As we report on our new internship program at Norwalk Hospital, we’re proud to declare that Kimberly Gaddy, today a Carver board member who also conducts a computer literacy program for Carver parents, was our first intern at Norwalk Hospital decades ago.
A Norwalk High School graduate in the 1980s, Kimberly received priceless and timely inspiration and work experience throughout her student years in the Carver community.
Born and raised in Norwalk, Kimberly was first introduced to computer science at the Carver Community Center. Carver’s then-executive director, Richard N. Fuller, Sr., gave her the responsibility of installing and maintaining the community center’s computers.
“One day, when I was just 16 years old, Mr. Fuller stopped me mid-stride in the hallway and asked me to configure and install the operating systems on three new IBM PCs (PS2s) newly obtained through a state grant. I had no experience at that point with such things, but that was the whole point. Mr. Fuller challenged me to stand up and embrace the challenge. And I did. From that point forward my interest in computers and technology soared,” Kimberly remembers.
In her senior year at Norwalk High School, Kimberly’s career in technology, data analysis, and reporting took a more definitive and ambitious turn when Mr. Fuller introduced Kimberly to leaders at Norwalk Hospital.
Dr. Shirley Williams, Chief of Outpatient Ambulatory Psychiatry, and Dolores Downer, RN, Director of what was then known as the hospital’s ICOTT Program, provided Kimberly the opportunity to work after-school and during the summer. Dr. Alexander Kolezar also gave Kimberly the opportunity to learn and manage what was then Microsoft’s newly launched windows-based productivity software suite called Microsoft Works for PCs, the prototype for what eventually became Microsoft Office.
Kimberly left Norwalk to pursue her undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Hampton University, a private, historically Black, research university in Hampton, Virginia.
“Throughout my years of undergraduate studies, I interned at Norwalk Hospital during my summer and winter breaks, which helped me to afford college. I was primarily responsible for office management, analyzing, and reporting on outpatient psychiatric data,” Kimberly explains. “The data was submitted to the Connecticut State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, as numerous state grants supported the hospital’s three psychiatric outpatient programs. This crucial connection was a pivotal ‘earn and learn’ experience that allowed me to successfull complete my undergraduate degree on time.”
After graduating from Hampton University, Kimberly was recruited as a Programmer Analyst by Aetna for the Aetna Information Technology Associate Program and was assigned to the Managed Care Systems team that supported Aetna’s National Provider and Non-Provider Databases.
Kimberly and her technology students (Carver parents) at the Carver Community Center
A few years later, Kimberly was offered an opportunity at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven as a Senior Systems Report Analyst in Information Services Planning & Data Management. She was responsible for data integrity and report generation for the hospital’s Clinical and Decision Support Systems. Before eventually moving on in her career, Kimberly was an Integration Analyst maintaining the hospital-wide system-to-system interfaces while embarking on the new world of data integration.
After working in the healthcare sector for many years an opportunity arose in the utility sector when she worked for Southern CT Gas Company while obtaining her Master’s Degree in Computer Science and continuing to develop her data integration and technology skills.
In 2005, Kimberly returned to healthcare and spent the next 11 years working for Yale University’s School of Medicine. Kimberly began there as a Senior Programmer Analyst III and then moved up to the Director of Information Systems and Decision Support position. Her primary responsibility was to manage and integrate information systems, provide training, and direct decision support needs for Yale Medical Group’s Revenue Cycle and Practice Management services. She also provided data-based information, training, and analytical solutions to Yale University School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Health System, improving the overall quality and cost-effectiveness of patient care and business services.
In early 2016, Kimberly signed on with Gartner, Inc. in Stamford as their Director of Reporting and Analytics. Gartner is an information technology (IT) research and consultancy company, formerly known as Gartner Group. Kimberly directed all aspects of the enterprise business intelligence, data warehousing, and data integration strategy for Global Consulting and provided the strategic long-term data and analytics vision through the implementation of repeatable processes and procedures improving productivity and reducing costs.
Kimberly teaches our parents in the Tech Center on the second floor of the Carver Community Center.
Kimberly created this computer literacy class in 2018. The free 8-week course meets twice a week. The curriculum provides introductory and intermediate training in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access. The goal is to close the digital divide for those parents who need the necessary skills to compete in our fast-paced technological economy. Some of our parents have never before turned on a computer. As of 2019, 28% of Norwalk residents were born outside of the United States. Norwalk Public Schools students speak 59 languages and come from 70 different countries.
Currently, Ms. Gaddy is a Senior Director, Data Analytics, in the Chief Data Office for Gartner Information Technology. She is the technical portfolio owner for Community Data Solutions, delivering analytical, operational, and new sources of data across all Gartner business units and driving transparency, collaboration, and consistency around data to provide first-class data and foster better data-driven decisions.
Kimberly began her IT career at the Carver Community Center before IT as we know it today was even a career field. Norwalk Hospital then opened career doors, gave her vital relationships, and revealed whole vistas of new knowledge and experience. Those priceless experiences blossomed into Kimberly’s now-28-year career that continues to expand into new frontiers in the evolving fields of Healthcare, Technology, Data, and Analytics.
Kimberly Gaddy is a Carver board member, Carver volunteer, lifetime scholar, professional achiever, and a shining example of what awaits Carver students who are willing to take the risks and invest the hard work necessary to realize their dreams.
Kimberly and Norwalk Hospital are Carver heroes.
Kimberly standing with Connecticut State Senator Bob Duff at the Carver Community Center