Shared Services and Category Management -- Practical Application Training Workshop for Government

Instructors:

Robert Shea

Principal

Grant Thornton

(Former Associate Director for Administration and Government Performance, OMB)

Mr. Shea is a Principal in Grant Thornton Public Sector, with over 20 years of federal government experience. He leads the Public Sector’s strategy and communications team and is a member of the Performance Transformation Team, where he leads performance improvement engagements for federal, state & local, and international clients. He was recently appointed to the statutorily created Commission on Evidence-based. He is a Fellow and former Chair of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Mr. Shea joined Grant Thornton from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where he was Associate Director for Administration and Government Performance. In addition to managing OMB’s internal operations, he led the President’s Performance Improvement Initiative and administered the Program Assessment Rating Tool. Before joining OMB, Mr. Shea served as Counsel to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs (currently the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs) where, in addition to general oversight of Executive Branch management, he advised Committee leadership on the status of implementation of the statutory framework for performance-based government, including the Government Performance and Results Act and the Chief Financial Officers Act. He was Legislative Director for Congressman Pete Sessions (TX) from 1997 to 1999, where he organized the Results Caucus, a group of Members of Congress dedicated to results-based management and solving many of the government’s major management problems. Mr. Shea was a Professional Staff Member with the House Committee on Government Reform from 1995 through 1996.  There he had responsibility for examining the economy and efficiency of government programs, and acted as liaison with the government’s Inspectors General. 

Eric Heffernan

Principal

Grant Thornton

Eric Heffernan brings more than 14 years of combined consulting experience in the federal space. He has significant experience in the areas of organizational transformation, human capital management and sourcing operations. He has served clients from across government, including the Department of Transportation, Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, General Services Administration, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. Heffernan has trained hundreds of federal employees and industry professionals in critical areas of the federal procurement process through industry outlets such as the Potomac Forum. He also is the primary author of the Professional Services Council and Grant Thornton biannual survey of federal acquisition executives, which examines the critical challenges facing acquisition executives.

Meredith Barnard

Principal

Grant Thornton

Meredith Barnard is a project manager with over seven years’ experience leading complex engagements for the Federal government that require innovative, cross-functional solutions. She currently leads a large organizational transformation engagement that implements category management principles, practices, and disciplines to the Federal acquisition environment. Ms. Barnard possesses a strong analytical background with an emphasis on practical implementation of increased productivity and efficiency gains for her clients. As such, she has led both former private sector and Federal executives in the areas of category management, acquisition support, project management, organizational design and transformation, spend and cost analysis, change management, business process re-engineering, and strategic planning. She develops superior solutions that have been distributed and presented to the highest levels of government leaders, including vice presidents, c-level executives, department secretaries, and Presidential appointees. Ms. Barnard possesses a M.B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a B.B.A. in Finance and Public Policy and Administration from James Madison University, and a PMP certification.

Jim Taylor

Managing Director

Grant Thornton

(Former Chief Financial Officer, Department of Labor)

Mr. Taylor is a Managing Director in Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector practice, with 34 years of experience in government finance, systems implementation, internal controls and grants management. Immediately before joining Grant Thornton in June, 2014, he served as the IRS Commissioner’s Senior Advisor on implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA); prior to that he was a presidentially appointed, senate confirmed CFO at the Department of Labor.  He also served as Deputy Inspector General at DHS, as well as Deputy CFO at the Department of Commerce and FEMA.  In 2004, Mr. Taylor led the team that drafted OMB Circular 123; and in his subsequent role as Deputy IG, worked with DHS in identifying a cost and resource-efficient approach to meet their legislative requirement for an internal controls audit opinion. Mr. Taylor led financial systems implementations at FEMA, Commerce and Labor, the latter being the first department-wide cloud based shared service financial system in the federal government. His teams also achieved the first clean audit opinions at FEMA and Commerce.  Mr. Taylor was named CFO of the Year in 2011 by Government Executive Magazine, awarded the Donald E. Scantlebury Award for Excellence in Financial Management in 2005, and the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive in 2004.  He holds a BA in political science/economics from Old Dominion University, and an MPA from the University of Delaware, where he was a Public Service Fellow.  

Tim Lawler

Managing Director

Grant Thornton