Director of Organizational Culture and Work Life

Helen Blackman is the the director of Organizational Culture and Work Life. In this position, she is an advisor, facilitator, and coordinator for organizational change initiatives related to employees and employee engagement at Volpe, including diversity awareness, mentoring, team development, and other organizational development programs that strengthen organizational culture.

Blackman serves as a strategic advisor to the Volpe director, senior leaders, managers, and employees on employee and organizational issues. She assists leads strategic plans and initiatives that relate to organizational and cultural improvements.

Prior to her current position, Blackman was the regional civil rights director for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Cambridge, MA, for four years, and before that was an investigator in the Cambridge Regional Office for approximately four years. Before her work in the regional office, she served as an EEO investigator and compliance officer for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she focused on cases involving housing discrimination and helped to integrate the Vidor Housing Authority in Vidor, TX. She has also worked for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination as testing coordinator.

Blackman graduated from Simmons College in Boston with a degree in political science and sociology. She received a fellowship from the American Political Science Association to complete post-graduate work in political science at Louisiana State University and Southern University.