Our Team

Business Transformation Manager

Erica Aichwalder is the Manager of the Administrative Innovation & Technology's Office of Business Transformation (OBT), where she leads initiatives that help the university improve processes, strengthen organizational effectiveness, and successfully navigate change. She brings nearly two decades of experience in business operations, organizational consulting, and change leadership, with a background spanning budget, accounting, payroll, human resources, project management, and process improvement.

Since joining UC Davis in 2013, Erica has partnered with campus leaders to analyze complex business challenges, facilitate stakeholder engagement, and identify opportunities to improve services and operational performance. She is known for translating complex information into practical, actionable strategies that support informed decision-making and sustainable organizational change.

Erica served as the Change Management, Communications, and Training Lead for Aggie Enterprise, UC Davis' enterprise Oracle implementation. In this role, she provided strategic guidance for the university's change management strategy, communication approach, and training program to support one of the largest business transformation initiatives in campus history. Today, she continues to support Aggie Enterprise through organizational consulting, governance, continuous improvement initiatives and ongoing adoption efforts.

Erica is a UC Davis alumna with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She is a double certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and a Certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner. 

Business Process Analyst

Michelle is a Business Process Analyst with OBT. Prior to joining UC Davis, Michelle worked for the University of Washington Medical Center for eight years, where her work focused on improving business systems in health care, both in administrative and clinical areas. 

Since joining the team in 2011, Michelle’s work has focused on business process redesign by facilitating data, gathering interviews with stakeholders, analyzing efficiencies and deficits associated with those processes and mapping future state flow charts. She has also supported the Shared Services Center implementation by helping to integrate the case management and knowledge management systems with the campus IT infrastructure. More recently, she has worked with Student Health and Counseling Services on communication strategies, and Contracts and Grants Accounting with streamlining their business processes and identifying areas for improvement.

Michelle holds a bachelor's from Princeton and a Master of Business Administration from Yale. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt.

Process and Change Consultant

Amy Burns is a seasoned Change Management Consultant and Lead Trainer for Aggie Enterprise in the Change, Communication, and Training (CCT) office at UC Davis. Amy excels at partnering with stakeholders to create and deliver effective training, gather valuable insights, and address diverse change management needs. She is committed to ensuring successful transitions and user adoption throughout Aggie Enterprise.

A retired Air Force Logistics Officer, Amy brings 15 years of experience at UC Davis, with a background that includes policy development, emergency operations training, and sustainability leadership. Prior to CCT, she worked at the California Department of Health Emergency Preparedness Office, where she led policy updates and training for state response teams. She also served as Facilities Management Sustainability Officer for 11 years, spearheading innovative sustainability initiatives, including leading the campus’s first LEED for Existing Buildings certification and authoring the Fossil Fuel Free Pathway Plan, Fleet and Small Equipment chapter—a critical blueprint for UC Davis's transition to electric-powered vehicles and equipment.

Amy’s expertise lies in team building and delivery, where she skillfully breaks down complex topics into manageable tasks, ensuring clarity and effective implementation. Known for her collaborative spirit, she thrives in team environments, fostering open communication and consensus to drive change. Amy’s leadership has consistently delivered results by building strong, cross-functional partnerships and aligning teams around common goals.

Amy holds a B.S. in Business Administration, an M.B.A. with a minor in Human Resources Management, and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, underscoring her dedication to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Instructional Designer

It all began, as so many things do, with a degree in Environmental Resource Management and a minor in Technical Writing from Penn State. This, as you might imagine, is not the kind of academic background that sets the world on fire, but it did give me a solid foundation for a career that would prove to be both eclectic and unexpectedly rewarding. My first job was as a technical writer for a consulting firm, where I helped Fortune 50 agricultural companies navigate the labyrinthine process of pesticide registration. It was, in a word, riveting. If you’ve ever wondered whether a certain bug-killer was safe to drink, wonder no more. I probably reported its findings and can speak for it. And let me tell you, it’s not a job that comes up much at dinner parties.

But then, as the world of technical writing began to change in ways that were both subtle and profound with the rise of the infamous Internet, I decided to make a leap to tech. I traded pesticides for PowerPoints and found myself in the curious world of instructional design. This turned out to be a surprisingly good move, as it allowed me to channel my love of words into creating training materials and eLearning courses. It was, in many ways, like discovering a hidden door in a house you’ve lived in for years—a door that leads to a room you never knew existed.

My career path soon took on the characteristics of a particularly well-traveled suitcase. I wrote documentation for Coca-Cola (because even the world’s most famous beverage needs instructions on how to drink it), developed eLearning content for the University of Georgia, and somehow ended up living and working in Barcelona, Prague, and Santiago, Chile. These experiences taught me many things, including how to design learning experiences for adults who would rather be doing almost anything else and how to order a coffee in three languages without accidentally insulting the waiter. In Santiago, I even started my own eLearning agency, which I ran for 16 years. It was, in many ways, like running a small, slightly chaotic kingdom, complete with loyal subjects, occasional rebellions, and a never-ending quest for more coffee.

Today, I find myself at UC Davis, where I lead the development of learning content from initial concept to final launch. It’s a bit like being the conductor of a jazz big band, except instead of trombones and saxophones, I have learning objectives and the occasional Zoom hiccup. My journey has given me a deep appreciation for the art of audience engagement, a knack for turning complex ideas into digestible content, and an unshakable belief that humor is the secret ingredient in any successful learning experience involving accounting. So, whether I’m designing a course on GL to PPM reconciliation or pondering the mysteries of quantum mechanics, I approach it all with the same philosophy: keep it simple, keep it engaging, and for heaven’s sake, keep it fun. After all, life’s too short to be boring.

Senior Process Improvement Leader

Bernadette Hill-Comeau is a Senior Continuous Improvement Leader with the Office of Business Transformation (OBT) at UC Davis. With over 20 years of experience in leadership dedicated to operational excellence, she partners with leaders across the university to improve organizational performance through Lean Six Sigma, change management, facilitation, and systems thinking. Her work focuses not only on improving processes, but on building the capability of individuals and teams to solve problems, lead change, and create sustainable improvement. Prior to joining UC Davis in 2020, Bernadette spent her career leading operational excellence initiatives in manufacturing, supply chain, healthcare, and biotechnology with organizations including Nestlé USA, FedEx Logistics, and Conagra Foods. 

Throughout her career, she has designed and deployed continuous improvement programs, coached leaders at all levels, facilitated enterprise transformation initiatives, and helped organizations build cultures of continuous improvement. At UC Davis, Bernadette has helped expand the university's Lean Six Sigma program through enterprise-wide training, project coaching, communities of practice, and leadership development. She believes that lasting improvement comes from creating systems that enable people to learn, collaborate, and lead change together. 

Bernadette holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and a Master of Science in Human Resources Management from Chapman University. She is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and is the founder of Savage Simplicity™, where she explores the intersection of operational excellence, systems thinking, and human potential.

Instructional Designer

Lean Six Sigma Consultant

Bio coming soon

Change Management, Communications, and Training Manager

Henrique (Henri) Teixeira is the Change, Communications, and Training (CCT) Manager for Aggie Enterprise. He brings extensive experience in learning design, communications, and storytelling to support successful adoption of new systems and processes.

Prior to UC Davis, Henri worked at Avid Technology in customer training and later as a Learning and Development Manager, leading onboarding and professional development programs. At UC Davis, he held roles in Continuing and Professional Education and FOA Communications, collaborating with campus experts to create educational multimedia, training programs, and digital learning resources.

Henri holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.S. in Education from California State University, East Bay.

Process and Change Consultant

Alicia is a Process and Change Consultant with OBT. Prior to joining the team, she was with the campus Shared Services Organization (SSO) for six years, where she served in multiple, progressively responsible positions.  

Alicia joined the OBT team in 2017 with a focus on change management and process improvement. She is a certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner/Trainer and has significant experience developing, documenting and delivering training. In addition, she has a keen process improvement mindset that was regularly reflected in her work at Bel-Air, Raley’s, UC Davis Health and the SSO. 

She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. Alicia has completed her Project Management – Lean Process Certification (PM-LPC) and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.