Throughout her extensive IT career, Angela Lipscomb, IT Manager at DTE Energy, has always led her teams with expertise, compassion, and a remarkable ability to bridge communication gaps.
In this latest ASUG Member Spotlight, Lipscomb shared her approach to IT success and change management, her journey, and the challenges she’s navigated throughout her career.
ASUG: With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, how does your expertise contribute to a project's success? How do you approach challenging projects to drive business improvements?
Lipscomb: In my experience, I've encountered a variety of challenging projects. The goal is always to find the best solution for the customer.
Recently, I led a challenging customer-facing project that required collaboration with multiple vendors, each offering different perspectives on the solution. The key to our success was aligning these viewpoints to meet business requirements while prioritizing the customer experience. My ability to navigate competing opinions, motivate the team to collaborate effectively, and maintain focus on customer outcomes ensured we delivered a solution that truly benefited the client.
ASUG: What do you think is the biggest challenge in managing change, especially in long-established processes?
Lipscomb: Change management is always the biggest challenge, particularly when you're working on an IT solution that alters the way the business operates and impacts legacy functions.
People fear change. They've been doing things a certain way for 20 years, and now you're telling them they must do it differently. This fear of change often deters people.
Overcoming these challenges involves understanding what your business partners do and applying change impact analysis. It's essential to bring them along on the journey—the road map—rather than waiting until the end of a project or its testing phase. Instead, involve them so they can be part of the change and adopt it more quickly. Eventually, stakeholders realize the new processes are an improvement. But they won’t know that until they actually try it and uncover the benefits.
ASUG: What’s in your toolkit that gives you the foundation to move past fear when it comes to these experiences?
Lipscomb: Primarily, I focus on empathy, recognizing that no one likes change. This is coupled with compassion and understanding, allowing me to listen to my business partners and collaborate effectively. I strive to understand their perspectives and address their needs, removing barriers to improve their comfort with the change. I also advocate for incremental changes rather than a single large approach.
ASUG: At the SAP for Utilities conference earlier this year, you and Srini Sastry presented on achieving financial stability and streamlined assistance for low-income customers. Would you mind elaborating on that presentation?
Lipscomb: We worked with Smart Energy Water to implement a solution enabling state agencies to provide real-time energy assistance to our low-income customers. When you think of technology, you don't always think of it directly. But in this case, it was a clear solution that enabled one party to help another party. In essence, two companies—a utility company and a service provider—came together, hearing the needs of our business partners that had a direct impact at the end of the day.
Being able to work with the product company to solve that direct issue was huge because, in IT, we don't usually impact things that closely. But in this case, we enabled the right players to help our customers through a simple portal that leveraged SAP technology. We implemented it and rolled it out to our agencies. Where they were previously unable to process payments within a 24- to 48-hour timeframe, they were able to process payments instantly and apply them to the energy bill of that customer.
ASUG: What was your specific role in that project?
Lipscomb: I was the IT sponsor for the project, and I acted as the manager of the relationship between IT and my business partners, while also serving as the integrator managing the sponsorship between IT and the IT development resources on the backend.
In my role I also serve as the business relationship manager to specific partners in collections and billing. They can call me with any IT solution problems. I am their first point of contact, and I then pull together the necessary resources, whether they are external vendors or internal DTE resources, to help solve their problems.
ASUG: I'd love to chat a little bit about your early influences—what sparked your interest in STEM?
Lipscomb: Initially, I wanted to be a doctor, but my father encouraged me to explore computers, saying they were the future. He played a pivotal role in my decision to enter the technology field in 1989—even when computers weren’t as prevalent. His belief in their future potential motivated me to pursue a major in computer science instead of following the traditional paths like medicine or law.
I went to Central State University, an HBCU in Wilberforce, Ohio, where I earned my bachelor's degree in computer science. I loved math, and the challenge of programming really drew me in. I remember spending hours in the lab, working on everything from moving a clock across the screen to solving complex problems.
It was a small group of us, especially since computer science wasn’t a popular field at the time, that all supported each other. I graduated in 1994, and out of a total of six graduates in my computer science program, only two of us were women.
After graduating, I landed a job as a programmer at Electronic Data Systems, where I could finally apply what I’d learned. That experience led me into project management, and eventually, down the path to leadership.
ASUG: You were one of the winners of DTE Energy's 2020 Women of Color award and a participant in the Women of Color in Technology and STEM Conference. How have these experiences influenced your approach to mentorship and career development? How have you created opportunities to support other women pursuing STEM careers?
Lipscomb: When I entered the STEM field, computer science was perceived as a challenging area, with few women and even fewer women of color. I went to school for programming. I programmed in the old COBOL, Pascal, and FORTRAN. I came into an environment where mainframe was still being used to manage financial systems.
You didn't see many women gravitating towards that field, and you certainly didn't see many women of color in that field.
Working in a field where I can be a role model and inspire young minds doesn't have to be about coding. It's about understanding how technology can be part of the solution. I have a business problem, and I have a technology solution—let's figure out how they can help each other. It's powerful to show others, "I can do that."
Mentoring is powerful when you're connected with someone you can relate to and feel comfortable with.
In my leadership role, I focus on motivating others to become leaders themselves, empowering them to guide and share knowledge. I maintain an open-door policy and actively encourage others to learn from my projects. I believe in the value of learning through experience, including the importance of failing fast to discover what resonates. I realized as a leader, if I don’t create the space, it will be too easy for someone to get boxed into a corner and never have the chance to see what else is out there.
Outside of work, I actively mentor through Jack and Jill of America where I served as Program Director for the Oakland County Chapter, and through Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, where I served in financial officer roles. My early mentors had such a positive effect on my journey I wanted to provide that for others.
ASUG: Who were some of your early mentors?
Lipscomb: In terms of female mentors in the technology field, I didn’t meet any until later in my career, more so when I started working for EDS and DuPont. I worked for DuPont for 15 years, and at that time, there were only four African American women working in technology.
These women really encouraged me to pursue leadership opportunities and being the kind of leader who encourages others to move forward, which I now do for those working with me. I encourage them to be proactive. If you want to go into project management or become a production delivery lead, the opportunity is there. I'll support you and give you my full backing. If you make a mistake, we’ll talk about it. My approach is to reshape how people view themselves—knowing that if they make a mistake, they have someone they can talk to. I aim to create a safe space where I can help coach them through the process.
When I went to a university where I was surrounded by people who looked like me, it felt like a second family. We all wanted to complete our education and excel, which was motivating. My peer group at that time had just as much influence on me as my mentors.
ASUG: How do you deal with adversity, setbacks, or challenges?
Lipscomb: I examine my internal landscape to see how I can improve my personal foundations. To tackle a problem and come up with a solution, I need to step back and ask myself: What could I have done better? Did I understand my audience? Could I have been softer in my approach? How did I use my voice? I take a personal inventory and reflect on whether my approach could have been different. I think about approaching processes differently than before to see if it works for me. Stepping out of your comfort zone is important, and sometimes it’s about stepping out of your circle to introduce yourself to others, broadening your perception and influence—all to build a better foundation for finding solutions.
ASUG: How do you create work-life balance?
Lipscomb: You must give back to yourself. I have moments when I simply turn off the computer and make time for myself. I love spending time with my kids. When I make time for myself, it's about clearing my mind and taking small moments to recharge. At this age, it’s important to protect your time because if you’re not good to yourself, you’re no good to anyone else.
ASUG: What advice would you give your younger self, and what advice do you have for your future self?
Lipscomb: The advice for my younger self would be: it’s OK to be told no, but don’t stop there. In your younger years, it can feel discouraging and disappointing when opportunities don’t come your way. That’s fine—but don’t stay in that space. Keep looking for other opportunities because every no is just one step closer to a yes. Even if you get a thousand no's, there’s always a yes waiting somewhere. Keep moving forward; if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Remember, "You don’t have to stop here—there’s so much more ahead."
For my future self, the advice is: don’t be complacent. Just because you've reached a certain level in your career doesn’t mean you’ve done it all.