Professional & Organizational Development

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Linda Paralez

Demarche Consulting Group

PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

Consultant Linda ParalezMy consulting experience and focus is about making workplaces better places to be. Working primarily in the public sector, I focus on practicing and teaching a compassionate approach to change, helping organizations succeed by engaging, enlisting, and enabling their people. Using expertise in the science and economics of business process design, I’ve been nationally recognized for work in solving complex organizational process challenges in strategic planning, business process analysis and redesign, financial planning and audits, fee analysis and cost assessment, technology gap assessment and implementation, education strategy development and deployment, performance management, and measurement design.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE/RESULTS

  • Business process improvement
  • Strategic planning
  • Benchmarking research/studies
  • Fee and funding studies
  • Lean and Six Sigma training and implementation
  • Change management
  • Organizational assessment
  • Technology gap analysis and assessment

EXPERIENCE / SELECTED PROJECTS

  • Design and lead multi-project focus on internal controls improvements for Seattle Public Utilities Customer Service Branch, including policy and procedure review, audit assessment and response, and implementation and training of standard operating protocol.
  • Redesign consolidated funding application process for Oregon Housing and Community Services to streamline, simplify, and radically improve scoring and evaluation criteria/assessment tools.
  • Develop e-governance strategy and capabilities for building and land use permitting functions for City of Tacoma, leverage City-wide enterprise system, improve service levels, reduce paper, and transition to a fee-based financial structure.
  • Conducted a comprehensive study of UDOT U’s organization, including an external benchmarking effort, literature search and report, and ultimately recommended actions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the university’s limited resources. Identified recommendations to move UDOT U to become a more dynamic organization that is positioned as a strategic partner for UDOT, its employees, associates, and stakeholders.
  • Design next generation Quality Management System for Seattle Planning and Development to include emphasis on Quality Assurance, measures of judgment, and effective metrics of Quality Control.

CREDENTIALS

  • Ph.D. Business and Technology Management, Century University, New Mexico
  • MBA, Economics and Management, Century University, California
  • B.S. Civil Engineering, West Texas State University
  • Instructor, Finance and Management, University of Phoenix, Salt Lake City
  • Adjunct faculty, Weber State College, Ogden, Utah

SELECTED CLIENTS

  • Cities of Seattle, Tacoma, Shoreline, Bainbridge Island, Lynnwood, Des Moines and Woodinville
  • Puget Sound Energy
  • Portland Water Bureau
  • States of Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Utah
  • Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District; Tacoma Water and Power
  • Snohomish County Planning & Development
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