Deborah Lipscombe is a Regional Director at Service BC. Deborah has provided outstanding and collaborative leadership on several projects within the BC Public Service and with establishing an important network with Service Canada.
In 2004, Deborah worked on the Leading the Way project in BC which included the bundling of services so citizens and businesses would have streamlined decision making and ministries would be able to free up resources. Later that year, Deborah led a special project team to pilot the feasibility of the Front Counter BC concept. Under Deborah’s leadership, the project was a success and there are now 29 Front Counter BC locations across British Columbia. Deborah has led important partnerships with other ministries and levels of government
In addition to her work in BC, Deborah has worked with Service Canada to develop a network of Service Canada/Service BC outreach services for remote communities. In 2006, Deborah was approached by Service Canada to help provide “short term” outreach in the northern community of Mackenzie BC. She clearly saw the benefit of co-offering federal and provincial services to the citizens of this remote community and through her vision; Service Canada was able to place staff on the ground within weeks to provide integrated federal and provincial services to citizens. Working in partnership with her colleagues in Service Canada, Deborah continued to grow a network of Service Canada /Service BC outreach services. Through Deborah’s leadership, this model of federal/provincial service delivery continues today in various regions across Canada; her work helped establish a template for integrated service delivery across Canada that is customized to the local needs of the community and its citizens.
In 2008, Deborah formed a partnership between with the Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Labour and Citizens’ Services, BC Archives, Friends of Barkerville and the Fort Steele Heritage Town. In 2010, Deborah led a cross-jurisdictional team consisting of Labour and Citizens’ Services, Justice, Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Social Development to create a model for a single point of contact for citizen centred services that could be replicated in small rural communities. Both of these projects have received Premier’s Awards.
Deborah’s strong leadership and drive are illustrated in her many projects, which have contributed to transformational change to the quality of public service delivery at Service BC. In 2013, BC launched the BC Services Card and its success required collaboration between Service BC offices and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), Drivers’ Services. Ted Ockenden, of the ICBC, Drivers’ Services commented, “this was a significant undertaking that required considerable change management, process and information technology adaptation. Deborah’s can-do approach and innovation led to this program being a complete success, with minimal staff impact and optimal customer impact!”
The winner of the 2014 award truly exemplifies the high expectations embodied in the ICCS Heintzman Leadership Award.
