Q&A with Carla Goulart, President’s Award recipient

Goulart explains why collaboration is at the heart of SourceAmerica’s work

The annual President’s Award recognizes an individual who embodies SourceAmerica values. The President's Award winner is nominated by the Executive Leadership Team and the Business Leadership Team and then is selected by Richard Belden.

Carla Goulart, Senior Director of AbilityOne Strategic Business Development, received the most recent President’s Award from SourceAmerica leadership. Carla delivers outstanding leadership in supporting our customers, both internally and externally. As SourceAmerica's designated lead for the AbilityOne Representative program, Carla collaborated with National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and our U.S. AbilityOne Commission partners, to develop a robust agenda to identify, engage and obtain commitments from many of the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act federal agencies.

We got the chance to catch up with Carla about her COLLABORATION with others and here’s what she shared with us:

1. What does receiving this award from leadership mean to you?
   There are many individuals throughout the organization who work tirelessly to support our mission so to be chosen as “that individual” to receive the President’s Award is significant as it’s the single highest award that you can receive at SourceAmerica. I am very grateful for this recognition.
2. What does collaboration, one of our values, mean to you?
   Collaboration is taking different perspectives, different lenses and different parts of an organization and pulling them all together for a specific objective. It’s getting buy-in from those who don’t necessarily agree or see your point at first and it’s helping everyone understand the result/objective you are looking to achieve. It’s also about helping those functional areas understand why you need their support and help. It’s certainly a process in socializing the end goal multiple times with the various audiences and stakeholders.
3. How are you “A Force for Collaboration?”
   When the Office of Federal Procurement and Policy issued their memo in October 2021, for instance, we knew that there would need to be an action plan to ensure that the intent of the memo was understood. It meant supporting the AbilityOne® Commission in the development of these tactics and partnering with NIB. If only one organization presented their capabilities to the federal government, we might miss opportunities. Collectively we are focused on increasing those they serve – people with disabilities. We also want to make it easy for federal customers to work with us as CNAs. The AbilityOne Representatives from each of the federal agencies are great advocates for the program. We partner and share various ways to work together through the AbilityOne program. We must also continue to look at innovative ways for a federal agency to work with us. That’s part of my job.
4. How do you encourage others to be a force?
   I think you lead by example. You aren’t there to just lead the effort, but you must roll up your sleeves and contribute. Showing appreciation for those that are working with you is also important. Let the people, their supervisor and senior leadership know how they have contributed. Yes, we all have a job to do, but letting someone know that you appreciate what they are doing and that the work that they do is critical to the effort is key in helping move the objective forward. I believe people take pride in their work, and they want to know that they’ve made a difference. When you create a team that is focused on a collective outcome, and collectively you get the “win.”