A proactive approach to innovation

Name: Nicollette Staton

Title: Director of the Office of Performance and Analytics

City: Cincinnati

“Sometimes innovation is about fixing problems from years ago,” said Nicollette Staton, director of Cincinnati’s Office of Performance and Analytics. “But we want to get it right the first time.”

One of the ways she’s pushing this proactive approach is through her team’s partnership with the city’s law department, which is designed to ensure new ordinances are data-informed, user-focused, and process-oriented from the start. For the city’s new short-term lease law, that included holding focus groups to incorporate citizen feedback into the registration process and making sure the city had the right technology for implementation.

Staton also serves as the data lead for the city’s just-launched What Works Cities Economic Mobility Initiative, which aims to help local businesses improve hiring and retention practices through a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. “We’re looking at city departments as beta tests for the interventions we’ll be using for businesses because we have personnel data,” she said. “We think it’s a unique opportunity to help people be successful in the workplace.”

Pro Tip:

“Take the time to understand why processes are the way they are, and then work with departments collaboratively to improve upon them.”