
Human-Centered Leadership in Action: Em Allan on Impact and Innovation
About this episode
In this episode of IMPACT: Women in Leadership, host Mary Ann Brown talks with Em Allan, Vice President of VA Operations at Oddball. Em shares how she leads multidisciplinary teams of engineers, program managers, UX designers, and product leads to deliver the seamless digital experiences and high-quality care veterans deserve. She explains what motivates her work and what “making an impact” personally means in the federal tech space.
Em also discusses how Oddball’s mission-driven culture has supported her growth. As a software consulting firm focused on modernizing federal citizen-centric services, Oddball empowers teams through strong engineering practices, human-centered design, cloud migration, DevOps excellence, and continuous delivery. Em highlights how this environment enables innovation and meaningful progress for the veteran community.
Throughout the conversation, Em reflects on building strong teams, leading with purpose, and fostering collaboration across diverse disciplines. She closes with actionable advice for women beginning their careers in federal tech and insights on how to create space for impactful leadership at every level.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyallan/
#WomenInLeadership #FederalTech #VeteransAffairs #DigitalModernization #Oddball #WomenInTech #LeadershipPodcast #GovTech #HumanCenteredDesign #ForumIMPACT #ForumIMPACTpodcast
IMPACT: Women in Leadership with Mary Ann Brown features conversations with trailblazing women shaping the future of business, government, and innovation.
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