2 years really started me on my path of working in the education and non-profit sectors. At the end of my second year, I moved back to New Jersey and got my master’s in School Counseling. I was then a 5^th and 6^th grade School Counselor in New Jersey for 7 years. During these summers, I helped to develop and run a summer service immersion program for middle and high school students in New Jersey. After about 7 years, I was looking for another challenge, so I moved to Boston and began running the Jumpstart for Young Children program at UMass Boston. This is an early childhood language and literacy program for preschoolers from underserved communities. I ran that program for 2 years and then moved to Washington, DC to run Jumpstart’s entire DC program. I did this work for 7 years and then moved on to The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC). At TWC, I managed the team that advised and placed in internships the college students who were coming to DC to complete TWC’s program. I was at TWC for 3 years and was finally looking to move away from the education and non-profit space. A friend told me about FMP, and here I am!

Share a fun life experience or story.

I love to travel, and you will often find me planning a trip to one place or another. In my last trip before the pandemic, in December 2019, I went to Guatemala, where my tour group and I spent one day hiking a mountain that was an active volcano. Even though the volcano was active, you were allowed to hike up to a certain part of it. Once we reached that point, our hiking guide took out a bag of marshmallows and some roasting sticks so we could roast marshmallows in a volcano! It was such a cool and unique experience, and the marshmallows really did melt.

What projects have you been working on since you joined?

Most of my time since joining FMP has been spent supporting one main client. On this project, I currently support the team that maintains the government agency’s current performance management, performance pay, and awards and recognition processes. In this work, I help develop resources, communications, and training to help the agency’s workforce complete all parts of the aforementioned processes. I also provide support to the Reimagining Performance Management (RPM) team. Most of my work with this team involves facilitating training focused on helping supervisors deliver effective feedback to their employees and helping employees receive feedback.

For the last year or so, I have also supported the FEMA. In this work, FMP is conducting competency modeling and career pathing for FEMA’s steady state workforce, and I perform a variety of project management tasks.

What keeps you excited to come to work every day?

I enjoy being able to work on different tasks each day. Working on different projects allows me to focus on a variety of tasks so I don’t feel like I get bored doing the same thing each day. It’s exciting to talk with clients to understand what they need help with and to be able to work together to come up with the best solution. I also appreciate the opportunity to work on internal projects and to explore my interests.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Charity Committee?

I have always enjoyed working in the community and continue to look for ways to be more involved. Being a part of the Charity Committee is a great way to engage with and support the Arlington community. I also like the diversity of events and opportunities the Charity Committee focuses on each year.

What is your favorite Charity Committee event/initiative you’ve been involved in and why?

I really enjoy the Children’s Charity Challenge, and it is one I have helped organize for the last 2 years. I love the idea that FMP is focusing on agencies/organizations across the country and are looking for ways to get everyone in FMP involved and not just those in the DMV.

Zoe Nerantzis joined FMP as a Consultant in May 2020 and works with the National Science Foundation team by supporting NSF’s learning and development branch. Zoe is from Rockville, Maryland and can generally be found reading fantasy novels, working out in her basement, or rooting for the Washington Football team.