Consulting, taken on selectively.
ZNIS accepts a small number of consulting engagements each year. My day job is serving as Chief Operating Officer of a statewide behavioral health organization, so I consult where I can add real value quickly — and decline where I can’t.
Where I help
- IT consulting — Technology, systems selection, staff evaluation, and roadmaps that fit the organization you actually are, not the one a vendor imagines.
- Strategic action — Planning that favors motion over documents: short cycles, iterative improvement, continuous reporting instead of the binder-on-a-shelf strategic plan.
- Process & administrative operations — Making sure the business of running the business works: the back-office workflows, approvals, data flows, and handoffs behind finance, HR, compliance, and IT.
- Agency & staff assessments — An outside, executive-level look at how your operations, structure, and systems are serving the mission — and where they’re getting in its way.
- Compliance & risk management — Practical navigation of regulated environments from someone who has owned that responsibility, not just advised on it.
Who it’s for
My deepest experience is in small and medium-sized organizations — particularly nonprofits in the $50–100M range with 500–1,500 employees — where administrative functions have outgrown their original processes. I really enjoy helping agencies with a strong mission achieve their objectives by building a sturdy backbone of operations.
How an engagement starts
It starts with a conversation. Tell me what’s not working — or what you suspect isn’t. I love learning what strengths and challenges any agency has, even if it’s just a brief sanity check from an impartial third party. I’ll be honest and direct with you, and if needed we can scope an engagement.