Leading the Way Alumni Spotlight: Jackie Csiszar
Name: Jackie Csiszar
Cohort: 13
Graduation Year: 2016
Current Position: Vice President of Customer Experience, ContainerPort Group
What has your professional journey looked like since graduation?
My journey moved into high gear - I was promoted to Vice President of Vessel Operations shortly after graduation. About a year after that, I was given responsibility for our Container Transload Facility (CTF). Both units continued to be profitable and experience growth. Most recently, I was named Vice President of Customer Experience (CX), a brand-new department inside of ContainerPort Group. Things certainly happened quickly!
Are you involved with any new or innovative projects at your company?
Yes, in meetings, our chairman often asks the team “are we easy to do business with?” Since the CX department is so new, there is broad latitude to innovate and refine how we work – all with a goal of improving how easy it is for our customers to do business with us. Part of my role involves gap analysis to understand where our customer pain points are and to provide recommendations to stakeholders to remove those pain points. Since standing up the department in March, we have already shifted some of the day-to-day customer-facing work away from our field teams to a centralized team, which has yielded some time-savings and positive comments from customers.
Are you actively using any material you created while a student in the DTI program?
When I was at DTI, I was part of our vessel operations team. One of the dreams I had was to open an office in Canada. Thanks to the knowledge I gained while attending, I’m proud to report that we were indeed able to open an office in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This office has helped us expand our presence on the Great Lakes, something that would not have happened without the lessons learned at DTI. Having a well-rounded transportation education opens up so many opportunities to showcase my skills.
Please share any memories of your student days that stand out, including people you worked with and/or friends you made through the experience.
I have only great memories with Cohort 13. Our late night study sessions, networking, group discussions — you can’t put a price tag on that experience. To be able to spend our final semester in China and Japan studying their transportation system and to share that experience with other transportation enthusiasts was the best! I wonder what the locals thought about all of us transportation nerds walking about talking about railroads, ADA, trucks, ships, etc.
Does the cohort keep in touch or gather as a group?
We do keep in touch! Whenever any of us travel to a state or city where one of the classmates live, we try to connect and have dinner to catch up.
Any big life changes for you or your family that you would like to share?
Since graduation, we have expanded our family and have a four-year-old daughter. So, in addition to increased work responsibilities, I’ve been blessed to be a mom. During my off days, I enjoy spending time with my husband, daughter, family, and friends at our lake house.
Any hopes you have for DTI as a program?
Looking forward to getting together again. The networking event for the new Cohort was always important — you could meet new people in the industry plus give advice on what to expect for the next two years of school. Those conversations were great! It’s much needed by all. We just had a group chat a few days ago about getting together, and are looking forward to the day we can gather again at DU.
If you are an alumnus/a and have interest in sharing an update, please contact us at du-dti@du.edu.