FST welcomes Kristie Smeltzer

Kristie Smeltzer

Before joining the Finance Strategic Transformation project team in early February, Kristie Smeltzer already had quite a bit of experience with large-scale change initiatives at UVA. 

Both in her role as a communicator in UVA HR during the Ufirst project and later in her communications role on the Organizational Excellence staff, Smeltzer had gained valuable experience in collaborating with others to move projects forward. 

An opportunity to join the project’s Change Management Team was attractive to Smeltzer as a natural next step to take, and a place where her experience and talent could have a wide impact.

“I’m excited about capitalizing on my experience at the University, both as a stakeholder and as a communicator, to collaborate with the good people already working on this project,” she says.

Smeltzer brings both her experience and considerable skill as a storyteller to her new communications role. Outside of her work at UVA, she has also served as Manager of Guest Studies and Services for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, is Burke Institute certified in Qualitative Research and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida. 

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For Smeltzer, writing and reading have been paramount in her professional, personal, and educational pursuits.

When she isn’t writing to share information with the UVA audience, Smeltzer is often at work on her own creative pursuits, including novels and short stories (her work has appeared in several literary magazines and journals) and teaching writing classes at Writer House of Charlottesville.

“As a teacher, my focus is often on listening. A good teacher listens to be able to meet people where they are and help them learn what they need to in order to get them to the next step closer to their goal,” she comments.

That focus, she acknowledges, is not unlike the support she provides to audiences affected by a transformative change initiative, shining a light on stakeholder stories that impact processes and translating technical terminology into layman’s terms to provide clarity and understanding.

“As a communicator who gets to delve into many different areas, I’ve really enjoyed absorbing the expertise people in those areas have, and listening to and learning the language that will be meaningful for our audience,” she says.