How can we make life easier for the people serving others?
That question drives every decision our Product Management team makes.
Over the past few months, Northwoods has grown and strengthened our product organization with new leadership and fresh perspectives, while continuing to build on the deep customer relationships and industry expertise that have always defined us.
Together, our team is focused on listening first, learning continuously, and building solutions that solve meaningful problems for health and human services agencies.
Meet the Team
Kevin Zhang, Director of Product Management
Kevin recently joined Northwoods with one goal in mind: helping build technology that creates measurable outcomes for agencies and the people they serve.
“I believe the HHS market is at an inflection point, creating a significant opportunity for innovation,” Kevin says. “Northwoods is well positioned to help agencies move beyond systems of record and toward a configurable platform that empowers workers, enables better management, and ultimately improves outcomes.”
For Kevin, product management starts with customers.
“I believe the best product decisions come from direct customer engagement. We have to understand how people actually work before we decide what to build.”
Outside of work, Kevin’s connection to human services is personal. His wife and many close friends work in social work and behavioral health, giving him firsthand insight into both the challenges and the incredible impact of the professionals Northwoods serves.
Jenny Tran, Senior Product Manager
Jenny joined Northwoods this summer and was immediately drawn to the company’s mission of helping the people who help others.
“I’m excited to learn from our customers, understand their biggest challenges, and deliver products that make their work easier and more impactful.”
Her passion centers on reducing administrative burden through intuitive workflows, streamlined experiences, and better access to information.
“Every minute we can save is another minute caseworkers can spend supporting individuals and families.”
When she’s not working with customers or engineering teams, you’ll likely find Jenny hiking with her English Cream Golden Retriever, trying a new hobby, or making homemade ice cream.
Nick Waite, Product Manager
After 15 years at Northwoods, Nick continues to find purpose in the same mission that first brought him here.
“The people using our software are caseworkers trying to help vulnerable families, and getting the product right actually matters in a way that’s pretty rare in software.”
Nick spends much of his time talking directly with customers, especially supervisors and quality coordinators, to understand where workflows break down and where technology can make the biggest difference.
“My goal is to make casework easier while giving supervisors better visibility into what’s happening, without creating more work for staff.”
Outside of work, Nick enjoys spending time with his family, cycling, cheering on the Buckeyes and Bengals, and playing guitar.
What’s Next
As our product organization grows, so does our vision.
One thing you’ll hear us talk about more often is building with customers, not just for them.
That means spending more time listening than assuming, validating ideas before scaling them, and measuring success by the outcomes we help agencies achieve rather than simply the features we release.
That mindset is already shaping our roadmap.
Over the next year, our focus will be on building a stronger, more connected Traverse platform that helps agencies work more effectively across programs. Near-term investments include advancing Traverse with a workspace experience, expanding Policy Assist, modernizing Economic Assistance, and improving forms, reporting, and analytics, all while building shared capabilities that can benefit multiple program areas over time.
Just as importantly, we’re committed to being transparent about what we’re building. Our roadmap reflects what we’ve validated with customers, where we’re investing next, and where we’re still learning because great products aren’t built from assumptions. They’re built through partnership.
Building the Future Together
Technology alone doesn’t transform human services.
People do.
Our role is to build products that help those people spend less time navigating technology and more time making an impact.
We’re excited for what’s ahead, and even more excited to build it alongside the customers who inspire it every day.
