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Deidre Dixon is a 43-year career Executive Assistant and has served Blue Cross Blue Shield Association for 16 years of those years, where she has demonstrated tremendous loyalty, integrity, and a deep commitment to administrative excellence. Deidre’s passion for providing an extraordinary customer experience and positive outlook and can-do attitude make her a model for how work at BCBSA gets done. Deidre Co-Founded the Administrative Professionals Forum at BCBSA, an employee resource group for internal Admins and is a fierce champion and celebrator of the contributions of her administrative professional colleagues which has raised morale and pride across the organization. As part of that, Deidre’s leveraged her artistic gifts in art and poetry to write and design a motivational booklet for her colleagues titled “A Daily Reminder” to lift and inspire those around her. Deidre, BlueCross BlueShield Association is so lucky to have your loyalty indeed!   Let’s hear it for Deidre!

Alexandra Taylor is Manager, Executive Operations – Commercial at Epizyme, where she has a reputation for solidly staying 10 steps ahead in everything she does. Her philosophy is “no job is too big or too small,” and she puts that mantra into action every day, whether that requires serving as a gatekeeper, diplomat, organizer, communicator or confidence keeper. She has the unique ability to efficiently multitask, collaborate and provide suggestions to mitigate potential workday roadblocks. For Alexandra, it’s not just about “doing the job” — it’s about how doing the job makes people feel. During times of stress, Alexandra maintains a focus on the positive by keeping the culture of the company — resilience, collaboration and communication — top of mind for the team through her words and actions. Likewise, she makes every customer interaction enjoyable and productive by ensuring all stakeholders have the information and resources necessary to succeed. It’s no wonder her colleagues call Alexandra “the best of the best.”

Jaci Spross is Executive Assistant at Synopsys, where she is a role model, cheerleader and leader to everyone — especially to other Admins. Jaci excels at mentoring the local Synopsys Hillsboro Administrative teams to ensure they are a cohesive, functioning group, which is key to ensuring Synopsys functions with integrity and efficiency. She encourages each member of the Admin team to share best practices and experiences, and during the company’s work from home situation, she scheduled weekly virtual chats with the administrative team to continue relationship building and sharing any concerns. Jaci’s accomplishments and positive impact on Synopsys are practically endless — a few examples include her development and successful implementation of a new SEG Award program, development of a departmental webpage to recognize outstanding employees, and completion of the Business Resiliency Continuity Manager certification. Jaci is not only a vital asset to her team, but to the entire company as she consistently embodies what it is to be a Synopsys employee.

Junell Lewis is Senior Executive Administrative Assistant at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, where she has listened, responded, partnered with, and supported teams in ways that have helped the hospital reach daunting goals never before achieved. Her exceptional compassion and initiative were especially evident at the onset of the pandemic, during which she shared her own experiences to help Lurie’s leaders better understand the unique needs of the entire Chicago community. With her vice chair, Junell came into the office every weekday and weekend for weeks at a time during COVID-19 to support faculty and members of the care teams and spend extra time with team members who were facing significant challenges. Junell is the unquestioned leader among her peers in spirit, solution-oriented problem-solving and supportive teamwork. She helps dozens of her teammates, directly and indirectly, meet their goals every single day — and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Marion Riemenschneider is Executive Assistant to the CEO of Novartis, who fully credits Marion’s extraordinary proficiency, dedication, and willingness to go the extra mile with ensuring the success of his transition to CEO. In addition to her organizational, communication, and collaboration skills, she consistently demonstrates tremendous adaptability and agility, establishing herself as a true and valued partner. Marion cares deeply about Novartis and the ways in which the company impacts the world, seeing her work as serving the higher purpose of improving human health. She shows tremendous leadership in navigating multiple asks and handling them with courage and tact while maintaining an upbeat approach that ensures continued positive relationships with key stakeholders across various offices and sectors. Additionally, she created and leads a network of more than 100 Executive Assistants across the company, engaging them to collaborate in their daily work, share best practices, and support each other professionally and personally. Marion is a shining example of leadership who brings her whole heart to her work and ensures her peers receive the support, dignity, and recognition they deserve.

Lisa Habig is Senior Executive Assistant to the CEO of PTC, Inc., where she has garnered a reputation as a truly exceptional and trusted partner. She is known for being tough, smart, hard-working, positive, and committed to excellence, and a confident self-starter who proactively addresses day-to-day challenges and opportunities. Through her own initiative, Lisa pulled together all of PTC’s Executive Assistants into an EA Forum where they meet periodically to collaboratively discuss and align around best practices and company-wide standards for the profession. After seeing her exceptional skills as a manager, PTC changed reporting structures so that all EAs now report to Lisa. Though she often has many balls in the air at once, she never drops any, always maintaining her impeccable work standards. Lisa has become a powerful force at PTC in just a few short years, emerging as a respected member of the executive leadership team whose leadership qualities distinguish her as an invaluable colleague.