Adrienne S. Gaston

Responsible for the oversight, budget, and strategic management of a staff of 40+, in 9 regional offices responding to approximately 5K new tort matters per year.

Established a high-performance culture within the team by setting clear expectations and providing regular feedback on individual performance contributions. Resulting in increased engagement survey scoring, three consecutive cycles.

• Developed and on boarded auditing template resulting in 8% increase in several key performance metrics.
• Collaborated closely with executive leadership to align department goals with overall company objectives, resulting in stronger organizational cohesion. Result was a %4 increase year over year increase in collections/subrogation efforts.
• Managed a diverse portfolio of projects, ensuring that each project met established quality standards and delivered expected results on time and within budget.
• Enhanced collaboration between team members by implementing innovative communication opportunities and fostering an open dialogue culture.
• Implemented data-driven decision-making processes, leading to more informed strategic choices and improved overall performance metrics.
• Increased efficiency by streamlining processes and implementing new software tools for the team.
• Enhanced communication between departments by developing effective reporting structures and information-sharing platforms. Resulted in focusing of safety efforts and a decrease in employee injuries.
• Led cross-functional teams to deliver successful projects on time and within budget, enhancing department reputation.

• Optimized project timelines by effectively delegating tasks and prioritizing workload among team members, thereby decreased time from 5 to 3 days to respond to individual inquiries in the annual financial audit request.
• Responsible for the strategic direction of Amtrak's Right Care Day 1 Program, ensuring employees injured at work received timely appropriate care, the opportunity to work in a modified duty capacity before returning to full duty and smoothly transition back to full duty.
• Cultivated a culture of innovation by promoting creative thinking and encouraging employees to take calculated risks in pursuit of solutions resulting in the development of various employee sponsored improvements in the processing of work.
• Developed strong relationships with key industry partners, fostering collaboration and mutual growth opportunities.
• Directed design and execution of business transformation initiatives to drive performance, profit optimization and growth opportunities.

• Led 9 regional claims offices and associated staff (29) to include oversight of their, staffing, leadership, operations and policies, processes, protocols, practices with respect to claims handling and disposition; training and process assurance; budget and budget management, interface and coordination with in-house and outside counsel; management of policies and practices concerning other vendors
• Directed, supervised, and mentored five Claims Managers and their staff members to ensure effective and fair resolution of claims and litigation
• Represented and shared Claims department observations and concerns as they pertain to enterprise risk management/safety issues with internal various departments and other railroads.
• Oversaw vendor contracts and deliverables to increase customer satisfaction by decreasing the length of time in resolving open matters.
• Additional responsibilities included serving as the Claims Administrator, liaised with information technology representatives and other departments and trouble shoot problems claims related issues, initiated and managed system enhancements to the application, and managed access to the Claims Application/Database.
• Served as project manager for the development, testing, and implementation of document management system to transition department to electronic files.
• Manages the collection and compilation of data into reports to facilitate analysis to assist the Senior Director in the identification of trends and formulation of strategies leading toward more efficient claims handling and to effectuate cost savings.
• Responsible for serving as a responsive liaison between the Claims Department and various auditing entities to comply with their requests
• Provided strong leadership to enhance team productivity and morale.
• Led cross-functional teams to achieve project milestones and deliver high-quality results.
• Established strong relationships with clients and stakeholders, ensuring long-term partnerships and repeat business.
• Improved team performance by providing comprehensive training and fostering a collaborative work environment.
• Collaborated closely with peers from other departments to drive organizational success jointly as one cohesive unit.

• Manage day to day operations of the unit; provide supervision and training to team members and defense counsel
• Monitor industry trends and benchmark with freight railroads
• Provide guidance and assistance to field claim offices in matters pertaining to occupational claims and litigation.
• Created advanced evaluation guide for Occupational claims and litigation.