October 2026 Employees of the Month
Published: June 25, 2026
Updated: November 10, 2026
Every month, the employees at Strategic Communications are given the opportunity to acknowledge exemplary colleagues within or outside their department. Three individuals were chosen by their coworkers for their commitment to customer service, perseverance in the face of challenges, and can-do attitudes!
Steven Barousse
PMO Director
- When did you start working for Strategic Communications?
I began my journey with Strategic in 2019 as a hybrid Design Engineer / Project Manager. After a gap year, I returned in a Program Management role supporting our growing Enterprise line of business, which eventually evolved into establishing and leading our Project Management Office. - What is the best career lesson you've learned so far?
Know your limits! It’s partly self-preservation, but it’s also a great risk-reduction technique. If you’re consistently operating beyond your capacity, eventually you’ll reach a tipping point and one of the balls you’re juggling is going to drop. Don’t let it crush you, or those around you. 😊 - What is the one thing, you can’t live without?
Peace and quiet. I need quiet moments to distill my day, stay grounded in the things that matter most, and recharge my battery. - What has been your biggest accomplishment on our team?
Helping build out our PMO and achieving CMMI Level 2 was a career highlight for me. More importantly, it has been a big part of my own professional growth and how I think about building scalable, repeatable processes. - If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Hmm. Maybe Anthony Bourdain. I think it would be amazing to eat and drink our way through a city with him serving as tour guide and storyteller. - What is your current favorite TV Show, Podcast, or Book that you’d like to share with the world?
I love learning, and lately I’ve been enjoying the AntsCanada YouTube series with my youngest. It’s turned into a fun way for us to learn together about everything from symbiotic relationships and microbiomes to the surprisingly complex ecosystems happening right under our feet.
Mike Christensen
Regional Sales Director
- When did you start working for Strategic Communications?
I've been with Strategic since April of last year. - What was your background prior to working for Strategic Communications?
I’ve spent my career in technology sales. Since September 1999, I've focused heavily on the public sector's state, local, and education markets. My background includes driving growth with OEM software leaders like Microsoft, as well as potential high-growth tech startups like Good Technology and Hortonworks. Across my career, I've split my time roughly evenly between hitting quota as an individual contributor and scaling high-performing sales teams. - What aspect of your job do you find most rewarding or fulfilling?
I love the collective energy of great teamwork. As a sports fan, I’ve always believed that when a team is completely in sync, success is inevitable. Sales is no different, there's nothing more fulfilling than collaborating with colleagues across departments to execute a strategy and cross the finish line together. - What is the best career lesson you've learned so far?
To constantly leverage the experience of the people around you, regardless of tenure. You can, and should, learn from everyone: seasoned peers, cross-functional partners, leadership, and even brand-new team members bringing fresh perspectives. - Outside of work, what are you passionate about/enjoy doing?
Traveling and spending time with family. My wife and I make frequent trips to visit our sons in New York City and Charleston, and we've also loved exploring Europe, taking five trips there over the last ten years. - What is something that people may not know about you?
For the past three years, I’ve spent my Saturdays moonlighting as a tour guide, driving tourists around Washington, D.C.'s monuments in golf carts!
Kristen Harris
SLED Cooperative Contracts Specialist
- When did you start working for Strategic Communications?
I've been a member of the team since February 2025. - What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on at Strategic?
We did an Application Development project that was really eye-opening. Helping a customer find the right vendor fit on a project that size was really awesome. There were a bunch of vendors that could do the work, but narrowing down the specifics on what works best for them was the highlight for me. I really enjoy making sure the end user gets exactly what they are looking for at the end of the day. - What does your dream vacation look like?
That depends on the time of the year, living in Buffalo a break from the winter snow is welcome. So a sunny beach with crystal blue water is fantastic. However, in the summer my family has a small place in the Adirondack mountains in NY. Whether it's floating in the boat on the lake or sitting around a warm fire with some s'mores it is by far my favorite place to be. - Who is your favorite musical artist, and what was the first concert you attended?
Honestly, I listen to just about everything; the shuffle on my Spotify is probably confusing to most people. One artist I would go see over and over is Ed Sheeran. He does amazing things with a loop pedal. In a completely different genre, my parents took me to my first EVER concert at the NY State Fair; it was Alabama. - How would your family, friends, or coworkers describe you in three words?
Patient, intelligent, and ambitious. - What is your current favorite TV Show, Podcast, or Book that you’d like to share with the world?
Lately I've been watching "Ride or Die" with Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham. It's an easy laugh with a few plot twists to keep you guessing. .
