Dr. Yvonne Howze is the former Director of Performance Excellence at the Texas Department of Transportation. Dr. Howze previously directed operations for the Center for Health Statistics and the Vital Statistics Unit at the Texas Department of State Health Services. She is President and CEO of CYA Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in executive coaching and leadership development training for systematic planning, program evaluation and research. CYA was founded in 1996 and uses the principles and practices of Continuous Quality Improvement combined with personalized coaching to improve organizational effectiveness. CYA uses a three-step process to help organizations and businesses to: 1) Accentuate individual talents through personal futures planning, 2)Advise on ways to create metrics and performance measures for quality outcomes and results, and 3)Adds value to the organization's planning and system-wide improvement efforts using a qualitative and quantitative analyses, including the construction of surveys and convening focus groups. Dr. Howze is a Gallup Strengths Coach and is completing her Project Management Professional Certification.