Degrees

• Masters of Information and Library Science 1998

• Honours Bachelor of Arts – Geography 1996

Certifications

• Lean Black Belt – Leading Edge Group, March 2018

• Lean Yellow Belt – Ontario Hospital Association, Feb 2015

• Value Stream Mapping – Ontario Hospital Association, Feb 2015

Courses

• Crucial Conversations

• Crucial Accountabilities

• Getting Things Done

• The Coaching Habit

• Influencer

• Understanding Emotional Intelligence

• Lean mentorship 2014-2018 through Steven Reed

Informal

I continuously educate myself through extensive readings on strategy, organizational culture, organizational structures, psychological safety, personality types and communication, innovation, lean, leadership and industry related topics for in order to succeed one must understand how and why something works. You can find some of my favourite books on the Good Reads page.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Lean 

• I lead all lean activities including process improvement initiatives, planning, facilitation reporting and tracking.

• I prepare, equip and support individuals and teams in adopting change by creating a vision, mobilizing commitment to the vision and managing progress.

• I employ the suit of lean tools and practices most appropriate for the situation.

• I coach and advise on lean principles and concepts for the entire organization.

• I create a lean culture. The most misunderstood part of lean is the culture it creates and the values required to implement it that the organization must live up to. This is where I am particularly strong.

Culture and Human Resources

• I focus on culture. It has been a particular passion since beginning my lean training. While Lean is a series of approaches and practices that are effective on their own, at its root, it is the empowered culture that drives the outcomes.

• I develop job descriptions that enhance organizational team structure and partnerships to reduce silos improving results and boosting culture.

• I reflect thoroughly on interactions and issues and plan ones that might be challenging. I use emotional intelligence to remain balanced and calm and do not react in the moment when difficulties arise. It is absolutely essential in process improvement work to facilitate the team and understand their perspectives and remain positive that change can happen.

• I repeatedly re-enforce the future state vision. Making small steps towards the vision and demonstrating small wins aligned to it are key.

• I utilize strong interpersonal skills developed through training and continuous practice in conflict resolution, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountabilities, Emotional Intelligence and workplace psychological safety training. This has led to a reputation for being fair, tactful, and respectful in difficult situations. 

• I show sensitivity and diplomacy in all interactions including the facilitation of committee work, problem-solving with customers, internal colleagues, and staff, and in negotiations. 

• Employing effective and meaningful engagement of, and support for, volunteers, key stakeholders and external partners in all my roles has been critical to my success. 

• I am responsible for recruitment, development, and performance management of staff, ensuring learning and training opportunities for staff to develop professional excellence and encouraging personal growth. 

• I create a motivating work environment with processes that enable all staff to work effectively in a seamless, collaborative manner. 

• I ensure the values and mission of the organization are reflected in all aspects of roles and processes. 

• I use a coaching style that emphasizes listening, being curious and not jumping in to rescue an individual. This encourages making goals and developing action plans. 

Strategy Development and Deployment

• I have been a member of the leadership team since 2015

• I employ strategic planning techniques such as Hoshin strategic planning and continuous strategic planning. I use team engagement and brainstorming sessions to help develop ideas.

• I have applied functional, operational and tactical planning since 2002 through leadership of IT projects and have broadened the range of projects since 2014

• I partnered with board members in developing the 2014 and 2019 strategic plans

Information Technology

• I research, evaluate, negotiate, implement and manage all data systems ensuring consistency, integrity and retrievability of data

• I have expert knowledge of Raisers Edge (Fundraising software) with over 20 years of experience.

• I merged two organization’s databases in 2005.

• I developed extensive reporting and metrics systems, most recently focused on metrics for our lean processes.

• I have advanced knowledge of Financial Edge (Fundraising Accounting software) 18 years of experience.

• I have three years of experience with Blackbaud GrantMaking (Granting Software).

• I am an advanced user of MS Word, Excel, Power Point, OneNote and Outlook.

• I am an intermediate user of MS Visio, MS Access, MS SharePoint, MS Planner, Adobe Acrobat and Crystal Reports.

Data Analytics and Metrics

• I create the structure and systems that enable data collection.

• I retrieve, analyse and interpret complex data sets for team members.

• I create both visual and detailed analytical dashboards.

Fund Raising

• Through my career I have supported all aspects of a fundraising organization be it through research, IT or process improvement and have developed a broad-based perspective on all aspects of philanthropy

• My 24 years of experience in fundraising includes a focus on major gift fundraising, direct marketing and granting.

Major Gifts

• Completed and managed in-depth prospect research to support major gift work.

• Implemented and enhanced “The Core Process,” a lean fundraising methodology which espouses a very different approach to major gift fundraising