HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESPONSE - RFP - 8456 NATURAL AREAS ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENTRevolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 0
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 1
Contents
COVER LETTER .................................................................................................................................................... 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & EXHIBIT A............................................................................................................. 3
Exhibit A ..............................................................................................................................................................................
4
METHODS & APPROACH ................................................................................................................................... 5
Project Approach ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Scope of Services ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Deliverables ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Sustainability ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10
CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE ................................................................................... 11
Contact Information .......................................................................................................................................................... 11
Firm Qualifications ............................................................................................................................................................ 12
Project Team Resumes ...................................................................................................................................................... 13
Relevant Projects ............................................................................................................................................................... 15
References ......................................................................................................................................................................... 18
AVAILABILITY ................................................................................................................................................... 19
TEAM PROFILE .................................................................................................................................................. 19
FEES ...................................................................................................................................................................... 20
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................................... 21
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 2
February 17, 2017
City of Fort Collins
Purchasing Division
215 North Mason Street, 2nd Floor
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Email submission: purchasing@fcgov.com
RE: Proposal No. 8456
Dear Mr. Stokes and Proposal Selection Team Members:
The Natural Areas Department has achieved remarkable success since the inception of the program 25 years
ago. The community continues to support the growth, protection and management of natural areas in Fort
Collins through its support of sales tax dedication to fund land protection, operations and administration and
related activities of the Department. With this community endorsement comes a large responsibility for the
Department to provide opportunities to recreate, connect, and play in these protected areas.
Through its planning efforts the Natural Areas Department has obtained community guidance on its path
forward for the future. This path provides direction for development of future protection, restoration and
stewardship management efforts and strategies, educational and nature-based programming, and integration
activities to achieve connectivity, sustainability, climate adaptation and community planning & development
objectives. Critical to the success and sustainability of these efforts is the alignment of the Department’s
structure, operations and capacity in order to deliver the services and activities promised to the community.
Revolution Advisors is truly the ideal partner for the City of Fort Collins on this project. We have recently
completed similar projects for two major open space / natural areas programs in the Front Range (City of
Boulder and Jefferson County) and our success in those projects led to a presentation at the 2016 Colorado
Open Space Alliance conference on preparing these programs for the future. In addition to these natural areas
specific projects, Revolution Advisors is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of Organization Design and
Workforce / Capacity Planning. Finally, Revolution Advisors has been a key consulting partner for the City of Fort
Collins since 2014 on a number of Human Resources issues. We are currently working on the implementation of
a new job architecture across the City, and that work is directly relevant to future organization structures for the
City. Through that work, we have built an in-depth understanding of the City and its operations and we have
built strong working relationships with nearly every Service Area and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). This
knowledge and experience will help us ensure that we can design an effective Natural Areas organization that
has the resources and structure it needs for the future that is also in alignment with the future HR directions for
the City. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss our qualifications with you further.
Sincerely,
Brian Wilkerson
Cover
Letter
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 3
Executive
Summary
& Exhibit A
Revolution Advisors and our consultants bring over 20 years of experience in organizational assessment and
design. The team of experts we have selected for the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department Assessment
project has core skills in human capital and workforce planning, municipal and conservation planning, service
delivery and change management. We have designed a customized process that reflects our familiarity with the
City of Fort Collins, and our understanding of local open space/land management agencies. Throughout this
proposal we have detailed key steps and tasks associated with leading the Natural Areas Department to a
desired future state that will enhance effectiveness, build organizational resilience and ensure capability to
deliver community services.
The key process steps associated with this effort allows for detailed assessment and evaluation of:
Structure, operations, program area design and function
Staffing, job skills, competencies, performance, workloads
Operating standards and processes
Guiding documents, metrics, budget
Communication
We will summarize the results of our assessment and evaluation with a findings report to identify what is
working well, preliminary focus areas, structural adjustments and recommendations for needed areas of
improvement. The preliminary recommendations will be a result of ongoing communication between our
project team and will be tested against our proprietary models we use to evaluate organizational impact and
resilience to future change.
The City’s feedback and review of the project findings and recommendations are essential to ensure proposed
improvements meet project goals and objectives. Once we receive feedback on the recommendations, we will
finalize the future state structure and organizational recommendations. A transition plan will be developed to
help usher changes throughout the organization with key activities. A written report and PowerPoint
presentation will be developed to provide your team with a written reference of the project, and summary for
use in presenting the project to others.
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 4
Exhibit A
PROPOSAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Consultant hereby acknowledges receipt of the City of Fort Collins Request for Proposal and acknowledges that
it has read and agrees to be fully bound by all of the terms, conditions and other provisions set forth in the RFP.
Additionally, the Consultant hereby makes the following representations:
a. All of the statements and representations made in this proposal are true to the best of the Consultant’s
knowledge and belief.
b. The Consultant has obtained all necessary authorizations and approvals that will enable the Consultant to
commit to the terms provided in this proposal.
c. This proposal is a firm and binding offer, for a period of 60 days from the date hereof.
d. I further agree that the method of award is acceptable to my company.
e. I also agree to complete the proposed Agreements with the City of Fort Collins within 30 days of notice of
award.
f. If contract is not completed and signed within 30 days, City reserves the right to cancel and award to the next
highest rated firm.
g. I acknowledge receipt of ___X__ addenda.
Consultant Firm Name: Revolution Advisors
Physical Address: 10170 Church Ranch Way, Suite 100; Westminster, CO, 80021
Remit to Address: SAME AS ABOVE
Phone: 720.406.5301
Authorized Agent of Firm Name: Brian Wilkerson
Signature of Authorized Agent:
Primary Contact for Project: Brian Wilkerson
Title: Email Address: bwilkerson@revolution-advisors.com
Phone: Cell Phone: 303.564.5686
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 5
Methods
& Approach
Project Approach
Revolution Advisors has helped dozens of
organizations, companies and non-profits
align their organizations so they are better
able to deliver on the services identified
by their customers and communities, and
help them meet their mission. Recent
projects with other Open Space / Natural
Areas agencies in the Front Range have
helped us apply this approach to your
specific industry.
Our project approach begins with understanding the context under which the Natural Areas Department
operates within. To us, this begins with understanding the community and industry trends that drive the work
of your Department. These external forces materialize themselves through service demands for your
Department and should ultimately shape the structure, operations, staffing and processes of the organization to
enable responsiveness. Revolution Advisors understands the importance of creating this alignment and in the
following the sections of this proposal has outlined key steps to help the Natural Areas Department to achieve
this goal.
Scope of Services
The scope of services defines what we see as the key elements associated with conducting the Natural Areas
Organizational Assessment. The scope of services reflects our understanding of the items identified in the RFP
and our expertise in undertaking organizational design and assessment projects. The breadth of services
discussed with each task reflects our familiarity of working with local government land management/open space
and natural area agencies.
Figure 1. Organizational Design Considerations for Service Delivery
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 6
STEP 1
TASKS
1. Project Kick off & Partnership Launch
We begin each of our projects with our clients by laying a foundation for success. The project kick off meeting
marks the launch of our partnership together in undertaking the organizational assessment process. Key aspects
of this task include:
Discussing & affirming project goals and objectives for the assessment
Establishing preferred format and frequency for communication
Reviewing and refining scope, schedule and budget
Project management approach
Submitting requests for information and materials to initiate process
1.1 Data Gathering & Assessment
In order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the Natural Areas Department and the services it provides to
the community and visitors, we undertake a series of data gathering and assessment activities that enable us to
map the current state of the organization and its operations. To this end, our work for this task involves a variety
of activities that provide information on the structural and operational components of the Natural Areas
Department, but also involve us in a variety of communication activities with the leadership, staff and
collaborating departments to understand the culture, morale and overall energy that drives people to perform
in their jobs.
We also explore local and regional trends, existing guidance and preferences from the community, Council
identified priorities and management plans to provide context to the environment in which the Natural Lands
Department operates within. Finally we match and compare your Department’s approach to industry trends
and best management practices for similar Open Space and Natural Lands Management Departments. Key
components of the data gathering and assessment tasks will include collection and evaluation of the following
materials:
Mission, vision, values, guiding principles and other relevant elements from documents that guide
organizational work efforts
Organizational structure, departmental budget, work plans, existing metrics, operating standards, key
processes, project development and delivery processes
Existing management plans, citizen surveys, Council priorities
Industry trends and best management practices in Open Space/Natural Lands Management
Regional and local demographic trends
1.2 Interviews
Personal interviews provide us with an important level of understanding about the organization from a variety
of different perspectives in terms of culture and morale; leadership effectiveness; collaboration and
communication; and workload, performance, decision-making and accountability. Our proposed list of
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 7
interviewees will provide us with both an internal and external perspective of the department, and includes the
following types and format for interviewing:
Individual interviews with leadership including directors, managers and senior staff across each program
area
Employee focus groups
External department collaborator interviews
1.3 Activity Analyses
An important complement to personal interviews will be the performance of activity analysis of key positions
across the Department’s program areas. Activity analyses allow us to understand the primary functions, skills
sets and services associated with targeted positions at different levels of the department. It also helps us
achieve a better understanding of the amount of time employees dedicate to different functions. The
information obtained from the activity analysis allows us evaluate skills, capacity, workloads, allocation of
responsibilities, and also point us to areas where improvements are needed and operational efficiencies can be
achieved.
STEP 2
2. Preliminary Assessment Findings
Our project team will conduct an analysis of all the data and information collected as part of Task 1 to evaluate
and compare internal structure, operations, programs, resources and budget against long term operations and
stewardship needs and external service delivery needs and community demands for services, programs, facilities
and amenities. We will evaluate factors that may influence efficiency and effectiveness, structural issues, span,
scope and skills associated with positions, and work environment issues among others. We will evaluate if the
organization is appropriately set up to achieve its goals, metrics and mission. From this assessment we will
identify priority focus areas for the organization and review these finding with the project team, leadership and
key stakeholders in the process. Once we obtain agreement on the focus areas, we will begin development of
our preliminary recommendations.
2.1 Preliminary Recommendations
Development of the preliminary recommendations will be
organized by the priority focus areas agreed upon as a
result of the assessment and include structure
recommendations, skills development, process and work
environment changes, and other potential changes that
will improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the
group and position the organization for future success.
Our recommendations will be prioritized to specify
areas/actions that should be implemented immediately,
Figure 3: Example Priority Focus Areas from
Organizational Assessment
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 8
those that could occur within the next six months and those that may need a longer term strategy and/or
funding to appropriately implement.
To validate the strength of our organizational structure and recommendations we will leverage two of
our proprietary methodologies to analyze and test our proposed approach against typical to critical
challenges organizations face. First we will “stress test” the recommended organizational design
structure. The purpose of stress testing is to understand how well the organization design achieves its
intended outcomes and stands up to changing conditions-how resilient will the Natural Areas
Department be in the face of change?
Our stress testing approach allows us to
predict the resilience of the structure to
potential changes in processes, workload
fluctuations, and a host of other factors
that we will uncover during our
assessment and in our conversations
with you. Figure 4 features typical
stress factors we uncover during the
assessment phase. The box on the right
features capabilities we work to build
and enhance in organizations so they
increase their capacity to respond to and
capitalize on change.
The second propriety methodology we
intend to use as a part of this project is
our Perspectives Analysis in order to understand how change might impact various stakeholder groups.
This approach allows us to examine the potential impact of the design to different stakeholder groups
and possible perceptions of each including: leaders and managers, employees, the community, oversight
/ regulatory bodies and others. Through this analysis we can look at issues and develop mitigation
strategies ranging from design changes to change management strategies.
2.2 Revised Recommendations
We will present our recommendations and the results of our testing on the proposed model to the project team
for review and feedback. Based on your comments, we will make any needed adjustments to the structure and
organizational recommendations. Throughout the process, our team will coordinate closely with the Director
and the management team on findings and recommendations to ensure alignment. In addition, our consultants
will support the development of communications strategies and messaging for the project that will be focused
on ensuring effective change management throughout the process. This component of our work will play a large
role in development of the Transition Plan. Throughout these steps in the project, we will ensure that the
recommendations for Natural Areas are aligned with the overall Job Architecture and Talent Management
initiatives for the City of Fort Collins, which we are partnering closely with the City on.
Figure 4. Building Organizational Resilience
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 9
Step 3
Tasks
3.1 Transition Planning
Change within an organization is both an exciting and sometimes challenging endeavor. For some it catalyzes
work efforts in anticipation of reaching goals with renewed support. For others there is skepticism associated
with changing tried and true processes that seemed to work well already. Organizational change is as much
about people as it is about operational and process improvement for service delivery. Effectively managing
changes requires appropriate transition planning to lead staff towards your desired future state.
While transition planning is focused on implementation, communication and stakeholder engagement begins
early and continues throughout the process. The development of key messages and providing frequent
communication with staff about the intent and expected outcomes associated with this project lays an
important foundation for beginning the transition process. As mentioned earlier, our team will work with the
Project Team to craft key messages to share with staff, as well as develop strategies for ensuring that those
impacted by changes are supportive of the project and its objectives.
Once we confirm support for the Natural Areas Department Organizational Design Recommendations we will
detail a full transition plan. Depending on the outcomes of the assessment, a full spectrum of activities will be
identified to ensure continuity of the work performed today. These activities often include skills development
planning, job shadowing, communications, refinement of roles and resourcing considerations amongst others.
This is done to ensure that staff clearly understand how to be successful with new or different responsibilities. It
also ensures that the rest of the organization clearly understands how to be successful in working with the
impacted functions and personnel. Essentially, an effective transition plan ensures a smooth conversion to the
new structure and diminishes the natural dip in productivity teams often see with organizational design
changes. We will align the transition plan with key implementation activities, highlighting shorter term and
longer term actions to facilitate the change process and the adoption and integration of the new structural
recommendations.
3.2 Final Report on Findings, Recommendations and Transition Planning
The results of our work together for each step in the process will be compiled into a final written report as well
as summarized for a PowerPoint presentation that can be used for presentation purposes. The written report
and PowerPoint will include the following process elements:
Assessment process & findings
Key organizational themes
Recommendations
Implementation areas & timing
Transition planning
3.3 Project Administration
Project Administration is a core component of our work that we build into the development of our projects that
provides transparency to our clients on our internal operating and administration needs to meet your objectives
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 10
for success. It begins with our kick off meeting and partnership launch, and is detailed in the project plan we
provide to you. It provides both parties with flexibility for ongoing communication, adaptability for changed
direction and realistic expectations for the work involved in meeting the goals and objectives associated with
the project.
Deliverables
The following table details the deliverables associated with each of the primary steps for the Natural Areas
Assessment project.
Step Activity/Tasks Deliverables
Step 1
Project & Partnership Launch, Data
Gathering, Evaluation & Assessment
Project Kick Off Meeting & Partnership
Launch
Project Plan & Schedule
Individual Interviews
Employee Focus Groups
Activity Analyses
Step 2 Findings, Recommendations & Feedback
Preliminary Assessment
Preliminary Recommendations
Revised Recommendations
Step 3 Transition Planning/Change Management
& Project Administration
Change Management Strategy
Transition Plan
Final Assessment, Recommendations &
Transition Planning Report
PowerPoint Presentation Summarizing
Assessment, Recommendations &
Transition Planning
Sustainability
Revolution Advisors prides itself in the integration of sustainability into our workplace and through our
operations, processes and procedures. We leverage the Triple Bottom Line methodology in our business
strategies, client engagements, and day-to-day business operations. Our firm utilizes fundamental social,
environmental and economic principles to guide the management of our company. We are about more than just
improving the financial bottom line. Our number one priority is to provide our clients with the most value for
the money spent. We want our clients to be enabled and more capable when we leave and a part of doing that
is to look at every interaction and ensure that it is providing the most value. We spend the right amount of time
on site to ensure that our assessments are thorough and that our change management approaches have taken
hold. Sustainability is also built into the way we design processes. We take into account not only the time and
resource efficiencies of tactical changes that need to occur, but the benefits for the workforce as improved
processes create opportunities for people to tackle new challenges, new roles, and achieve a renewed sense of
delivering value to the city and community.
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 11
As a small business, Revolution Advisors maintains a very small footprint. And yet we are always seeking out
ways to further manage our impact on the environment and on the lives of our consultants. Given that we
service a global client base, we are very adept at virtual collaboration. Our offices include complete video
conference and virtual collaboration capabilities. Throughout the project, we seek to strike the right balance
between onsite and virtual work with our priority on doing whatever it takes to get the right results for our
clients. This awareness of our environmental impact further plays out in practices such as travel to the client
site, where we take care to carpool as much as possible to limit individuals travel. We also support periodic
work-from-home technology solutions for our consultants. We use recycled paper and all of our printers are set
to dual‐sided printing by default. Because of our collaboration infrastructure, we encourage our consultants to
print only what is necessary and work with our clients to be able to present electronically. In addition, we focus
on using vendors who have similar track records in terms of sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Embracing our broader social responsibilities, we pride ourselves on being good corporate citizens. From the
extensive community service that our consultants undertake to the work that we do as a firm in indigenous
communities helping them with resource management, economic development, and creating entrepreneurs,
our firm is concerned about leaving the world in which we live a better place. As one example, our firm
underwrote workshops for municipalities impacted by the massive floods in Colorado to help them work with
DOLA and FEMA to get the support they needed for rebuilding. At the individual level, the Individual
Development Plan (IDP) we support for our consultants focuses on three key areas: the development of self, the
development of the consulting practice, and the development of the community. We encourage and support
our consultants to pursue community involvement activities for which they have a passion.
Consultant
Qualifications
& Experience
The following section provides an overview our firm, our project team and the specific project experience we
bring directly related to the Fort Collins Natural Areas Organizational Assessment. We have included several
recent project examples that demonstrate our success in this arena, our in-depth understanding of municipal
planning and operations, as well as specific expertise in Natural Areas/Open Space organization, management
and administration.
Contact Information
Brian E. Wilkerson
Managing Director,
Revolution Advisors
10170 Church Ranch Way, Suite 100
Westminster, CO 80021
720.409.5301
bwilkerson@revolution-advisors.com
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 12
Firm Qualifications
Revolution Advisors is a planning and consulting firm based in
Westminster, CO. Our firm is made up of a team of experts
who specialize in the areas of municipal and regional planning,
organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, change
management and community engagement with expertise
gained from working with local governments, tribal
governments, and the non-profit and private sectors. Our work
focuses on helping our clients plan for their future and align
their organizations so they are effectively positioned to service their community and customers. We help create
that often-absent bridge between internal operations and external responsiveness to community and customer
needs for services and programs. We do this by helping organizations develop the right structures, operating
models, capacity, processes and metrics to implement change and enhance and measure effectiveness.
We work hand in hand with staff to understand their operations, core services and responsibilities, budgeting
and challenges. We compare and evaluate this information against community desires and demands for
programs and services to help organizations to determine the right mix that meets community, financial and
leadership goals, along with the organization’s mission and charter. The results are organizations that can nimbly
navigate change and better respond to their community’s needs.
In response to community’s desire for change, Revolution Advisors also provides community, economic and
environmental planning services that are grounded in engaging all community members in dialogues about their
hopes, needs and desires in appealing, convenient, and equitable formats. We collect and evaluate this and
technical information to help develop strategies to address issues and provide solutions that is focused on action
and implementation.
Our work leads us to a variety of culturally diverse communities, that range from work on Indian Reservations in
Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico, Washington and Alaska, to communities like Douglas County, Fort Collins,
Jefferson County, Weld County, and transitioning communities like Boulder, CO, Broomfield, CO, Tucson, AZ,
Santa Fe, NM and West Hollywood, CA. In each of these areas we have tailored our approach to suit the context
of the community and towards creating revolutionary change within organizations. We excel in a number of key
experiences and competencies including:
Track record of success working with a diverse range of jurisdictions on organizational change, workforce
planning, process and performance improvement, leadership, budgeting, training and coaching.
Extensive experience working with diverse stakeholders from different cultural, economic and social
backgrounds to develop community visions and associated plans.
Core skills in integrated master planning, environmental planning, land use and economic development and
multi-modal transportation.
Extensive experience working with Public Officials, Commissions, Advisory Committees and Community
members for change management, plan development and implementation.
Success in driving development and implementation of work programs, long-range projects, and effective
budgeting and funding of capital improvements.
Our work focuses on the
integration of community
values/needs into operations and
work planning to ensure alignment
with service delivery
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 13
Revolution Advisors is truly an ideal partner for the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department. Our firm has a
strong track record of success working with organizational design and process improvement for Open Space
Management Departments in the City of Boulder and Jefferson County. For the past two years our work has
focused on helping open space agencies evaluate their internal operations against trends and best management
practices for natural lands management to identify opportunities to develop and improve processes, reconfigure
operations to better respond to community needs for services, recruit and retain talent and better steward and
manage existing system assets.
In addition to these natural areas specific projects, Revolution Advisors is a nationally recognized expert in the
areas of Organization Design and Workforce / Capacity Planning with a 20 year history of success in helping
organizations create stronger, more resilient organizations for the future.
Finally, Revolution Advisors has been a key consulting partner for the City of Fort Collins since 2014 on a number
of Human Resources issues. Through this work we have built an in-depth understanding of the City, its culture
and operations, and have developed strong working relationships with executive leadership and the service
areas across the city. This knowledge and experience will help us design an effective Natural Areas organization
that has the resources and structure it needs for the future that is also in alignment with the future HR
directions for the City.
Project Team Resumes
Our firm is made up of a diverse group of individuals with distinct areas of expertise that come together to
create a team focused on developing integrated solutions for the communities we work in.
Brian E. Wilkerson, Co-founder and Managing Director
PROPOSED ROLE: Principal Advisor & Subject Matter Expert
Brian’s career over the past 25 years has focused on the intersection between Planning and People,
and he has helped organizations secure their future through cutting-edge planning techniques and
innovative Human Capital strategies. He has helped dozens of organizations build the right plans,
structures, processes, and capabilities to fulfill their missions and goals.
Brian has worked directly with the City of Fort Collins over the past 3 years as well as a number of
local and state governments across the Front Range and across the United States to provide
innovation in organizational design and development, strategic planning and performance improvement. This has included
working with City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks and Jefferson County Open Space. His efforts have resulted in
dramatic performance improvements and organization designs that have helped organizations better deliver services and
respond to community needs through alignment of organizational priorities with staffing, operations and processes. His
guidance helps organizations identify, measure and better deliver the tools and capacity needed to provide public services
in a responsive, effective and efficient manner.
Brian is a frequent and invited speaker for local and national conferences on the topic of organization design and resilience,
leadership and workforce planning. Most recently he spoke at the 2016 Colorado Open Space Alliance (COSA), conference
as part of panel with Open Space Directors from Boulder, Broomfield and Colorado Springs discussing leadership and
management of open space systems for the future. He has been honored to receive recognition for his planning work from
organizations such as the American Planning Association and the National Science Foundation.
Representative Past Roles:
Founder and CEO, WisdomNet
Global Practice Leader, Watson Wyatt
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 14
Vice President of Process & Planning, Level 3 Communications
Senior Manager on the Global Transition & Transformation Team, Andersen Consulting
Adjunct Faculty member, Daniel’s College of Business at the University of Denver
Education:
Master Degree in Urban Regional Planning, University of Colorado at Denver
Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati
Certificate in Urban Planning, University of Cincinnati
Melissa Antol, Senior Consultant
PROPOSED ROLE: Project Manager and Subject Matter Expert
Melissa has more than 15 years of planning leadership experience in municipal governments such
as Tucson, Santa Fe and West Hollywood, as well as through her work with national organizations
such as The Nature Conservancy, the National Parks and Conservation Association and the Colorado
Natural Areas Program. Her expertise includes local government management and administration,
project and program management, process improvement, community engagement, strategic
planning and integrated long-range planning.
Melissa professional background in municipal government provides her with an intimate understanding of the political and
community dynamics that local governments navigate in managing operations and delivering on the services identified by
communities. She has an in-depth understanding of government operations, funding, programs and staffing, and the
nuances of government culture. She is skilled at process assessment and improvement and in developing integrated and
collaborative work styles across organizations. Melissa’s recent organizational design/change management projects have
included working with City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks and Jefferson County Open Space.
Representative Past Roles:
Long Range and Mobility Planning Manager, City of West Hollywood
Senior Project Manager, City of Tucson Department of Transportation
Community Planner, Santa Fe County Land Use Planning Department
Program Associate, The Nature Conservancy
Program Assistant, Colorado Natural Areas Program
Education:
Master’s Degree in Urban & Regional Planning/Environmental Planning, University of Colorado at Denver
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Environmental Policy, University of Washington
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 15
Kristen Cooksley, Senior Consultant
PROPOSED ROLE: Subject Matter Expert, Project Management
Kristen brings more than 15 years of experience in leading successful organizational
transformation efforts and has worked around the globe on major change initiatives. Her areas
of expertise span across Human Capital Management with a particular focus on organizational
design, change management and talent development.
Kristen has deep organizational design experience, and has helped many organizations re-
engineer their positions and structures. She led the design work for Sony Pictures Entertainment
as they launched a new global service center, she successfully integrated multiple sales teams
at Blue Shield of California, and managed multiple design efforts focused on specific departments, such as the City of Boulder
Public Works Organizational Assessment project. She is skilled at applying the latest tools and techniques for best assessing
and designing positions, teams and full organizations. She is certified in a number of Organizational Effectiveness tools and
assessments, and holds an SPHR Certification. She is a member of the Organization Development Network, the Association
for Talent Development, the Professionals in Human Resources Association, and served as President on the Board of Directors
for a local school and 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Representative Past Roles:
Principal / Owner, Kacey Consulting
Director, Change Management Services, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Manager, Organizational Effectiveness, Blue Shield of California
Education:
Master Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Bachelor Degree in Psychology, Northern Illinois University
Relevant Projects
City of Ft. Collins – Total Rewards and Job Architecture Project (2014-present),
Revolution Advisors engaged with the city for a multi-phase project to redefine and
enhance the City’s total reward system. We initially conducted a comprehensive
assessment of Talent Management processes across the City and identified a number of areas where
improvements were needed to help the City better attract and retain talent. Since the initial assessment in
2014, we have implemented a number of changes and improvements including the Quarterly Performance
Alignment (QPA) and a new Upward Feedback process that replaced the previous Pay for Performance program
and enables employees to receive and provide timely and meaningful performance feedback with their
respective direct manager. Building on this success, we shifted focus in 2016 toward compensation and
completed the initial design of citywide job architecture with more than half of the Service Areas. Ultimately, we
found ways to differentiate skill sets to ensure that people were paid appropriately and competitively, as a
mechanism to retain talent. Additionally, the full job architecture will align the city’s position structure, so that it
is consistent from area to area, and sustainable over time. This greatly enhances career mobility, and further
facilitates talent retention.
Through this project, we not only successfully achieved the project objectives, but we were able to partner with
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 16
leaders throughout the organization, and build strong, productive relationships. We have an in-depth
understanding have the culture and climate, and have the practical knowledge about how to get things done
within the City of Ft. Collins. Specifically, by mapping the majority of the existing positions, we understand the
roles, structure, service offerings, and have a built a strong partnership with the Human Resources team, as well
as Community and Operations Services. We have a keen understanding of the key stakeholders and the future
direction of the organization, providing Revolution Advisors with unique insights and a significant background
knowledge that would be otherwise difficult to build.
We have partnered with the following functional areas:
Executive Services - complete
Judicial Services - complete
Legal Services - complete
Planning, Development & Transportation - complete
Sustainability Services - complete
Utility Services - complete
Financial Services - complete
Information & Employee Services - complete
Community & Operations Services – in process
Police Services – in process
City of Fort Collins, Finance Organization Assessment, (2015) Working directly with the CFO
for the City of Ft. Collins, Mike Beckstead, we conducted an assessment and evaluation of
the positions, skills, and talents of Finance staff both in Financial Services and deployed to
the service areas. Based on the assessment, we helped develop new structures, job families and job descriptions
for the finance positions to enhance alignment with public and private benchmarks, as well as the future
direction of the City. We created consistency across the city in the hiring, management, deployment, and
development of finance positions, and developed career paths that enabled both horizontal and vertical career
development for finance positions. This ensured citywide alignment of incumbent qualifications, scope of
responsibility, authority, position structures and compensations.
This work further enhanced our working relationships with the Executive Leadership Team, as this work was
seen as a pilot for advancing the job architecture for the rest of the City. It also helped provide an in-depth
understanding of the employees, positions, levels, structures and anticipated future plans for the City in terms
of organizational growth. We have direct experience performing organizational assessment and design work
within the City, and know the how to successfully accomplish project objectives within the context of the City’s
structure and work environment.
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 17
City of Boulder, Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), (2014 – Present) Revolution
Advisors has worked with OSMP for the past two years to help the organization enhance its
operational effectiveness and capability to meet open space management and community
demands for the future. Our team worked with Tracy Winfree, the OSMP Director to evaluate
the overall structure, staffing and operations of the department to identify opportunities to
enhance effectiveness and create efficiencies. Phase 1 of our work involved evaluation of existing structure,
leadership positions and purpose and operations of each of the program areas in the department. We evaluated
key operations and processes including, budgeting, work planning, project management and permitting. We
also reviewed relevant guiding documents such as management plans and SOPs. Our work involved extensive
interviews, employee focus groups and staff presentations and regular meetings with leadership. This regular
interface with the department provided us with an in-depth understanding of the culture and morale of the
department as wells as critical insight for areas of improvement. Based on our assessment and
recommendations for improvement, we realigned the department to balance the demands for services
identified by the community, and reconfigured the structure to encourage more collaboration across program
areas, and externally with community groups and constituents. Based on our recommendations, Revolution
Advisors was contracted to work on a Phase 2 effort to implement our primary recommendations.
During Phase 2, we led implementation of specific activities that included: development of a leadership strategy,
job description development, management training and coaching, and development of a trails capacity planning
model to identify Trails Area Plan implementation capability and trails stewardship needs. Additionally, we
updated the Ranger Services MOU and Operations Manual.
Revolution Advisors is presently working with OSMP on a Phase 3 effort to identify and assess the core services
of the different program areas (work groups) within the department. The objective is to identify how well
services are aligned with community values that will be identified as part of their upcoming Master Planning
development effort. Our project team has led a series of eleven workshops to obtain the primary services,
actions and benefits of the work of these program areas.
Jefferson County Open Space Department (JCOS), (2015-2016)
Revolution Advisors worked with Tom Hoby, the Director of JCOS to
lead an organizational assessment and design process for the
Jefferson County Open Space Department to identify opportunities for
enhanced effectiveness in response to shifting demands for open space management. Our assessment involved
a review and evaluation of existing structure and operations, programs areas (purpose and functions), processes
and guiding documents, as well as staff interviews and focus groups. Part of our assessment from management
and staff revealed challenges with prioritization, work planning, decision-making and accountability. Many
aspects of these challenges stemmed from culture, while some areas were a result of structure and processes.
Our recommendations helped the organization better understand short-term actions to begin to address these
and other challenges. Revolution Advisors was contracted to assist with implementation of some of our
recommendations through a Phase 2 process. During Phase 2 of our work, we worked closely with the director
and management to develop an executive alignment framework for use in institutionalizing cultural norms and
behaviors improved communications and decision-making protocols. We worked with managers across the
organization to improve team effectiveness through coaching, and development of work planning templates.
We led process mapping workshops with staff to develop a lifecycle project management and prioritization
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 18
process that identified key process steps for the planning, design, construction and stewardship of projects.
Finally we provided a prioritization template to assist in managing shifting project priorities.
The projects above illustrate our specific experience with organization assessment in the Open Space / Natural
Areas field, as well as our specific relevant work within the City of Fort Collins. As mentioned above, this is just a
sample of our organization assessment, organization design, and workforce planning experience. Additional
examples of public sector clients that we have done similar work for over the past 5 years include:
City of Boulder (multiple departments)
City of Loveland
Jefferson County Emergency Communication Authority
City and County of Broomfield
City of Arvada
City of Lafayette
Douglas County
Denver Public Schools
State of Colorado
In addition to our public sector work, we have done similar projects for a number of private sector organizations
such as Pinnacol Assurance, Yamaha, CableLabs, Western Union, and a host of others. We would be happy to
provide additional detailed examples as desired.
References
1. Mike Beckstead
Chief Financial Officer
City of Fort Collins
215 N Mason
Fort Collins, CO 80524
970.556.5739
mbeckstead@fcgov.com
2. Tracy Winfree
Director
Open Space & Mountain Parks
City of Boulder
66 South Cherryvale Road
Boulder, CO 80303
303.441.4164
winfreet@bouldercolorado.gov
3. Tom Hoby
Director
Jefferson County Open Space
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 19
Jefferson County
700 Jefferson County Parkway
Golden, CO 80401
303.271.5930
thoby@co.jefferson.co.us
4. Jamie Heckman
Manager of HR Technology & Compensation
City of Fort Collins
215 N Mason
Fort Collins, CO 80524
(970) 416-4221
JHeckman@fcgov.com
Availability
The proposed project team is committed to providing the highest caliber of service and time needed to ensure a
successful work effort for the Natural Areas Assessment. To this end, our two Senior Consultants, Melissa Antol,
the Project Manager, and Kristen Cooksley, the Subject Matter Expert and Project Team Lead, are able to
dedicate 65% of their time to meet the goals associated with project. Brian Wilkerson, our Principal Advisor, is
able to dedicate 20% of his time for this effort to deliver strategic insight and to attend project team meetings,
leadership and official meetings. As such, we are able to dedicate our time accordingly to meet the hours
scoped for the project.
Our project team has flexibility during the weeks of February 27th and March 6th for scheduling on-site
interviews. We do have some commitments already scheduled for some of those dates that we would need to
work around. We are eager for this opportunity and are committed to working with your schedule for on-site
interviews if we should be selected to proceed with the next step of the process.
Team
Profile
For the Natural Areas Assessment project effort, we have assembled a highly skilled team to provide in depth
expertise in the areas organizational design, change management, local government operations and open space
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 20
management. Our Project Team includes one of our owners and two of our senior consultant staff. The graphic
below illustrates the roles for each of our project team members.
Fees
Our Not-to-Exceed proposal is $69,150.00 based on our understanding of the activities identified in the RFP. The
following table describes the fees and hours associated with the different steps for the project. We understand
that this fee is subject to final negotiation should we be selected. The rates proposed are aligned with our
current rate structure in place in our contracts with the City of Fort Collins.
Step Activity
Estimated
Hours
Cost
Step 1 Project & Partnership Launch, Data Gathering,
Evaluation & Assessment
161.25 $ 32,050.00
Step 2 Findings, Recommendations & Feedback
134.5 $ 21,400.00
Step 3 Transition Planning/Change Management &
Project Administration
51 $ 15,700.00
TOTALS 346.75 $69,150.00
Brian Wilkerson
Managing Director
Proposed Role:
Principal Advisor
Melissa Antol
Senior Consultant
Proposed Role:
Project Manager / Subject Matter Expert
Kristen Cooksley
Senior Consultant
Proposed Role:
Project Team /Subject Matter Expert
Revolution Advisors Proposal Response To RFP 8456: Fort Collins Natural Areas Assessment 21
Conclusion
Revolution Advisors appreciates the opportunity to present this proposal to the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas
Department. As conveyed throughout the proposal, we bring a team with proven experience, the highest level
of integrity and unique approaches to organizational design, conservation and municipal planning and change
management which we believe position us to be a successful partner for Natural Areas Assessment.
In reviewing your stated objectives for the project, we believe that we bring the following specific advantages:
In-depth familiarity with the City of Fort Collins leadership, culture and vision.
Success in delivering similar projects to other City of Fort Collins Departments.
More than 20 years’ experience working with government agencies, non-profits and private corporations on
organizational design, capacity and work planning and change management.
Expertise in open space/land management agency operations, planning and management.
Proven track record of designing organizations for better alignment between community needs and service
delivery and mission achievement.
Transition planning that transforms initiatives into reality based on effective support, fiscal analysis, and
work planning.
Flexibility and responsiveness to meet our clients’ goals towards their desired future.
In short, we believe we can provide more than an assessment of the Natural Areas Department. We believe that
we can deliver an organizational design and plan that is grounded within a resilient framework that enables the
organization to flex and respond with success to changes the Department may face over the next 25 years. We
hope to be able to discuss this proposal with you further and look forward to the opportunity to serve you on
this project.