CCA Contributes to Winter ACA Conference

CCA employees share professional expertise with corrections colleagues

CCA employees joined corrections professionals from across the nation at this year’s winter ACA conference, held January 22-27 in Tampa, Florida, as session leaders.

Bill Rusak, human resources specialist and former CCA executive vice president, Human Resources, led a workshop on workplace conflict. The session emphasized the importance of managing conflict, particularly in a correctional environment.

“Many of our customers were present at the conference so we shared with them some of our expertise for their benefit,” says Rusak. “As an industry, it’s good that we go beyond looking at each other as competitors because there are common denominators that can unite us and help us make corrections a great and viable industry.”

Attendees received personal profiles and development guides for their own conflict management improvement plans. Michelle Ryder, assistant warden, Programs and Operational Support at CCA’s Marion County Jail II and K. Danielle Edwards, CCA communications writer, facilitated a session entitled, “The Many Colors of Leadership: Blending Cultural, Generational, Personality and Gender into a Leadership Style.” The workshop examined the ways that employees’ backgrounds and other personal traits call for varied management styles.

“The idea for this session was sparked by a ‘Women in Leadership’ workshop I coordinated at last year’s ACA Summer Conference,” Ryder says. “We discussed how personality plays into every part of leadership and when you’re managing people you have to consider their background, culture, age and other factors.”