With 25 years of service-oriented expertise, Bette-Jo Hughes is one of the most respected leaders in the public service. For several years, Bette-Jo’s career had been in the service delivery field where she focused on delivering great services to citizens. In October 2012, Bette-Jo took on a different role, Chief Information Officer for the Province of British Columbia. Although Bette-Jo’s role was quite different in the CIO office, she realized that the same principles she had used in her service delivery work also applied to her new role as a CIO. Bette-Jo demonstrated outstanding leadership and a long term commitment to improving the service experience for citizens interacting with government. She was a catalyst for improving the coordination and delivery of services in BC, emphasizing the value of partnerships that can improve services, reduce costs and make better use of resources. Bette-Jo significantly influenced the BC government strategic priorities outlined in “Our Citizens @ the Center”, “BC Government 2.0 Strategy” and the “BC Public Service Corporate Plan: Where Ideas Work”. The prominence of citizen service excellence is imbedded in all of these plans and was heavily influenced by Bette-Jo’s commitment to service delivery.
In addition to her work with BC, Bette-Jo Hughes served as a member of the Public Sector Service Delivery Council (PSSDC) and Public Sector Chief Information Officer Council (PSCIOC) working with public service leaders from across Canada and from all levels of government. Bette-Jo Hughes was also a member of the ICCS Board of Directors and served as the ICCS President in 2011-2012.
In 2017, Bette-Jo retired from the BC Public Service. Bette-Jo’s commitment to collaboration and citizen-centred service and her willingness to take on any challenge, demonstrates what good leadership looks like in today’s Public Service.
