Agenda 02/28/2023 Item # 5A (2022 Supervisor of the Year - Rafaela Zapata - Communications, Goverment & Public Affairs Division)5.A
02/28/2023
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OBJECTIVE: To recognize the efforts and accomplishments of an employee who has made significant
contributions to the organization and our community.
CONSIDERATIONS: Each year as part of the County's formal employee recognition program, the Human
Resources Division facilitates the process to allow employees across the agency to submit nominations for the
Supervisor of the Year. This year, names of eleven County supervisors were submitted for consideration and six
were ultimately ranked by the Selection Committee. Each nomination highlighted the diverse accomplishments,
fortitude through adversity, and examples of exceptional leadership characteristics that demonstrate the
commitment of these supervisors to making Collier County the best community in America to live, work, and play.
Rafaela Zapata is an Operations Supervisor I in the Communications, Government & Public Affairs Division and
has been employed with the County since March 2011. Rafaela demonstrates extraordinary leadership capabilities
in rallying her team, peers, management, and local partners(?) toward the achievement of objectives. This is
accomplished through her efforts at actively listening, creating detailed plans, effectively communicating,
organizing her work, eagerly mentoring and training others, and displaying an energetic approach to serving the
community.
On Monday, September 26, 2022, two days before Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, Rafaela
relocated the Collier 311 Program and five staff members to the Emergency Services Center (ESQ. This was done
to ensure continuity of operations and resiliency of communication with the public, visitors, vendors, strategic
partners, and neighboring municipalities. Rafaela's training, skills, and proven abilities in effective planning,
communication, and coordination resulted in the integration of other County resources to the group, during which
time she led a much larger cross -functional team around the clock, during and after the hurricane. Using the newly
introduced 311 QScend Software, she and the team were able to accurately monitor incoming calls, properly route
actions, and develop reports for management to review. Rafaela was responsible for intake, scheduling, training,
maintaining the knowledge base, whiteboard updates, monitoring the high call volume, and providing call trend
reporting to pinpoint gaps in service, impacts to safety, and identification of potential damage to critical
infrastructure.
The work in which she and the Collier 311 team engaged to support the community, along with her determination
to help others during a difficult time, contributed to maintaining open lines of communication with the public,
including managing incoming calls from numerous surrounding municipalities. Under Rafaela's guidance and
leadership, the cross -functional team served with distinction and professionalism by listening, learning, acting, and
adapting to a rapidly changing work environment.
Through Rafaela's leadership and the 311 program's actions, potential negative impacts to life, health, and safety
within the community due to Hurricane Ian were mitigated through effective documentation, organization, and
routing of information to the appropriate teams to protect the citizens of Collier County.
For these reasons, Rafaela Zapata was selected as the 2022 Supervisor of the Year.
FISCAL IMPACT: The selected "Supervisor of the Year" receives a $250.00 cash award. Funds for this are
available in the employee's budget cost center.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There are no Growth Management Impacts associated with this
Executive Summary.
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5.A
02/28/2023
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 5.A
Doc ID: 24672
Item Summary: Recommendation to recognize Rafaela Zapata, Communications, Government & Public Affairs
Division, as the 2022 Supervisor of the Year.
Meeting Date: 02/28/2023
Prepared by:
Title: Division Director - Human Resources — Human Resources
Name: Amy Lyberg
02/13/2023 2:09 PM
Submitted by:
Title: Division Director - Human Resources — Human Resources
Name: Amy Lyberg
02/13/2023 2:09 PM
Approved By:
Review:
Human Resources
County Manager's Office
Board of County Commissioners
Amy Lyberg Director Review
John Mullins County Manager Review
Geoffrey Willig Meeting Pending
Completed 02/13/2023 2:09 PM
Completed 02/21/2023 9:30 AM
02/28/2023 9:00 AM
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