Team
Consulting is largely about finding the right people to work with you to collaboratively tackle a problem. Your success on a project depends on the people you get when you hire a consultant and their fit with you. Read about our team below, we are proud of them and know they will contribute to your success.
Rod Bailey
Rod specializes in project performance management. He has 20 years management consulting experience, and additionally over 8 years experience in industrial engineering, systems analysis and project management, and has managed numerous Quality Assurance and Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V) projects. His prior experience includes serving as a management consultant for Deloitte & Touche, a senior systems analyst for Boeing Computer Services, and a senior industrial engineer for Boeing Aerospace. Mr. Bailey is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He holds a bachelors degree and an MBA in Information Systems from the University of Washington.
Rhonda Brinkoeter
Rhonda has over nine years of project management experience in both the private and public sectors. Her experience includes managing large teams of people, managing large and complex software development and implementation projects, budget development and management, project schedule development and management, risk management, quality assurance management, configuration management and management of data conversion efforts. She has experience managing information technology projects for state and local government clients. She has extensive knowledge in the areas of corrections information management systems, electronic medical records systems and conversions, and pharmacy software systems. Rhonda earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Texas Lutheran University. Rhonda is a certified Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP).
Gerry Brodsky
Gerry has over 20 years management and consulting experience with public sector organizations, including notable experience in performance measurement, strategic planning, and work process assessment and redesign. His prior experience includes service as the Chief of Program Analysis for the Oregon Mental Health Division, as a consultant in program evaluation to federal agencies, and as president of a public company engaged in research and development. Mr. Brodsky is trained as a facilitator using methods developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs. He holds a masters degree from the University of Oregon and a B.A. from Indiana University.
Melissa Davis
Melissa has provided organizational development and project management consulting to public and nonprofit organizations for five years. Her consulting work focuses on performance measurement, organizational and program evaluation, strategic planning, policy analysis, and facilitation and training. She is trained as a facilitator using methods developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs, and is certified by the Hogan Leadership Assessment System for leadership coaching. Prior to consulting, Melissa worked in the field of health and human services in the public and nonprofit sectors doing direct service, policy research, and program management. Melissa holds a BA in English and Political Science from the University of Oregon, and a Masters of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Ken Disbrow
Ken has over twenty years of experience consulting with public sector clients in the fields of health and human services, public safety and education. After undergraduate and graduate school (Psychology) he worked in both technical and management positions. To further his career he accepted a position at a prestigious (”Big 4″) management consulting firm where he became a senior consultant. Mr. Disbrow left this firm to co-found Public Knowledge, LLC. His experience includes: strategic planning, situational assessment/problem resolution, facilitation, operations analysis, requirements analysis, process and system design, project management, risk assessment, conflict avoidance and resolution, and mediation.
Melissa Erikson
Melissa has extensive experience in the Healthcare IT industry, primarily focusing on the implementation of large, integrated Electronic Medical Records systems. Her background includes developing project metrics, scope, budget and schedules; managing procurements and monitoring vendor contracts; managing large project teams; designing software solutions to meet clinical customer’s needs; providing quality assurance monitoring; developing training curriculum and conducting clinical training; and designing system optimization options. Her expertise is in the fields of pharmacy and oncology, but has a vast knowledge of hospital operations and systems. Ms. Erikson is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Greg Gamette
Greg joined Public Knowledge after finishing a Masters degree at the University of Michigan School of information where he researched how new information and technology impact organizations and workgroups. He has 9 years of experience consulting both public and private sector companies. As a senior analyst with a Fortune 500 consulting firm, Mr. Gamette led projects implementing financial reporting and decision support tools. He also developed and led numerous training sessions, teaching clients how to make the best use of technology and information. Greg has a Bachelors degree from Brigham Young University in Economics with minors in Logic and German.
Belisa Grefe
Belisa has over eight years of consulting experience in multiple aspects of IT and business operations, including process improvement/reengineering, project management, organizational assessment and analysis, performance management, systems integration, architecture definition and documentation, and requirements management. She also has significant experience in leading, training and coaching workgroups. Belisa joined Public Knowledge after several years of working for Cognizant Technology Solutions performing IT consulting to regional and national telecommunications companies. She holds MBA and BA degrees from the University of Colorado at Denver and is certified in Group Facilitation Methods from the Institute of Cultural Affairs. She is currently pursuing her project management certification from the Project Management Institute.
Jerilyn Grow
Jerilyn‘s professional focus is on Quality Assurance and Independent Validation and Verification projects. She has 3 years experience managing projects and programs in the public and non-profit sector, as well as experience in organizational development and policy formulation. Ms. Grow holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Boise State University.
Michelle Kennedy
Michelle has twenty years management and consulting experience with public sector organizations, including significant experience in strategic planning, change management, facilitation, executive leadership development and coaching, and building high performance teams, and customer service improvement. A former executive manager in Oregon State government, she also served as Director of Government and Nonprofit services for Aldrich Kilbride and Tatone, LLP, a Northwest CPA and business consulting firms. Her consulting services focus on creating effective leaders and results-oriented business strategies, helping organizations manage effectively through change, building workplaces that promote high performance, and helping organizations communicate their results. Michelle is trained as a facilitator using Appreciative Inquiry. She is certified in the Hogan Leadership Assessment System as a foundation tool for coaching and 360-degree evaluation.
Alicia Koné
Alicia spent eight years in state government managing human service programs. Since joining Public Knowledge, Ms. Koné has worked with organizations in the states of Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Missouri and Illinois. Her areas of expertise include facilitation and strategic planning, organizational readiness and change management, policy research and analysis, program design, procurement assistance, leadership coaching and education and staffing studies/workload analysis. She is also a former member of the American Assoc. of Food Stamp Directors and served on a federal Technical Advisory Group for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Ms. Koné is also certified in the Hogan Leadership Assessment and the Institute for Cultural Affairs group facilitation and strategic planning techniques.
Jennifer Kraft
Jennifer has over 11 years of project management, quality assurance, acceptance testing, and business process reengineering experience for various health and human service agencies in the states of Colorado, California, Washington and Wyoming. She has past experience working on information technology projects for state and local government clients as a senior consultant with KPMG Consulting, Inc. Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Development with a specialization in Training and Development from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Additionally Jennifer has a Project Management Professional certification (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.
Ramona Kramer
Ramona has eight years of experience consulting to government health and human services agencies, private, and not-for-profit organizations. She provides procurement management to State Medicaid agencies on information systems projects as well as State programs such as Disease Management. In addition, she has deep experience in providing contract monitoring, project management, and quality assurance services on large-scale system implementation projects. Ramona worked as a senior consultant for a “Big 5″ professional consulting services firm where she specialized in Medicaid Management Information System consulting. More recently, she managed the Implementation Services Division of a not-for-profit organization which develops and publishes electronic consumer health information solutions. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Management from Boise State University.
Roxanne Lowney
Roxanne has extensive experience working with public sector organizations, specifically in higher education. Her project management experience includes business process redesign, training development, performance measurement, and best practice research. She also has experience in personnel management, executive-level office administration, human resources benefits and payroll administration, and meeting facilitation. Additionally, she has experience in the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of professional training in human resources and database functions. Roxanne holds two associates degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, and is currently completing a Master’s of Public Administration degree at Montana State University (anticipated graduation date, May 2009).
Nicole McNeal
Nicole has over seven years of management consulting experience. She has performed quality assurance services for a wide range of projects within health and human services agencies. She also has extensive project management, business process improvement, business process redesign, and risk management experience for system development projects. Nicole worked for a ?Big Five? consulting firm for three years prior to joining Public Knowledge performing operational and systems risk assessment for clients in various industries including the public sector, manufacturing, and telecommunications. Nicole has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Information Systems from the University of Michigan and is currently obtaining her Masters in Information Systems at the University of Colorado Denver.
Zac Monahan
Zac has over three years project management experience in systems implementation, systems analysis and strategic planning projects in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Before coming to work with Public Knowledge in 2007, he worked for the University of Michigan’s Open Source Portfolio project as a product and implementation manager, provided research and analysis services to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, consulted to the Ann Arbor-based Corporation for a Skilled Work Force as a program and systems analyst, and interned with the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Information Technology Services branch. Zac has completed Six Sigma Greenbelt training, is an Institute for Cultural Affairs certified facilitator and has over two years experience in knowledge and records management. Zac has a BA from Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA and a Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Jim Plane
Jim has more than 17 years of experience in the evaluation, development, and implementation of large-scale health and welfare systems. He specializes in Medicaid Management Information Systems and Medicaid Decision Support Systems. During the past 14 years, he has provided technical and management assistance to private industry and to the states of Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Kirsten Smith
Kirsten has over six years experience in project management, quality assurance, policy research, and program evaluation and at state, federal, and international levels. She has conducted projects in Medicaid, TANF, Child Care, SNAP, growth management, human rights, and international development policy. Ms. Smith has extensive experience analyzing large, complex systems through business process redesign efforts and requirements definition. She is trained as a facilitator and strategic planner using methods developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs. Ms. Smith is also a certified Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia, and a Masters in Public Affairs and a Master of Arts in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
Sharon Smith
Sharon has fourteen years experience in administrative, budget and project management in the private, public and non-profits sectors. Her experience includes work in the fields of information technology, international education and international development. She completed master’s degrees at the University of Michigan’s School of Information (M.S.) and Ford School of Public Policy (M.P.P.). She has a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College.
Naomi Snodgrass
Naomi has over fifteen years of experience working with and for public sector health and human services agencies. She has specialized experience in system and organizational assessments, and the implementation of system and organizational projects for many State governmental clients, as well as knowledge of health insurance industry practices and various state, federal, and private health and managed care programs. Her experience includes involvement with system procurement and evaluation; business/operations assessments; IT and business strategy development; user requirements definition; organizational preparedness and operational readiness; workflow analysis; communication strategies and outreach; and policy development and documentation projects.
Kristin Sparks
Kristin has ten years of experience in consulting to public-sector clients involved with health care programs, health care payment systems and financial payment and reporting systems. She specializes in independent verification and validation (IV&V), quality assurance, process improvement and project management coaching on system and policy implementation projects. She has prior experience with Medicaid and Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS), Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), State Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS) and other State and Federal programs and initiatives. Kristin holds a Masters and Bachelors of Business Administration from and is a Project Management Professional (PMP).
Rebecca Nolan Taylor
Rebecca spent 12 years as a journalist and educator before joining Public Knowledge in 2008. She specializes in public-sector organizational development and strategic planning. Her experience is in communications, facilitation, best practices research, and data analysis. She holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and earned her bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Davis.
Jennifer Vachon
Jennifer has been providing program development, project management, and organizational development services to public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private companies for over 10 years. Her experience includes policy and budget development, contract management, implementation of innovative business processes and systems, facilitation of internal improvement efforts, strategic planning, and performance reporting. Jennifer has additional experience providing executive/leadership coaching, organizing public conferences and events, building high performance staff and consultant teams, and working with various community groups, committees, and boards. Jennifer holds a masters degree in applied behavioral science from Bastyr University and a B.A. from Whitman College.
Partners Emeriti
Jay Smith
Jay has over 27 years of management consulting experience with public sector organizations. He is Public Knolwedge’s “of counsel” consultant. He specializes in performance measurement, performance audits, process improvements, strategic planning, and financial analysis. Mr. Smith also has a special expertise in municipal regulation of cable television. Prior to founding Oregon-based Public Knowledge Inc in 1991 he was a partner in the management consulting division of a “Big Four” public accounting firm (14 years; five years as partner), a management specialist with a state association of county governments, and an elected county board member. Mr. Smith holds a bachelor’s degree and two masters degrees from the University of Illinois and is a member of the American Society for Public Administration.
Barry Otterholt
Barry was one of the founders of the predecessor of Public Knowledge in 1988 and was instrumental in the merger that created the company as it exists today. He retired in 2005, citing “a desire to be with family and spend more time on missional ventures.” While with Public Knowledge his business and project management experience helped a variety of public and private sector clients focus and streamline their organizations. He also helped recover many troubled projects in the public sector. He has been a director with Microsoft, a senior consultant with Deloitte & Touche, and a COO of a multi-million dollar consumer electronics manufacturer and retailer. He currently teaches at Northwest University and is on the Board of Advisors to the School of Business and Management. He still consults on a part time basis, primarily to private sector and missional ventures. In is spare time he muses about project management. His essays have been printed in various Project Management Institute newsletters.