Blending passion and purpose is part of every job description at AM LLC
Three employees of the health solutions company discuss what they love about their roles, their company and their impact.
By WP Creative Group
CEO Dan Gabriel founded health solutions company AM LLC in 2012 with a mission to make a lasting impact on communities in need. AM LLC helps schools, health departments and government agencies confront large-scale public health challenges with innovative, streamlined solutions.
The company is staffed with teams of epidemiologists, nurses, public health specialists and data analysts who offer a wide range of public health services—from contact tracing and vaccine distribution to optimizing digital user interfaces and resource allocation. These employees bring years of training, experience and creativity to their jobs, but report benefiting from their day-to-day roles just as much as, if not more than, the communities they serve thanks to AM LLC’s empowering culture and the rewarding nature of their work.
Flexible work in a culture of trust
Although headquartered in Leesburg, Va., AM LLC employees are situated all over the country, meaning a majority of teamwork was organized via Zoom even before the pandemic. Remote work offers employees maximum flexibility which is an important factor to Miranda Weaver, senior vice president of health delivery services. She explains, “As a military wife, I need a job that goes with me wherever we go.”
Further, the remote work culture indicates just how much trust there is at the company. Supervisors simply know their teams will get the job done.
“No one’s looking over your shoulder,” says Jens Dakin, vice president for research and strategic engagement. “You’re allowed to just get on with what you have to do. They trust you.”
Company-wide work-from-home also facilitates a type of diversity that couldn’t be achieved in a traditional office. “I just love the early few minutes before Zoom calls, hearing what it’s like in New Mexico or in Vermont or elsewhere, and people who live in rural areas or intercity areas and different cultures across America,” Dakin shares. This geographical diversity has enhanced Dakin’s working experience. “That really does add value because everyone has a different learning experience and personal experience. I learn a huge amount from the people I work with every day.”
A core belief in teamwork
Although most AM LLC employees work remotely, the company still manages to create a sense of team where everyone feels valued and heard.
“The key thing for us is communication,” Dakin explains. “It’s very important when you’re dealing with people in different timezones to invest time in building those relationships with your colleagues because they’re not just in the next cubicle or the next corridor.”
To Weaver, a prime example of the company’s teamwork mentality is that good ideas are valued far more than seniority. “Anyone can raise their hand and have input,” Weaver says. The Army vet and military spouse puts the company’s culture in military terms: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a specialist or a colonel; we all get a seat at the table.”
Developer Sridevi Pacharu underscores the collaboration-forward culture: “Everyone here is very approachable whatever the issue may be.”
Innovative solutions
AM LLC centers innovation in a way that makes both their work and workplace unique. “I love being at the cutting edge of the research and behavior change communications for healthcare,” Dakin says. “It’s not a cookie-cutter approach. We very much tailor and localize our solutions and give that very bespoke, tailored service.”
AM LLC stands out from the pack because of the company’s forward-looking approach. Dakin explains, “I know a lot of competitors in our field, and we do things that are slightly different, slightly more innovative than they do. I like being encouraged to do that.”
He credits the company’s diverse employee population, especially diversity in employment backgrounds, as being a major factor propelling the company’s innovation. “We have taken the lessons learned from earlier careers and we’ve applied them to the local public health sector,” Dakin said.
Benefiting the greater community
Pacharu believes the positive impact on clients and communities is what keeps her and other teams at AM LLC so motivated to do quality work. It’s a sentiment Weaver shares.
Weaver has recently been overseeing a covid return-to-school program. “Midway through the school year, when all the other schools around them had been closed for virtual days because of COVID outbreaks, our school hadn’t been closed,” Weaver proudly shares. “I really think that we were able to change the mindset of a community from feeling unsure about COVID restrictions to knowing their school is safe.” As a mother of three, offering safety to families is the ultimate motivator.
Improving public health and safety is an undeniably hefty mission. AM LLC employees eagerly embrace the challenges and the work because healthier, happier and more informed communities is such a meaningful result.
“What’s been great for me personally, and for a lot of my colleagues,” Dakin says, “is that we have seen that our work in public health has likely saved thousands and thousands of lives and prevented thousands more people from getting sick.”
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