In September, 2014 Deborah Friedman joined the New York City Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations (OLR) as the Assistant Commissioner of Workforce Engagement and Innovation. Consistent with Mayor de Blasio’s vision, Deborah is charged with working with NYC agencies, the workforce and the municipal labor unions to improve services to New Yorkers through enhanced labor-management relationships and worker engagement. Deborah is working with leadership at City agencies and municipal labor unions to identify and implement quality programs that will lead to enhanced services as well as provide gain sharing opportunities. Developing a Culture of Health for the City workforce is another joint, inter-agency program for which Deborah is responsible. The joint team will be working to achieve the triple aim – improved health for all workers and their families, enhanced experience/access of care and to manage costs through WorkWell NYC. Partnering with agencies and academic institutions, Deborah will be working to build programs that will be spread through-out the municipal government and be sustained over time.Prior to Deborah becoming the Director of the 1199SEIU-League of Voluntary Hospital Labor-Management Project (LMP), she spent 15 years representing health care workers in multiple states including attending physicians, interns, residents and public hospital workers prior to her arrival at the LMP. Through this experience, she came to appreciate the need for a variety of skills, tools and processes to address issues that impact labor and management. After observing the destructive impact of traditional ways of working, Deborah sought out new approaches to resolve conflict constructively. She found working collaboratively with employers, focusing on satisfying the needs of both parties, was more effective in the long run. Specialties: conflict management, facilitation, mediation, designing organizational change initiatives, designing and delivering training programs