PAEA Takes Home the Gold, Silver, and Bronze 

Leveraging the excitement around the Summer 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, PAEA staff participated in a Virtual Team-Building Olympics throughout the games, competing as teams to select which charities PAEA should donate money to this summer. 

The Olympics activities were fun, flexible, engaging, and full of healthy competition and centered around PAEA’s collaboration, well-being, and service behaviors. 

“Our engagement data at PAEA far exceeds national benchmarks, and efforts like the Olympic challenge demonstrate the intentionality of our efforts. This success is a testament to Christine (Vucinich’s) leadership, and her commitment to prioritizing initiatives that keep our staff connected and engaged,” said Kendall Mealy, PAEA’s Chief People Officer. 

Collaboration 

Staff were divided into groups outside their regular working teams to foster cross-functional teamwork, and they were assigned to a country to represent and research. 

Each team selected a captain who led them through various team-building activities and challenges that encouraged healthy competition and collaboration. These included guessing their assigned country’s medal count, playing Olympic trivia, and sharing a feature about their country to assist staff in learning about the rich diversity, unique stories, and athletic talents worldwide. 

Hannah De La Rosa, PAEA’s Manager, Research & Data Operations, said she “greatly appreciated the opportunity to connect with colleagues I don’t interact with regularly during our virtual Summer Olympics. The thoughtful organization of teams fostered meaningful connections and interactions, making the experience truly fulfilling. I always welcome opportunities to connect, learn, and grow alongside one another.” 

Conversations in the Microsoft Teams Staff Engagement channel soared as staff connected around their favorite events and highlights of the Olympic games. The most successful message thread involved each staff member sharing highlights from the cities and towns where they live across the US and then “passing the torch” to another staff member to share about theirs. This activity was inspired by a conversation with staff during the recent staff retreat, wanting to learn about our remote workforce and everyone’s location. Staff loved learning and sharing fun facts about where they live, and we discovered some commonalities in hobbies and interests. 

“As a newer staff member, I’ve really enjoyed learning about where other colleagues live and interesting facts about their hometowns. Working virtually with teammates can make it difficult to connect with others and this activity has helped bring us closer together. Everyone has participated and seems to enjoy sharing…I know I did,” said Susan Eckert, PAEA’s Member Experience Manager. 

Well-Being 

PAEA invests in the physical and mental health and well-being of staff throughout the year. There have been variations of a movement challenge over the last couple of years, and it is always fun and brings out the competitive spirit of the teams.  

The tradition continued during the summer games. Staff tracked their movements (walking, hiking, running, and other favorite exercises and activities) throughout the games. PAEA staff reached 2,331 miles in total. Their miles were factored into their overall score.

Service 

Keeping PAEA’s values at the forefront of the games, each of the winning teams competed for the prize of being able to select from a list of charities to which PAEA will donate. The People & Culture teams provided the winning teams with a list of charities that align with PAEA’s values. 

Congratulations to the Gold, Silver, and Bronze award winners.  PAEA is proud to support the charities each team selected. 

Gold Team:  

Team Captain: Kelly Powell 

Ashley Tucker 

Daphne Mills 

Joslyn Hanna 

Zach Britt 

Silver Team: 

Team Captain: Tyler Smith 

Amanda Moloney-Johns 

Erika Brooks 

Gremmarie Alma Jose 

Justine Mitchell 

Lynn Heitzman 

Bronze Team: 

Team Co-Captains: Chiquita Carey & Hannah De La Rosa 

Ashley Bray 

Barry Sawyer 

Emma Sellers 

Rachel Kuliani. 

PAEA’s People & Culture designed this activity which helped create a positive work environment and employee experience.  PAEA encourages you to find new ways to design opportunities for your team throughout the year and connect them to values and priorities that align with your culture.