KoneConsultingBid.pdf

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION - 01620 PAGE 1

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION

Competitive Solicitation: No. 01620 – Business Consulting Services

Bidder: Alicia M. Koné dba Koné Consulting, LLC Type/print full legal name of Bidder

Bidder’s Address: 23632 HWY 99, Suite F #225, Edmonds, WA 98026 Type/print Bidder’s Address

Bidder Organization Type:

Check appropriate box

Corporation: Domestic Foreign

Limited Liability Company (LLC): Domestic Foreign

Partnership: Domestic Foreign

Sole Proprietorship:

State of Formation: Washington State Type/print the state where the corporation, LLC, or partnership is formed – e.g., ‘Washington’ if domestic and the name of the state if ‘Foreign’ (i.e., not Washington)

Bidder, through the duly authorized undersigned, makes this certification as a required element of submitting a responsive bid. Bidder certifies, to the best of its knowledge and belief, that the following are true, complete, correct, and made in good faith:

1. UNDERSTANDING. Bidder certifies that Bidder has read, thoroughly examined, and fully understands all of the provisions in the Competitive Solicitation (including all exhibits) and the terms and conditions of the Master Contract and any amendments or clarifications to the Competitive Solicitation, and agrees to abide by the same.

2. ACCURACY. Bidder certifies that Bidder has carefully prepared and reviewed its bid and fully supports the accuracy of the same. Bidder further understands and acknowledges that Enterprise Services shall not be responsible for any errors or omission on the part of Bidder in preparing its bid. Bidder certifies that the facts declared here are true and accurate. Bidder further understands and acknowledges that the continuing compliance with these statements and all requirements of the Competitive Solicitation are conditions precedent to the award or continuation of the resulting Master Contract.

3. NO COLLUSION OR ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES. Bidder certifies that Bidder has not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any agreement, participated in any collusion, or otherwise taken any action in restraint of free competitive bidding in connection with this Competitive Solicitation.

Bidder certifies that Bidder’s bid prices have been arrived at independently, without engaging in collusion, bid rigging, or any other illegal activity, and without for the purpose of restricting competition any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other bidder or competitor

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION - 01620 PAGE 2

relating to (a) those prices, (b) the intention to submit a bid, or (c) the methods or factors used to calculate the prices offered. Bidder certifies that Bidder has not been and will not knowingly disclose its bid prices, directly or indirectly, to any other bidder or competitor before award of a Master Contract, unless otherwise required by law. Bidder certifies that Bidder has made no attempt and shall not make any attempt to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a bid for the purpose of restricting competition. Bidder, however, freely may join with other persons or organizations for the purpose of presenting a bid.

4. FIRM OFFER. Bidder certifies that its bid, attached hereto, is a firm offer which cannot be withdrawn for a period of ninety (90) days from and after the bid due date specified in the Competitive Solicitation. Enterprise Services may accept such bid, with or without further negotiation, at any time within such period. In the event of a protest, Bidder’s bid shall remain valid for such period or until the protest and any related court action is resolved, whichever is later.

5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Bidder certifies that, in preparing this bid, Bidder has not been assisted by any current or former employee of the State of Washington whose duties relate (or did relate) to this Competitive Solicitation, or prospective Master Contract, and who was assisting in other than his or her official, public capacity. Neither does such a person nor any member of his or her immediate family have any financial interest in the outcome of this bid.

6. NO REIMBURSEMENT. Bidder certifies that Bidder understands that the State of Washington will not reimburse Bidder for any costs incurred in the preparation of this bid. All bids become the property of the State of Washington, and Bidder claims no proprietary right to the ideas, writings, items, or samples unless so stated in the bid.

7. PERFORMANCE. Bidder certifies that Bidder understands that its submittal of a bid and execution of this Bidder’s Certification certifies bidder’s willingness to comply with the Master Contract, if awarded such. By submitting this bid, Bidder hereby offers to furnish the goods and/or services solicited pursuant to this Competitive Solicitation in compliance with all terms, conditions, and performance requirements contained in this Competitive Solicitation and the resulting Master Contract or, if applicable, as detailed on a Contract Issues List, if permitted, in this Competitive Solicitation.

8. INSURANCE. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

BIDDER HAS REQUIRED INSURANCE. Bidder has attached a current, valid Certificate of Insurance with each and all of the required insurance coverages as specified in the Master Contract (note: Bidder must attach the Insurance Certificate).

OR

BIDDER WILL OBTAIN REQUIRED INSURANCE. Bidder does not have a current, valid

Certificate of Insurance with each and all of the required insurance coverages as specified in the Master Contract but, if designated as the Apparent Successful Bidder, Bidder will provide such a Certificate of Insurance, without exception of any kind, to Enterprise Services within twenty-four (24) hours of such designation or notification by Enterprise Services or be deemed a nonresponsive bid.

OR

BIDDER DOES NOT HAVE REQUIRED INSURANCE. As detailed on the attached explanation

(Bidder to provide), Bidder does not have a current, valid Certificate of Insurance with each and all of the required insurance coverages as specified in the Master

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION - 01620 PAGE 3

Contract and, if designated as the Apparent Successful Bidder would not be able to provide such a Certificate of Insurance to Enterprise Services within twenty-four (24) hours of such designation.

9. DEBARMENT. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

NO DEBARMENT. Bidder and/or its principals are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from contracting with any federal, state, or local governmental entity.

OR

DEBARRED. As detailed on the attached explanation (Bidder to provide), Bidder and/or its principals presently are debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from contracting with a federal, state, or local governmental entity.

10. CRIMINAL OFFENSE. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

NO CRIMINAL OFFENSE. Bidder has not, within the three (3) year period preceding the date of this Competitive Solicitation, been convicted or had a civil judgment rendered against Bidder for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a governmental contract; violation of any federal or state antitrust statute; or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property. Bidder further certifies that it is not presently indicted or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity with commission of any of the offenses enumerated in this paragraph.

OR

CRIMINAL OFFENSE. As detailed on the attached explanation (Bidder to provide), within the three (3) year period preceding the date of this Competitive Solicitation, Bidder has been convicted or had a civil judgment rendered against Bidder for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a governmental contract; violation of any federal or state antitrust statute; or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property.

11. WAGE THEFT PREVENTION. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

NO WAGE VIOLATIONS. Bidder has NOT been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries or through a civil judgment entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction to have willfully violated, as defined in RCW 49.48.082, any provision of RCW chapters 49.46, 49.48, or 49.52 within three (3) years prior to the date of the above-referenced Competitive Solicitation date.

OR

VIOLATIONS OF WAGE LAWS. Bidder has been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries or through a civil judgment entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction to have willfully violated, as defined in RCW 49.48.082, a provision of RCW chapters 49.46, 49.48, or 49.52 within three (3) years prior to the date of the above-referenced Competitive Solicitation date.

http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.48.082 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.46 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.48 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.52 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.48.082 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.46 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.48 http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.52

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION - 01620 PAGE 4

12. PAY EQUALITY. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

PAY EQUALITY FOR SIMILARLY EMPLOYED WORKERS. Bidder’s similarly employed individuals are compensated as equals. For purposes of this provision, employees are similarly employed if the individuals work for the same employer, the performance of the job requires comparable skill, effort, and responsibility, and the jobs are performed under similar working conditions. Job titles alone are not determinative of whether employees are similarly employed. Bidder may allow differentials in compensation for its workers based in good faith on any of the following: a seniority system; a merit system; a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; a bona fide job-related factor or factors; or a bona fide regional difference in compensation levels. A bona fide job-related factor or factors may include, but not be limited to, education, training, or experience that is: consistent with business necessity; not based on or derived from a gender-based differential; and accounts for the entire differential.

A bona fide regional difference in compensation level must be consistent with business necessity; not based on or derived from a gender-based differential; and account for the entire differential.

OR

NO PAY EQUALITY FOR SIMILARLY EMPLOYED WORKERS. Bidder’s similarly employed individuals are NOT compensated as equals.

13. WORKERS’ RIGHTS (EXECUTIVE ORDER 18-03). Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

NO MANDATORY INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION CLAUSES AND CLASS OR COLLECTIVE ACTION WAIVERS FOR EMPLOYEES. Bidder does NOT require its employees, as a condition of employment, to sign or agree to mandatory individual arbitration clauses or class or collective action waivers.

OR

MANDATORY INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION CLAUSES AND CLASS OR COLLECTIVE ACTION WAIVERS FOR

EMPLOYEES. Bidder requires its employees, as a condition of employment, to sign or agree to mandatory individual arbitration clauses or class or collective action waivers.

14. TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT OR CAUSE. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

NO TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT OR CAUSE. Bidder has not, within the three (3) year period preceding the date of this Competitive Solicitation, had one (1) or more federal, state, or local governmental contracts terminated for cause or default.

OR

TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT OR CAUSE. As detailed on the attached explanation (Bidder to provide), within the three (3) year period preceding the date of this Competitive Solicitation, Bidder has had one (1) or more federal, state, or local governmental contracts terminated for cause or default.

15. TAXES. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

TAXES PAID. Except as validly contested, Bidder is not delinquent and has paid or has arranged for payment of all taxes due to the State of Washington and has filed all required returns and reports as applicable.

OR

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION - 01620 PAGE 5

DELINQUENT TAXES. As detailed on the attached explanation (Bidder to provide), Bidder has not paid or arranged for payment of all taxes due to the State of Washington and/or has not timely filed all required returns and reports as applicable.

16. LAWFUL REGISTRATION. Bidder, if conducting business other than as a sole proprietorship (e.g., Bidder is a corporation, limited liability company, partnership) certifies as follows (must check one):

CURRENT LAWFUL REGISTRATION. Bidder is in good standing in the State of Washington and the jurisdiction where Bidder is organized, including having timely filed all required annual reports.

OR

DELINQUENT REGISTRATION. As detailed on the attached explanation (Bidder to provide), Bidder currently is not in good standing in the State of Washington and/or the jurisdiction where Bidder is organized.

17. SUBCONTRACTORS. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

NO SUBCONTRACTORS. If awarded a Master Contract, Bidder will not utilize subcontractors to provide the goods and/or services subject to this Competitive Solicitation.

OR

SUBCONTRACTORS. As detailed on the attached explanation (Bidder to provide), If awarded a Master Contract, Bidder will utilize subcontractors to provide the goods and/or services subject to this Competitive Solicitation. In such event, Bidder certifies that, as to the State, Bidder shall retain responsibility for its subcontractors, including, without limitation, liability for any subcontractor’s acts or omissions. Note: Bidder must provide the precise legal name (including state of organization), business address, and federal tax identification number (TIN) for each subcontractor. Note: If the TIN is a SSN, provide only the last four (4) digits.

18. WASHINGTON SMALL BUSINESS. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

WASHINGTON SMALL BUSINESS. Bidder is a Washington Small Business as defined in RCW 39.26.010. To qualify as a Washington Small Business, bidder must meet two (3) requirements:

1. Bidder’s principal office/place of business must be located in and identified as being in the State of Washington. A principal office or principal place of business is a firm’s headquarters where business decisions are made and the location for the firm’s books and records as well as the firm’s senior management personnel.

2. Bidder must be owned and operated independently from all other businesses and have either: (a) fifty (50) or fewer employees; or (b) gross revenue of less than seven million dollars ($7,000,000) annually as reported on its federal income tax return or its return filed with the Washington State Department of Revenue over the previous three consecutive years).

3. Bidder must have certified its small business status in WEBS.

OR

http://www.des.wa.gov/services/ContractingPurchasing/Business/Pages/WEBSRegistration.aspx

EXHIBIT A-1 – BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION - 01620 PAGE 6

NOT WASHINGTON SMALL BUSINESS. Bidder is not a Washington Small Business as defined in RCW 39.26.010.

19. VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS. Bidder certifies as follows (must check one):

VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS. Bidder is a certified Veteran-Owned business under

RCW 43.60A.190 and is identified as such on WEBS (which is confirmed by the Washington Department of Veterans’ Affairs).

OR

NOT VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS. Bidder is not a certified Veteran-Owned business under RCW 43.60A.190.

20. REFERENCES. Bidder certifies that the references provided to Enterprise Services have worked with Bidder and that such individuals and firms have full permission, without any additional requirement or release, to provide such references and information to Enterprise Services. Bidder hereby authorizes Enterprise Services (or its agent) to contact Bidder’s references and others who may have pertinent information regarding Bidder’s prior experience and ability to perform the Master Contract, if awarded. Bidder hereby authorizes such individuals and firms to provide such references and release to Enterprise Services information pertaining to the same.

Bidder further certifies that it shall provide immediate written notice to Enterprise Services if, at any time prior to a contract award, Bidder learns that any of its certifications set forth herein were erroneous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed circumstances.

I hereby certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington, that the certifications herein are true and correct and that I am duly authorized to make these certifications on behalf of the Bidder listed herein.

BIDDER NAME: ALICIA M. KONÉ DBA KONÉ CONSULTING, LLC

Print Name of Bidder – Print full legal entity name of the firm submitting the Bid

By:

Signature of Bidder’s authorized person

Title: Owner/President Title of person signing certificate

Date: December 11, 2020

Alicia M. Koné Print Name of person making certifications for Bidder

Place: Edmonds, WA Print city and state where signed

Return this Bidder’s Certification to Procurement Coordinator at:

DESContractsTeamCedar@des.wa.gov mailto:DESContractsTeamCedar@des.wa.gov

EXHIBIT A-2 – BIDDER’S PROFILE - 01620 PAGE 1

EXHIBIT A-2 – BIDDER’S PROFILE

Competitive Solicitation No.: 01620 – Business Consulting Services

Bidder: Alicia M. Koné dba Koné Consulting, LLC

BIDDER INFORMATION

Legal name and address of Bidder:

Note: This must match information from Business License Mailing address:

23632 HWY 99, Suite F #225 Edmonds, WA 98026

Koné Consulting, LLC Business Name 20427 86th Place West Address Edmonds, WA 98026 City, State, Zip Code

Washington State Department of Revenue Registration Number:

Note: This is the Unified Business Identifier (UBI)

603 024 800

Federal Tax ID No. (TIN):

Note: If your TIN is a Social Security number, provide only the last four digits.

27-2877213

Is your firm certified as a minority or woman owned business with the Washington State Office of Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises

(OMWBE)?

Yes No If yes, provide MWBE certification no.

W2F0025099

Is your firm a self-certified Washington State small business?

Note: See definitions of ‘microbusiness,’ ‘minibusiness,’ and ‘small business,” set forth in

RCW 39.26.010.

Yes No

If yes, what is your business size?

Small Mini Micro

Is your firm certified as Veteran Owned with the Washington State Department of Veteran Affairs?

Yes No If yes, provide WSDVA certification no.

EXHIBIT A-2 – BIDDER’S PROFILE - 01620 PAGE 2

CONTRACT MANAGEMENT POINTS OF CONTACT

Authorized Representative Name: Alicia M. Koné Email: alicia.kone@konecnosulting.com Phone: (425) 275-2895

Contract Administrator Name: Christina Watson

Email: Christina.watson@koneconsulting.com Phone: (360) 402-4606

Sales Reporting Representative Name: Christina Watson

Email: Christina.watson@koneconsulting.com Phone: (360) 402-4606

Sales Reporting Alternate N/A Name:

Email :

Phone:

Management Fee Representative Name: Christina Watson

Email: Christina.watson@koneconsulting.com Phone: (360) 402-4606

Management Fee Contact Alternate N/A Name:

Email:

Phone:

Address for Enterprise Services to send management fee invoices:

Company name: Koné Consulting, LLC Attn: Christina Watson Address: 23632 HWY 99, Suite F #225 City/State/Zip: Edmonds, WA 98026

ORDERING/SALES POINTS OF CONTACT (expand as necessary)

Name Phone Number E-mail Area of Responsibility

Alicia M. Koné (425) 275-2895 alicia.kone@ koneconsulting.com

Sales

Christina D. Watson (360) 402-4606 Christina.watson@ koneconsulting.com

Contracts

EXHIBIT A-2 – BIDDER’S PROFILE - 01620 PAGE 3

REFERENCES

Provide a minimum of two (2) commercial or government references for which bidder has delivered goods and/or services similar in scope as described in the Competitive Solicitation. Additional references may be required if Bidder intends to submit a bid for more than one category. See instructions in Exhibit C-1 – Bid Evaluation Criteria, Item No. 2 Experience.

Reference 1 – Organizational Development, if applicable

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

Boulder County, Community Services Department Susan Grutzmacher, Division Director

(303) 918-1792 sgrutzmacher@bouldercounty.org

Reference 2 – Organizational Development, if applicable

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

San Mateo County Clarisa E. Simon, Director, Staff Development

(605) 802-5026 csimon@smgov.org

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

UC Merced (project reference: San Mateo County) Nicole Pollack, Chief Human Resources Officer, Assistant

Vice Chancellor Human Resources

(209) 259-8942 npollack@ucmerced.edu

Reference 1 – Change Management, if applicable

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

Colorado Dept of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) Nicole Duran Jones, Eligibility Operations Unit Supervisor

(303) 866-5119 nicole.duranjones@state.co.us

Reference 2 – Change Management, if applicable

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

Univ. of Washington School of Medicine/AIMS Center Diane Powers, Co-Director

(206) 685-7095 powersd@uw.edu

Reference 1 – Management and Business Analysis, if applicable

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

Reference 2 – Management and Business Analysis, if applicable

Company Name:

Contact & Title:

Phone:

Email:

Commented [CW1]: Who are we using?

EXHIBIT A-2 – BIDDER’S PROFILE - 01620 PAGE 4

PURCHASE CARDS (I.E., CREDIT CARDS)

Please indicate which types of purchasing (credit) cards are accepted (note: any card fees must be included in the unit price of the bid): None. We do not accept credit cards.

Visa Master Card American Express Discover Other:

Return this Bidder’s Profile to Procurement Coordinator at:

EXHIBIT A-3 – RESPONSIBLE BIDDER (COMPETENCIES) - 01620 PAGE 1

EXHIBIT A-3 - RESPONSIBLE BIDDER (COMPETENCIES)

Competitive Solicitation: No. 01620 – Business Consulting Services

Bidder, through the duly authorized undersigned, makes this certification as a required element of submitting a responsive bid. Bidder certifies, to the best of its knowledge and belief that the following are true, complete, correct, and made in good faith:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is important to Washington State must be present in the fabric of the work we do in all areas. For professional services, where outside entities are coming into and directing the work of our civil servants, it is essential that they align with these values. As a requirement for responsibility, your firm must attest to the state’s values and culture. This will become part of any resultant contract and Bidder will be required to meet or exceed the commitments listed herein.

ATTESTATION

☒ I and the named leader(s) below have read and understand the Washington State Enterprise Leadership Competencies and the Enterprise DEI Competencies for all employees posted by the DEI Committee of the Office of Financial Management, and titled “Enterprise DEI Competencies – All Employees – A pathway for success [PDF]”. The named leader(s) below have the authority to, and shall ensure, that Bidder, Bidder’s employees, and Bidder’s subcontractors will follow the base expectation for values and culture established by Washington State. As Washington State continues to listen to our state family, this leader will enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within this organization. I will notify Enterprise Services within 30 days if these named leader(s) need to be changed.

Alicia M. Koné, Owner and President 12/14/2020

Name, Title Signature Date

Name, Title Signature Date

Name, Title Signature Date https://des.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/documents/Training/LeadershipDevelopment/Leadership_Competencies.pdf?=420bb https://des.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/documents/Training/LeadershipDevelopment/Leadership_Competencies.pdf?=420bb https://ofm.wa.gov/state-human-resources/workforce-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-resources/dei-committee-documents https://ofm.wa.gov/state-human-resources/workforce-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-resources/dei-committee-documents

EXHIBIT A-3 – RESPONSIBLE BIDDER (COMPETENCIES) - 01620 PAGE 2

CERTIFICATION

Bidder further certifies that it shall provide immediate written notice to Enterprise Services if, at any time prior to a contract award, Bidder learns that any of its certifications set forth herein were erroneous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed circumstances.

I hereby certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington, that the certifications herein are true and correct and that I am duly authorized to make these certifications on behalf of the Bidder listed herein.

BIDDER NAME: ALICIA M. KONÉ DBA KONÉ CONSULTING, LLC

Print Name of Bidder – Print full legal entity name of the firm submitting the Bid

By:

Signature of Bidder’s authorized person

Title: Owner and President Title of person signing certificate

Date: December 11, 2020

Alicia M. Koné Print Name of person making certifications for Bidder

Place: Edmonds, WA Print city and state where signed

Return this Bidder’s Certification to Procurement Coordinator at:

Bidder Name: Koné Consulting, LLC

Exhibit C - 2 – Bidder Response Sheet / 01620-Business Consulting Services

Categories that your company is bidding on (Mandatory, Not Scored)

Check the box(s) next to each category that your company is bidding on:

Organizational Development

Change Management

Management and Business Analysis

Bidder’s Organization (4 pages maximum) (150 points)

Founded in 2010, our organization is a woman-owned small-business based in Washington committed to helping the public sector develop a better understanding of the needs of the rapidly growing communities they serve. A seasoned team that understands the environment in which state governments function; the economic forces, political realities, and the policy dynamics that drive planning processes and resulting goals, objectives, and action plans. Skillful practitioners in a wealth of strategic planning and group facilitation tools, we view each client, organization and set of circumstances as unique, and design our approach accordingly.

Our customer base is comprehensive in many dimensions:

• We have worked at the federal level with several U.S. Departments and agencies ranging from Health and Human Services, the Food and Nutrition Service, the Small Business Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and with international organizations such as the world bank in México, Colombia, Nicaragua, Uganda and Turkey.

• Clients ranging in size from small cities to large counties in the West Coast, Mid-West and Eastern seaboard, and about two-thirds of the states in the US.

• We have served agencies focused on technology, health and human services, food security and nutrition, economic development and business innovation.

As a team, we have over 73 years of experience in human services, over 25 years in technology, over 37 years in business solutions and over 30 years in program evaluation and research.

Among the management tools our team has at its disposal are:

• Liberating Structures, which quickly foster lively participation in groups of any size, making it possible to truly include and unleash everyone;

• Lean thinking, principles and methods, to help people see their work from a holistic, client-focused point of view;

• Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) Technology of Participation methodologies to facilitate group processes and engage adult leaders in assessment and planning; and

• Practical Performance Measurement (PuMP), which is particularly well-suited to measuring seemingly intangible goals and creating shared understanding and buy-in for those measures.

Our Capabilities: Through a proven and unique mix of skills and experience, the team adeptly assists clients in navigating the shared and sometimes competing interests of stakeholders, and to develop cohesive strategy, goals and desired results

The techniques used are clear and easily practiced once experienced, so your team will also enhance their meeting and group facilitation skills, which is important in multi-stakeholder contexts such as workforce development.

Our team always starts our engagements with a kick-off meeting with our client’s project management team so we can review the proposed approach and work plan and make adjustments to ensure it meets your needs in the moment. This is just one of the ways that we apply our working principles, which we list below:

• We work collaboratively with the client, not just for the client.

• We want to unleash and engage every participant, bringing as much intelligence of stakeholder community as possible into the work.

• We work openly and transparently- both when things are successful and in moments of frustration and failure. There are lessons in each.

• We build capacity in everyone to implement and amplify the energy and insights of the plan into the work of the agencies with which we work. We focus beyond a plan to implementation.

Working with us, Washington State agency’s stakeholders, staff, and the state agency’s customers can expect a joyful process. Our strategy includes all the people necessary to understand the current state, and results in a strong statement of purpose, clarified goals, and insights into the crucial impacts and the future of said agency. Our goal is our engaging and dynamic process will strengthen the relationships between people and serve as a bedrock for all future strategic work of the agencies we support, and the agencies will see the process as a way to build capacity for the execution of their action plans.

When we work in-person (or virtually) we use graphic facilitation to capture, visually, what happens in the room and to create visual artifacts that help people remember, process and share what they are learning as they return to their own constituents. Due to the pandemic, our team has become adept at graphic facilitation in a virtual environment. Visual artifacts in the strategic planning process help communicate what’s happening beyond the group actively leading and developing the strategic plan.

Our organization’s strength and stability is in its ten-year record of success, dynamic relationships and extensive industry partners, diversified subject matter expertise, and practice of lean principles for continuous improvement, while maintaining low overhead with high-yield results.

Our Work Approach: If making a strategic plan were simple, a team would develop a list of tasks, decide who is doing what, what resources are needed, and forge ahead. This assumes resources are predictable, conditions are static, and the future is stable and knowable. That is not reality. Traditional strategic planning approaches often assume a linear future will unfold. They concentrate design, ownership and implementation in a top-down model and pin their hopes on wonderful but vague mission statements. Traditional planning frameworks fail to unleash and engage those who must execute and build on data, often lacking a sense-making step that helps the group ground factors in the context of how things actually get implemented in their organization or program.

Our Team uses an alternative approach to traditional change management tools, a complexity-informed, participatory practice known as “Knotworking”—a playful name that recognizes strategic work entails interwoven elements and implies older approaches may “not” be working—that keeps the complexity of challenges intact, balances predictability and unpredictability, and widens the circle of participation. It is an approach that recognizes the complex contexts and program realities in a diverse community. In our experience, this process creates a living strategic plan to deliver high value, actionable next steps and an ability to flex and evolve in rapidly changing contexts.

In addition to Liberating Structures/Knotworking, we use Lean thinking, principles, and methods to help people see their work from a holistic, client-focused point of view. Lean is an expression of the idea that organizations can—and should—maximize customer value while minimizing waste and respecting people. For over 100 years, process improvement has been applied in the manufacturing industry and production work, and in the past two decades the principles and methods of Lean have been used successfully by service-sector and knowledge industries such as health care, public assistance agencies, and government information technology improvement projects. For us, Lean provides a set of principles and methods that support developing people in the public sector.

Essential to any change management effort are informed leaders prepared and poised to support their organization’s staff, from front-line workers, to those responsible for managing people and systems. Our customizable Organizational Development and Leadership Training modules offer a variety of topics designed to complement strategic planning and continuous improvement efforts with a stewardship-leader philosophy, emphasizing competencies of accountability, prioritization and time management, critical thinking, navigating organizational change, and more.

Core competencies and areas of services: Below we discuss each of competencies and areas of service that allows us to inspire change and create lasting improvements for our clients in the government and nonprofit sectors. Our clients experience joy while we do the work, and the impact we make endures after we have gone.

Performing Assessments and Evaluating Performance We understand that assessments come in many shapes and forms from small municipal initiatives to large-scale multi-state Federal agencies all desiring to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of programs and services. Among our mixed-methods assessment approach are landscape scans designed to gather and synthesize relevant existing data and reports in order to gain a deeper understanding of an organization, program or community’s current state; qualitative data gathering through stakeholder interviews, focus groups, consensus workshops and community engagement; site-visits as appropriate; and large-scale surveys and research when indicated.

Implementing Lean Our consulting philosophy is based on the strong belief that only you can fix your problems. We have ideas and experience that help clients fix problems more quickly, and perhaps effectively, than if they were to take issues on without consultation. However, we subscribe to the lean concept that line staff—the “doers” in the organization—are the experts. We believe that if we tell you how to run your business, it would be a short-term win. Long-lasting change must be supported by changes in the organizational culture and management systems used to solve problems, and that must come from within, by using tools that encourage teamwork amongst staff, managers, and leadership.

Our experience working primarily in government health and human services agencies has focused on service delivery improvements encompassing policy, process and related organizational development (i.e. people) improvements. Through the course of our work, we have learned the following:

• People involved in the work must be included in identifying issues needing change and improvement and be part of generating solutions.

• Customers must obtain value in the end services agencies provide.

• Engaging mid-level managers is a vital key to implementing new systems.

With this learning, we have developed an approach to assist agencies in establishing service delivery improvements using Lean philosophies, methodologies and tools. Our approach to Lean is customized to non-profits, government agencies and organizations, and health and human services entities. Our training, coaching and systems improvements are guided by respect for people and their ability to manage and improve their own work.

Strategic Planning. We believe strategic plans are most effective when designed to flex and evolve in rapidly changing contexts; we do not support plans which are destined to stay on a shelf gathering dust.

We offer a variety of key deliverables when facilitating strategic planning, including development of strategic planning training materials and templates; train-the-trainer instruction and support; strategies for expanding and sustaining existing programs; supporting data collection, integration, analysis and reporting; environmental scans, interviews and focus groups; identifying key milestones and timelines;

performance measurement; and actionable next steps.

Whether developing short-term or long-range plans, our success lies in deploying tools from all our lines of service—performing assessments, evaluating performance, implementing lean, coaching, and technical assistance, as well as a dynamic and experienced team adept at building mutual trust, rapport and clear communication with our clients.

Coaching Services. Our leadership coaching and training series offers a full suite of customizable individual or group sessions designed to give leaders and their teams a strong foundation in skills needed to support new initiatives and continued growth. Training modules help teams understand their roles and work together through changing business environments, to include core competencies in the following essential topics:

• Roles and Expectations of Leaders and Managers

• Accountability and Stewardship

• Prioritization and Time Management

• Coaching and Performance Management

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

• Navigating Organizational Change

Providing Technical Assistance. Our team provides support to implement strategic plans and provide monitoring tools, as well as subject-matter expertise on specialized topics and/or execution.

Experience (4 pages for each category bid) (200 points)

Project 1 / Reference 1 - Organizational Development – County Agency Lean Process Improvement

Our company is currently conducting an Executive Coaching project complementing our lean process improvement work which began in 2017 and is ongoing, for an out-of-state county’s housing and community services agency which is made up of around 100 staff.

The county’s agency sought to build a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. In alignment with their strategic plan, the agency committed to build in work time for staff to improve processes or themselves. Our services were targeted to ensure staff will feel more fulfillment and autonomy at work due to learning new skills and improving processes in a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Ultimately, the project would give agency staff ways to learn new skills, become better at their work and prepare for the future.

Our team is providing lean training and coaching virtual workshops to identify opportunities for improvement and practice lean methods such as value stream mapping, action planning, Plan-Do-Study- Act (PDSA) pilot cycles and tracking the performance of pilot projects to embed Lean principles throughout the agency.

Principles for the coaching exercises include:

• No staff member is mandated to participate. If an individual chooses not to be involved, they spend their allotted time processing cases.

• Supervisors and Admin staff plan capacity enabling each worker two hours per week to dedicate to Lean or improvements.

• Staff has the freedom to choose what they want to test and change. A centralized location is used to track projects and allow everyone to see what people are working on.

• Managers, supervisors and staff may submit projects they would like to run to see if more team members are interested in joining a project.

• Staff is connected to an Innovation Advisor. Innovation Advisors are supervisors or managers;

their purpose is to remove barriers for the team

• Staff use provided templates and all projects must have a hypothesis and track outcomes.

As part of the execution of the coaching project, we are completing the following tasks:

• Consultants and County agency managers met to refine project plan, identify possible “Innovation Advisors”, and develop messaging on how to communicate project to staff to increase buy-in.

• Consultants facilitated “Intro to Lean” workshop—open to all and recorded, covering Lean principles and concepts and high-level overview of tools to identify “waste”, brainstorm and prioritize possible countermeasures, develop action plans, and test solutions using PDSA cycle.

• Consultants are facilitating a series of “Value Stream Mapping” virtual workshops – open to all and recorded, covering the concept of value stream mapping and practicing mapping together based on real-life business process identified for improvement.

• Consultants are facilitating a “Lean for Leadership” workshop for Innovation Advisors on Lean coaching skills including how to give/receive feedback, scenarios to practice, and more.

Ultimately, we pursued ongoing “Coach the coaches”—monthly check-ins with Innovation Advisors to offer support/coaching where PDSA cycles may need help getting unstuck. Incorporating lean principles into regular practice, not a “one and done” exercise.

Project 2 / Reference 2 - Organizational Development - Lean transformation project

From 2015 to 2017, our company worked on a project providing training and coaching services for a large county’s Human Services Agency (HSA) Lean transformation project. The HSA’s mission—to enhance the well-being of children, adults and families by providing professional, responsive, caring, and supportive service—coupled with its organizational purpose to provide eligibility determinations, case maintenance, and re-determinations for any person who has applied for public assistance services was the driving force behind developing Lean Champions through team training and one-on-one coaching, ultimately seeking process improvement and developing sustainable practices for meeting internal and external customers’ needs in a timely and accurate manner.

Several consultants provided coaching, facilitation, and training including working with staff at all levels of the agency to identify, design, and demonstrate improvements to the value the agency creates for its customers; facilitation of events for problem identification, work visualization, and process improvement; and training staff in Lean principles. The two-year project supported the county-based HSA’s leadership, site managers and caseworkers at its seven locations which together serve a population of over 700,000 individuals.

We consider it a great success that leadership and project sponsors made the commitment that implementing lean methods and tools in agency processes “would be different than any other effort— this time it would be driven by the ideas and solutions designed by staff, not recommendations formulated by consultants.”

A dominant theme and initial challenge were staff skepticism about leadership’s commitment and how involved staff would be allowed to be. Emerging from the first consultant facilitated improvement event—problem solving to reduce a program’s work backlog—staff were surprised when leadership made the decision to adopt their recommendations for a “Strike Force” team, a team of workers to take care of special projects so not to interrupt daily processing of complete eligibility applications. As a result of the staff-led Strike Force “one-and-done” action plan, over 2,000 cases with discrepancies were identified, with two-thirds of the backlog resolved within 3-months. Both internal and external customers benefitted from the Agency-wide commitment to improvement, with a significant increase in openness and willingness to contribute this and future value stream improvement projects across the board, according to participants.

Project 1 / Reference 1 – Change Management - Strategic Planning Facilitation and Organizational Development

We have recently completed work with a university center which began in 2019 to develop a strategic plan designed to create a framework for the strategic allocation of the center’s resources and to realize maximum impact in achieving their mission in a complex and shifting landscape. Our work included interviews with external stakeholders and planning workshops with the different teams in the center, culminating with a facilitated two-day all-staff strategic planning retreat, and a draft of the strategic plan, including short- and long-term goals and recommendations for organizational structure, staffing, and communication. The center contains over 50 core faculty, staff and additional support personnel.

We began our contract with a half day, in-person kick-off meeting with the university center staff and key stakeholders with three objectives: 1) to clarify and refine the approach, roles and responsibilities,

2) agree on decision and communication practices, and 3) set a schedule, milestones and deliverables.

This first meeting also had a relational component to establish rapport. We tapped the intelligence of the team and stakeholders, set context, purpose and priorities for the data gathering, interviews/focus groups and began to establish ownership of the process and the eventual plan. Subsequent biweekly project status update meetings were held via conference call or online.

In terms of data gathering, we reviewed agreed upon data sources, financial information and supporting documents. In addition, we conducted 30 interviews with external stakeholders to efficiently and candidly gather diverse opinions on their experience with the center’s services. From this group, we learned the perspectives of partners, customers, funders, and other important collaborators.

Following the above activities, we worked with the client to execute two tasks: 1) developing an overall first draft of the organizational purpose statement that was taken into the team workshops for testing and feedback and 2) identifying the primary work streams including who leads and who is part of the team in order to structure the small group workshops. Methodology for these two tasks primarily included a combination of Ecocycle planning and developing Organizational Purpose Statements. We then conducted Ecocycle planning workshops for the center’s 10 teams.

Among the objectives of the team workshops were:

• What is my group’s organizational purpose?

• How does that fit with the Center organizational purpose and the other groups

(interdependencies)?

• How does what we do fit into the overall organizational purpose? (Journey-mapping)

• Where are we in the development of our portfolio of projects as they relate to the organizational purpose? How do our initiatives fit in the ecocycle?

• How do we know we are headed in the right direction (performance measurement)?

We then conducted an analysis of the current landscape based on data synthesis and findings from the stakeholder interviews and planning workshops in preparation for the all-staff strategic planning retreat, scanning for potential “critical uncertainties” in their environment.

We also created a rapid assessment with both the internal and external findings and distribute it to retreat participants in advance of retreat. This information, combined with the team workshop insights, informed the design of the retreat.

Lastly, we facilitated a 1.5-day strategic planning (Knotworking) retreat, following which we developed a draft of the strategic plan, including short- and long-term goals and recommendations for organizational structure, staffing, and communication. The plan included visuals from the retreat and suggestions for implementation and follow up. We also met with the Center’s co-directors after the retreat to strategize their management of the plan. The client team is now in the process of implementing the plan.

Project 2 / Reference 2 - Change Management- State Health Department Medicaid Agency - Business Process Reengineering Project

Regarding Process Improvement, from mid-2019 thru mid-2020 our company worked on a project with an out-of-state agency on a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project continuing work from a state collaborative that had started in 2010. This round was meant to provide BPR to help small and medium-sized eligibility sites integrate four specialized projects into their existing business processes for Medicaid applications, recertifications, verifications, and reported changes.

The Department selected five model sites —four counties and one medical assistance (MA) site—to receive continual coaching during the two-year effort. Model sites participated in a series of three model site visits with the consulting team (MSVs) to facilitate process improvement with the aim of developing integration models for the specialized projects and helping staff address everyday workflow challenges. Model sites were used to evaluate whether the management consultants were successful in case accuracy standards, outlined by the Department and within the contract.

Our team and other teaming partners worked with a state Performance Improvement Team to conduct model site visits in seven small- to medium-sized county Medicaid agencies or Medical Assistance sites to train managers and staff principles of continuous improvement management systems. We also conducted several rounds of Learning Sessions for all eligibility sites to train them in process improvement methods, BPR, Lean, and other topics related to accurate and timely Medical Assistance eligibility determinations.

The team conducted four series of learning sessions (LSs): two of them were presented in the six regions of the state.