Professional & Organizational Development

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Armstead Consulting

Armstead Consulting

Armstead PhotoPHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

Armstead Consulting is committed to assisting
organizations and people in achieving new futures.

We believe that:

  1. Diversity, equity and inclusion are important measures of the integrity of the organization
  2. The effectiveness of every organization is determined by its people.
  3. Management and operational systems matter because they provide order and structure to accomplish the organization’s mission.
  4. Results happen when the workplace is valued by everyone.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE/RESULTS

  • Diversity Consultation/Multi-cultural Assessments and Facilitation (DEI)
  • Strategic Planning and Facilitation
  • Executive Coaching
  • Mediation and Conflict Resolution
  • Organizational Assessments/Operational Capacity-Building
  • Retreat/Meeting Facilitation
  • Communications Effectiveness and Decision-making for Leaders and Teams
  • Customer Service Consultation and Training

Experience/Selected Projects

  • Facilitator, Mayor’s Task Force on Equity and Social Justice, City of Edmonds, WA
  • Developed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan for Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
  • Supervising the Diverse Workforce, UW Professional and Organizational Development Program Class
  • UW mediation of staff related DEI issues and faculty/student DEI issues
  • UW facilitation of graduate faculty task force to recruit and retain more diverse students for their graduate program
  • UW executive coaching with 360 leadership assessments, including coaching related to DEI concerns
  • UW strategic planning facilitation for faculty and staff teams
  • 360 operational assessment for Seattle-based $50 million dollar transit-oriented economic development fund. Project included staff and board assessments, staff restructuring, board training, financial products evaluation and securing a new financial advisement firm, day to day operational management assistance and executive leadership search coordination.
  • Management development, organizational development, leadership coaching, sales management and customer service training and curriculum development consulting for ten years with Fortune 500 client.
  • Consultant to historic women’s college on development and launch of their Center for Community Engagement and Service. Keynote speaker at Center Inaugural Celebration. Guests included numerous older women who were participants in the civil rights marches and activities of the 1960s and 1970s.
  • At San Jose State, taught in multiple departments and programs: Communications, Women’s Studies, Humanities and American Studies, was part of a team that established a Humanities external degree program at a local military base, and was the research advisor for the Women’s Studies Program. Also coordinator for the Liberal Studies Program, which had 1100 students in the program, served on faculty committees and was a frequent workshop presenter.

Credentials

Armstead Consulting is state and federally-certified as a woman-owned business. The firm has provided consulting and training for government, corporations, non-profits and small businesses for over thirty years. Dr. Karen Armstead has a Ph.D. in Communications with specialized training in persuasive communications and decision-making and in multi-cultural communications. Dr. Catherine Meeks and Robert Armstead are team consultants on an as-needed basis.

SELECTED CLIENTS

  • University of Washington
  • Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
  • Washington State Development of Transportation
  • Wesleyan College
  • Compass Health
  • Sound Transit
  • Washington State Department of Licensing
  • Rainier Valley Community Development Fund
  • US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Karen Armstead, PH.D.

  • Extensive experience in working with teams and leaders to assess, create and implement diversity, equity and inclusion plans
  • Excels in consulting/coaching in strategies for essential for management and operational effectiveness.
  • Her work is solutions-oriented due to her ability to asses and customize strategies, options and outcomes to assist organizations, leaders, teams and individuals identify/determine and implement growth-oriented options and achieve their own goals.
  • Academic work in persuasive communications, decision-making strategies and multi-cultural competency has led to diverse consulting and training contracts across the US and internationally.
  • Committed to providing people and organizations with insights, tools and resources so they can make a difference.

Catherine MEEKS, PH.D.

  • Director of the Center for Racial Reconciliation, Atlanta, GA
  • Retired Distinguished Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies, Wesleyan College and Director of a Family Resource Center that was awarded the Jimmy and Roslyn Carter Award for Community and Campus Partnerships. Also former Chair of African-American Studies Department, Mercer University. Professorships for thirty-one years.
  • Organizer of Standing on Their Shoulders: A Celebration of the Wisdom of African American Women, a nine year project honoring women who were active in the early civil rights movement
  • Chair of Beloved Community: Commission for Dismantling Racism
  • Author and frequent national workshop presenter on topics related to race, diversity, education and community engagement. Visiting Professor, Pepperdine University. Recipient of numerous state and national awards, columnist and media contributor.

Robert Armstead

  • Has over thirty years of management, financial, infrastructure development and marketing experience. Previously president of a professional services firm engaged in public agency contracting. Prior to owning his own company, he held management positions in government agencies and non-profits in financial services, program development and assessments and operations.
  • Academic and corporate expertise include: member of IBM’s management development training staff and Assistant Director of Pepperdine University’s School of Management Urban Affairs Program.
  • He currently advises public and private organizations and small business owners, is Washington State President of National Association of Minority Contractors and is a frequent participant in community information and outreach activities.
  • MBA in Management, Finance and Marketing.
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