Supervisor Spotlight: Lisa Kauffman

Lisa Kauffman has served as the agency’s Administrative Assistant for over six years. During her time with Cazenovia Recovery Systems, she has seen and been a part of many changes.

One thing that has never changed, though, is the camaraderie within the agency. “Everyone works as a team,” she said. “It’s the people that make the agency.” Like many of our employees, Lisa also appreciates hearing the constant success stories about our residents. “I love to see where they come from and where they’re going,” she explained. “It was wonderful to see people get up and speak to tell their stories during Recovery Day,” our annual celebration of recovery from substance use.

Throughout her career, she has helped with many different aspects of the agency from information technology (IT), to human resources, to marketing, and more. And that’s not even mentioning her typical administrative responsibilities. In fact, she has been instrumental in implementing many of Cazenovia Recovery Systems’ advancements in technology. “When I first started, only a quarter of the staff had computer access,” she said. That, of course, has changed completely. Technology is now woven into everything that we do. Most recently, Lisa has just finished setting up our Vocational program with tablets for residents to utilize.

As the agency has continued to grow, Lisa has been able to pass off pieces of her incredibly-varied list of responsibilities to people filling new positions. With the addition of Martie Kaeding, our Personnel Manager, and Ed Cichon, our Special Projects Coordinator, Lisa has been relieved of time-consuming functions. As such, she’s obviously quite grateful for the growth our agency has experienced recently. “It’s all about making sure that we can do our best,” she noted.

There’s one last major responsibility that Lisa is excited to give to an oncoming new hire. Lately, anything related to the agency’s electronic infrastructure has taken up much of her time. With the onset of four new programs in Niagara County, the agency will need a dedicated employee to focus on IT, so we’re planning on hiring someone to do so early next year. This will allow Lisa to focus on other aspects of her position that deserve more attention.

It’s a wonder she was able to keep everything straight before, but our growth means that all of these jobs have become too much for one person to handle. “I’m good,” Lisa said, “but not that good.” We disagree; we tend to think of her as the best.