Experience

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  Dorchester Consulting

  • The Business Results Catalyst | Performance Excellence & Process Improvement for Leadership Teams

    • Feb 2002 - Present

    Dorchester Consulting provides systems and services to both for-profit & non-profit organizations that want to increase customer satisfaction, save time and save money. The firm focuses on finding opportunities to improve operational effectiveness and efficiency, thereby developing a culture of continuous improvement. Quality="Doing the Right Things Right." I launched Dorchester Consulting in 2002 is an umbrella over the variety of consulting engagements I have had over the years. Clients have included:• McIlrath and Eck, LLC• JPC Computers• Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner• City of Kent, WA• City of Burien, WA

  • Principal Consultant & Coach | Client: JPC Computers Tech Support

    • 2011 - Present

    JPC Computers is a technology business that provides broad computer and network design, build and installation functions, along with outstanding customer support. Recommended by the owners’ father, I was first a customer and then a business coach to complement their technical skills with best communication and business practices.GROWTH STRATEGY:► Introduced strategic and operational planning techniques with the principals, along with success measures. ► Was sounding board and coach for online and personal marketing approaches for visibility to potential customers. COMMUNICATION: ► Wrote and edited customer communication documents for non-technical clarity and simplicity.► Wrote and edited work process documentation, to support training of new employees.CUSTOMER FEEDBACK:► Was avatar for typical individual/small business owner’s needs for personal/business computers, networks and technical support.► Was first alert for problems with major software update releases.

  • Strategy Consulting & Performance Improvement | Client: McIlrath & Eck, LLC

    • Apr 2005 - Dec 2022

    McIlrath-Eck is a financial services firm that provides financial planning and asset management services as a Fiduciary. I was initially a client and later became the firm’s business consultant, based on my business background and expertise,I was retained to improve 3 areas, with the following responsibilities...GROWTH STRATEGY: — Streamlined the annual strategic planning process with the principals, followed by action plans & measurements. — Facilitated reviews with staff about accomplishing financial and customer goals. STAFF DEVELOPMENT: — Met with leadership team to review and revise job descriptions — Edited the employee handbook for currency to share vision, mission and values with staff — Facilitated smoother onboarding of new employeesPROCESS DOCUMENTATION: — Documented operational processes to facilitate smoother cross-functional teamwork. — Clarified and communicated each other’s work objectives and timelinesIn this role I successfully:► Enabled the firm to meet its growth goals year after year► Created new development plans for the firm’s entire staff ► Improved hiring practices and interview protocols to streamline recruiting ► Introduced problem solving and business process design meetings ► Increased productivity between financial advisors and support staff

  • Process Improvement Analyst & Strategic Advisor | Baldrige Quality Training for Leadership Team

    • 2009 - 2011

    Led strategic planning and team building sessions for the City of Burien Public Works Department to assist the new Director in defining/modeling the desired cultural values, as well as gaining consensus around a new vision/mission and set of prioritized goals, objectives, measures and tactics.

  • Performance Improvement Analyst | Organizational Development, Quality Advisor, Technical Editor

    • Mar 2003 - Jan 2009

    Kent is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest municipality in greater Seattle and the sixth-largest in Washington state.Sponsored by a Kent City Council Member and Baldrige Senior Examiner, I was hired by the Public Works Operations Manager to teach, train, project manage and interpret feedback for three cycles of applications to the Washington State Quality Award Program — a regional Baldrige program — for improvement and recognition.I led effort to convey Public Works Operations’ story of best practices and citizen sensitivity via an application to Washington State Quality Award Program. Since they had a great story and notable results, the examiner team recommended them for the second-tier recognition level, a rarity for a first application. Leveraging feedback reports and citizen input, I facilitated process improvement teams in the Public Works department: internal communication, recognition, citizen satisfaction, employee satisfaction, post-project reviews and strategic planning. The City Council and Mayor were very pleased and supported expanding the quality improvement and recognition effort to other city departments: Public Works Engineering, Finance and Community Development. We delivered WSQA applications for each department and the leaders took action based on feedback.Shortly after the successful projects concluded, there was a city-wide reorganization. When the PW Operations Manager transitioned to the City of Burien, he invited me to become a consultant to his new department.

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  The Executive Network of Seattle - TENS

  • Greater Seattle Area

  • Volunteer Board Member, Co-Chair of Membership for The Executive Network of Seattle

    • Jan 2014 - Present
    • Greater Seattle Area

    Vision: Empowering a strong, vibrant, regional community of leaders.Mission: To build a community that attracts, develops, and supports leaders who care about making a positive impact.Collaborating to help business to prosper by sharing best practices and mentoring emerging leaders.

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  American Society for Quality (ASQ)

  • Greater Seattle Area

  • Board Member, Seattle Geographic Community

    • Aug 2002 - Present
    • Greater Seattle Area

    ASQ is a global leader in quality and consists of a community of passionate people who use their tools, ideas and expertise to make our world better.Chair, ASQ Quality Body of Knowledge team: research and share articles and other content to enhance monthly speaker's topic for members' continuing learning.

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  U.S. Department of Commerce

  • United States
  • Government Administration
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Volunteer Sr. Examiner, Judge & Board Member | NW Regional Baldrige Quality Award Program

    • Nov 2015 - Present

    Examiner, Senior Examiner, Judge, Mentor, Board member for Washington State's Baldrige program to encourage quality improvement in all types of organizations.Leader for assessments of Washington State organizations' effectiveness, aiming for useful feedback toward business excellence. Assessed and wrote feedback reports for more than 30 state agencies, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that applied for the State Award. Chair of Panel of Judges. Mentored Examiners trained on the "Baldrige Excellence Framework." Oversaw application review cycle and recognition process with volunteer examiners and judges.WSQA transitioned to the Baldrige regional program Performance Excellence Northwest in 2019.

  • Volunteer Sr. Examiner & Judge | Washington State Baldrige Quality Award Program

    • May 1998 - Dec 2015

    Nominated by IBM management and selected as an Examiner to the U.S.'s prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program. Led multiple projects to evaluate U. S. organizations applying for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Each project began with training on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and practicing writing feedback comments (strengths and opportunities for improvement) for a 55-page case study. Next came the evaluation of a real organization's application for the Baldrige Award. Some projects involved a site visit to verify strengths and clarify opportunities for improvement. Industry segment experience includes manufacturing, service, healthcare, insurance, utilities, education, and the public sector.

  • Volunteer Examiner & Editor, Baldrige Performance Excellence | Business Quality Assessments

    • May 2000 - Nov 2015

    Expert in Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, central to the Baldrige National Quality Award program and its regional programs. I share skills to deliver feedback to organizations that want to improve overall performance via applications to this 4-state regional Baldrige program (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska), Performance Excellence Northwest. I am an officer in the PENW Panel of Judges which oversees customers' application feedback and award levels. I mentor examiners in understanding the overall customer feedback preparation process and tech edit final customer feedback reports.Skills: Technical Editor · Analysis · Nonprofit Organizations · Baldrige Excellence Framework · Leadership · Business Analysis

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  Bellevue (Washington) College

  • Bellevue, Washington

  • Instructor in Project Management Certificate Program

    • Jan 2014 - Jun 2015
    • Bellevue, Washington

    Recommended by a colleague, I became an Instructor in the Project Management Certificate Program at Bellevue College. I taught beginning and intermediate Project Management courses.

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  Everett Community College

  • Everett, Washington Campus

  • Instructor, Performance Excellence, Continuing Education

    • Jun 2011 - Dec 2013
    • Everett, Washington Campus

    Recommended by a colleague, I taught "High Performance Management Essentials" & "Managing Small Projects" courses aimed at leads and supervisors in manufacturing and other industries.

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  Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner

  • Olympia, Washington, United States

  • Baldrige Consultant

    • Apr 2012 - Nov 2013
    • Olympia, Washington, United States

    Coached the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner's writing team and edited their 25-page organizational assessment application to the Washington State Quality Award (WSQA) program. Result was state-wide recognition and an internal initiative for greater employee engagement.

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  BizEnrich

  • Greater Seattle Area

  • Charter Member

    • Aug 2010 - Jun 2013
    • Greater Seattle Area

    Group of single shingle management consultants sharing knowledge in addressing small business client needs.

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  American Public Works Association

  • Author and Speaker

    • Oct 2010 - Aug 2012

    Authored leadership article, December 2010, and Public Works practitioner article, May 2011 in the APWA Reporter. Speaker on performance excellence in 2011 and leadership effectiveness at 2012 spring APWA conference in Washington State.

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  AT&T Wireless

  • Sr. Manager, Vendor Alliances

    • Jan 2001 - Feb 2002

    Managed business relationships with Siebel Systems and PricewaterhouseCoopers, specifically related to the deployment of a multi-million-dollar investment in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for this leading-edge telecommunications organization. Acted as focal point for day-to-day and strategic vendor interactions, ensuring contract delivery and a solid working business partnership.

  • Senior Manager, Information Technology Methodology

    • Nov 1997 - Jan 2001

    Managed a series of major quality initiatives for 3000+ Information Technology employees: played roles as program manager, teacher, facilitator, consultant, and change agent in order to facilitate organizational effectiveness throughout all levels of the organization.• Deployed a structured software development process, cascading from senior leadership down to all levels of IT and business stakeholders. Trained 2300+ staff across the U.S. Mentored and coached project teams, facilitating the understanding/application of best practices and QA principles. • Organized and managed two full-day technical symposiums for 100+ IT specialists, involving local/national speakers on future technology trends, IT infrastructure best practices, and software development methodologies. Both events went off without a hitch and received excellent reviews.• Led four-year benchmarking program involving five areas of IT infrastructure, resulting in the capture of baseline and year-over-year metrics, as well as prioritization of process improvement efforts. This initiative generated 10-15% in annual network cost savings.• Managed a series of cross-functional problem-solving teams, using Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) methodology to improve software QA within the organization. Efforts led to 10% fewer recurring software defects.

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  Snohomish County (Washington) Public Utility District #1

  • Everett, Washington, United States

  • Information Systems Senior Manager, Computer & Network Services

    • Feb 1995 - Oct 1997
    • Everett, Washington, United States

    Managed all organizational, administrative, and strategic planning requirements related to IT systems for this $450 million public electric and water utility serving over 250,000 customers. Span of control included IT infrastructure, production/technical support, end-user services, and network operations. • Replaced technical infrastructure, on time, on budget, and with minimal disruption, as the first phase of a 6-year $45 million Automation plan. Renovated network comprising 45 servers and six operating systems: replaced e-mail and scheduling system; established secure Internet system and Intranet pilot program. Results were greater reliability, performance, productivity, and simplicity. • Managed performance of multiple interdependent projects in support of business-critical replacement applications and software/hardware upgrades. Managed $5 million budget to meet District needs in hardware, software, and consulting services in a cost-effective manner. Leveraged consultants and vendors to ensure project success and build an effective client-server architecture.

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  Premera Blue Cross

  • Mountlake Terrace, Washington

  • Software Engineering Consutant

    • Nov 1993 - Oct 1994
    • Mountlake Terrace, Washington

    Assisted outgoing Chief Information Officer and incoming CIO in transition after major corporate restructuring.

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  IBM

  • Greater Los Angeles area and Seattle

  • Technical/Management

    • Jun 1966 - Jun 1993
    • Greater Los Angeles area and Seattle

    Software developer for State of California and U.S. government agencies' projects.Systems Engineer and Systems Engineering Manager, Senior Manager and Consultant in Marketing units supporting Xerox Computer Services, and multiple manufacturing organizations, including the Boeing Company.