Kristin L. Allen, PE, PMP
is a senior partner with Business Performance Group. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Allen has held executive level positions in both privately held and publicly held corporations engaged in engineering, information technology, and management consulting. He has built and sold two successful businesses. For a period of two years, he served on the faculty of the United States Naval Academy, where he taught naval engineering, thermodynamics, and nuclear reactor physics.
Allen's project management experience includes analysis, design, development, implementation, and control of engineering, plant-referenced simulator, performance-based training, business process design, and information technology projects. For a major mid-Atlantic commercial nuclear utility, he developed a three-phase engineering project management process that was used by the utility to reduce the cost of engineering design projects. For a telecommunications engineering firm, he supervised the development of a software application that automated the project management processes associated with cell tower design and build-out. For a major utility equipment vendor, he supervised the design and construction of a portable vitrification system, used to process various forms of low-level radioactive waste. He has also project managed the development of more than $25 million in performance-based training programs for electric utilities.
Allen holds a BS in nuclear engineering and an MS in high energy physics. He is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Karen Davey-Winter, PMP, ACC is an independent leadership coach and organization effectiveness consultant and associate of Business Performance Group. She has over 20 years of senior IT leadership experience in a variety of environments including consulting, public and private sector, and small and large organizations. Davey-Winter has led large projects and has built and managed teams of up to 150 people, often in complex matrix environments. She is particularly skilled at cross-functional collaboration, consensus building and negotiation in order to achieve a common goal. Davey-Winter is passionate about helping individuals, teams and organizations improve their effectiveness in order to obtain better outcomes.
Davey-Winter holds an Executive Certificate in Organizational Consulting and Change Leadership from Georgetown University, the International Coach Federation’s ACC level credential, the Project Management Professional certification and a BA Honors in politics and modern history from the University of Manchester, England. She is also a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator and EQi Emotional Intelligence practitioner.
Matt H. Evans, CPA, CMA, CFM is an independent consultant and associate of Business Performance Group. He has over 25 years experience working as a senior managing consultant, financial manager, controller, and senior analyst. He has led major projects ranging from system implementation projects for Fortune 100 companies to design and deployment of performance management systems within the federal public sector. Mr. Evans also has hands-on experience with financial analytical projects such as cost benefit and risk analysis of $ 1 billion investments, financial profiling of private companies, and financial forecasting models. He has experience in every aspect of accounting – financial reporting, fixed asset accounting, project cost accounting, payroll, billings, and cash flow management.
Evans earned his BS in accounting from Louisiana State University. He holds three professional certifications– Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant and Certified in Financial Management. He has also completed executive education programs at the Wharton Business School and J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Bruce Falk, PMP, a senior partner with H. C. Phoenix Group, has more than 35 years experience as a project manager and consultant. He has worked in staff and management positions for IBM and consulted with many companies, helping both large and small organizations achieve significant success. At IBM, he initiated and led national teams in reengineering massive changes to long standing processes, resulting in notable savings, increased productivity, better morale and improved customer satisfaction. Falk currently teaches courses ranging from risk management, schedule and cost control, Earned Value Management, cost estimating, project management applications, leadership, requirements management, recovery of troubled projects, and presentation skills for technical experts to many Fortune 1000 companies and government entities.
Falk received a BA in history from the College of William and Mary and has done post-graduate work at Old Dominion University and the University of Richmond. He is a member of the Project Management Institute and the International Coaches Federation.
L. John Hoover, PhD, PMP is president of Business Performance Group. Business Performance Group's mission is to enhance enterprise results by improving business planning, marketing and project performance. Hoover has more than thirty years of experience with strategic planning and operations management in the public and private sectors. He has held senior management (president and vice-president) positions with major consulting (ATESI, a PRC subsidiary) firms and contract research (e.g., Argonne National Laboratory) organizations. In addition, he has served as a corporate officer for start-up firms and firms with revenues of $700 million. His public sector experience includes energy, water, environment, defense, and information technology.
Hoover marketed and managed a $10 million engineering database project for an East Coast electric utility. He has successfully led or been a major contributor to software evaluation and selection projects for AT Massey Coal Company, Fannie Mae, and Progress Energy. He led the development of a business intelligence practice with CMS Information Systems, and led ATESI's efforts establishing the company as a leader in implementing the Instructional Systems Development approach to designing and implementing training programs. He is a frequent instructor for college level courses in project management, managing innovation, and finance for technical managers.
Hoover earned his BS (cum laude) and PhD from Pennsylvania State University. He has served in advisory positions to Penn State, the Department of Energy, and the Virginia Joint Commission on Technology and Science. Over the last five years, Hoover has been certified in various knowledge management solutions and tools.
Larry M. Joseph, PhD, PMP senior associate, Business Performance Group, has diverse experience in both public and private sectors including project/program management, new venture formation, technology assessment, strategy development and strategy implementation. This experience in managing complex projects and programs is extensive and has contributed to his current global consulting/teaching practice. Its emphasis is on the strategic aspects of program management and project development for energy, information technology, and defense industry clients.
After receiving his PhD from the University of Michigan, Joseph accepted a faculty position at the University of Illinois. In a period of growing energy problems, he left academia to accept a position at the Department of Energy. Over his 15 year involvement in the government, he managed several large international programs oriented toward meeting the Nation's energy needs from domestic natural resources while satisfying current and future environmental standards. These innovative program established many new approaches to cost shared partnerships that have become a standard for similar initiatives throughout the government. His tenure in the government was punctuated by a five year stint in the private sector that focused on technology development. Roughly ten years ago, Joseph left the government to start a consulting practice and return to a more active role in teaching. He has adjunct faculty positions at two universities, has developed academic and executive education programs, and has taught them worldwide. He has helped global companies in the energy, information technology, and defense industries deal implementing strategic initiatives using project, program, and portfolio management. He has taught extensively on a world-wide basis in the areas of energy policy as well as project, program, and project portfolio management.
Joseph created/implemented a training program that assisted hundreds of project managers get their PMP® certification. Along with his doctorate from The University of Michigan, he has earned his bachelor’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his MS from Tufts University.
Michael Sands, PMP, associate with Performance Business Group, has over 20 years of experience in management, organization development, and training with both the public and private sectors. As an independent consultant, Sands has provided training and technical assistance to both private and public firms. Sands has extensive experience as an Army officer in defense intelligence, management, and leadership and organization development.
As an Army officer, Sands served in numerous positions of significant responsibility. He led a project to create a new Army Reserve component intelligence organization with nationwide span of control of over 6,000 people and a budget of over five million dollars. He led the development of a software application affecting several levels of command and military service organizations in the Pacific region. Sands supported the creation of functional requirements for the first Army automated intelligence system. As a consultant, Sands supported firms seeking ISO 9000 certification, as well as process improvement initiatives. He has also provided over 5,000 contact hours to both public and private organizations in total quality management, organizational change management, and project management.
Sands has a bachelor's degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree from the University of Phoenix. He is certified as a Project Management Professional through Project Management Institute.
Susan Schwartz, PMP, is an independent consultant and associate of Business Performance Group. She has more than 30 years of experience creating technology-based business solutions within collaborative team environments. Her leadership and contributing team member roles span across a variety of functions: project management, organizational change, systems analysis, technical design, product management, technical writing, knowledge management, cross-industry partner relationships, group facilitation, adult learning and performance improvement.
Schwartz has held senior management positions in the private and public sectors. Her goal-oriented management style emphasizes individual and budget metrics, as well as the flexibility to adjust to constantly changing environments across virtual and co-located teams. In full-time and consulting roles, she motivates cross-organizational project teams to achieve strategic goals and deliver continuous business productivity improvements. She has developed unique methods using business process review, knowledge management and technology tools to help organizations create innovative, knowledge sharing solutions which focus on ease of use and customer satisfaction.
Schwartz received a BA in economics from Goucher College and an MS in organizational development and knowledge management from George Mason University School of Public Policy.
Paul G. Shinderman is an independent consultant and associate of Business Performance Group. He has over 30 years of experience working as an executive and senior manager in the professional services industry– including having held positions as the SVP for Corporate Planning & Public Relations and SVP for Business Development. He led the initiative to implement CMMI-Level 2 within a nearly 800-person company in 17 locations throughout the country. Shinderman also has hands-on experience developing courses and instructing in project management, proposal writing and development, and customer relations. Shinderman earned his BS in math education from Virginia Commonwealth University and his MPA from the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College in Program Management.
