Big issues, bigger heart
For us, public service is a calling and way of life.
Public servants by experience and at heart, the C!A® team is comprised of former government employees who have dedicated much of their professional careers to public service. Each team member brings unique and diverse practical experience representing all different levels of government operations, and has a deep understanding of government processes working with state and county agencies, their local offices, and the associated federal agencies.
Led by Ken Miller, Blake Shaw, and Leo Ribas, our award-winning change agents have big ideas that we use to fundamentally change your culture by changing minds and fixing systems. Our people are accomplished consultants and gifted speakers with an intense focus on relationships and results.
Our team’s words from the heart:
“I’ve had a lifelong desire to make a difference for people in need as I grew up in similar circumstances. I was able to accomplish this through working in government for 20 years for each community in which I worked. When C!A helped improve our business process I felt so much joy in the customer service improvements that were made. Now working for C!A, the impact I have to help those in need has increased exponentially.”
“As someone who knows the challenges of caseloads and being on the other side of the desk, I feel passionate about helping those who do the work. We all know that people of government are noble and it’s an amazing benefit to see their work-life drastically improve with the process improvements they helped change.”
“We’re a company that believes in the work of government. We were all public servants, and we all know the daily struggles. Our goal now is to build capacity to help you do more good.”
“As a human services assistant director, I saw first hand how C!A worked with teams of our staff, creating real change from the ground up. The improvements are sustainable and meaningful, and what really strikes a chord with me, is seeing relief and happiness from hard working people when the ideas they came up with are really happening. We’re all in this business to help people, and we actually get to do it through this work-that fuels my passion every day.”
“I used to be the captain of the technology train. I thought 80% of our problems could be corrected through the right software and confused innovation and automation. True innovation is in fundamentally changing how we work, and that’s where the potential is. C!A unleashes that potential by focusing on how we work first.”
Our Leadership Team
A nationally recognized author and one of the country’s top change agents according to Fast Company magazine, Ken is a pioneer in improving government performance through process redesign.
Immensely passionate about helping government be a force for good, Blake has dedicated his professional life to helping government leaders and their teams across the country challenge assumptions and the status quo and embrace new, innovative solutions to tackle some of the most pressing problems facing society.
A highly accomplished and recognized human services leader, Leo has helped more than 40% of state human services agencies find innovative solutions to the biggest challenge facing government today: the need to increase capacity to provide accurate and faster access to healthcare, food, and social safety nets to an ever increasing number of customers.
Our Team
As a nationally recognized leader in child welfare, Sean has dedicated his career to helping human services agencies create and successfully adopt technology solutions to better serve families and children and improve outcomes.
A government geek at heart, Bill loves the noble work of government and is honored to help improve how we work … one system at a time. As a change agent, Bill runs improvement teams, is a popular speaker and writer, and facilitates workshops on radical improvement.
As former director of the largest nationally-recognized government innovation program in the country, author, speaker, trainer, and rebel with a huge cause, Brian is notorious for helping government agencies embrace innovation to improve the lives of employees and the citizens they serve.
Technology leader, change agent, accountant, and self-proclaimed data nerd, Carl is committed to providing government leaders with the information and tools they need to make data-driven decisions so they – and their teams – can do more good.
Rochelle Brazier, Consulting Partner
“I’ve had a lifelong desire to make a difference for people in need as I grew up in similar circumstances. I was able to accomplish this through working in government for 20 years for each community in which I worked. When C!A helped improve our business process I felt so much joy in the customer service improvements that were made. Now working for C!A, the impact I have to help those in need has increased exponentially.”
Rochelle Brazier possesses extensive expertise in human services, particularly in the areas of public assistance, child welfare, and juvenile justice. During her time in state government, Rochelle was considered one of the most effective managers and change agents at the New Mexico Department of Human Services. During the early design and implementation phase of New Mexico’s business process redesign (BPR) effort, Rochelle piloted groundbreaking strategies that have served as the model for many other states in their efforts to radically improve the delivery of public assistance services. Despite a long-term hiring freeze, a 20% vacancy rate, lack of technology, and crushing caseload increases, Rochelle’s team implemented same-day service, increased the percentage of families receiving benefits at initial interaction with the department (from 50 to 70%), and improved the SNAP payment accuracy rate. Rochelle serves as a resource to managers in many states in the area of process improvement and change management. She is a member or leader of the teams that helped Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Vermont, Rhode Island, Fairfax County, Connecticut, Nevada, Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas, and the District of Columbia redesign their public assistance systems.
Rochelle Brazier
Bill McCracken, Consulting Partner
Bill McCracken joined the Change & Innovation Agency with 18 years of experience in human services. Bill’s career started with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), where he served in a variety of positions, including eligibility worker, social worker, tribal liaison, supervisor, service delivery redesign project manager, and office administrator. As a Community Service Office Administrator, Bill managed one of the largest offices in the state, administering SNAP, TANF, Employment and Training Services, childcare, state-funded cash programs, drug and alcohol treatment, and Medicaid. Bill led his office through the business process redesign (BPR) process at a time when demand for services was at an all-time high and staff resources were at an all-time low. The redesign effort resulted in significant improvements in how services were delivered. Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Bill has had the pleasure of working with Arizona, Kansas, Hawaii, Vermont, Connecticut, Fairfax County, Virginia, and Illinois to help implement process improvement strategies that have greatly improved service delivery to customers in need.
Bill McCracken
Veronica Bossack, Consulting Partner
“As a human services assistant director, I saw first hand how C!A worked with teams of our staff, creating real change from the ground up. The improvements are sustainable and meaningful, and what really strikes a chord with me, is seeing relief and happiness from hard working people when the ideas they came up with are really happening. We’re all in this business to help people, and we actually get to do it through this work-that fuels my passion every day.”
Veronica Bossack has had the unique experience and perspective of holding every position in the human services field – from clerk typist to director. She spent more than 34 years with the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility, where she oversaw the state’s public benefits and medical eligibility systems. Veronica then took on the challenge of directing the state’s beleaguered child welfare program. Veronica was recognized in 2010 by Arizona Children’s Action Alliance as a “Champion for Children in Arizona.” In 2013, she was recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture for her leadership, expertise, and innovative ideas that helped improve the Food and Nutrition Service outside of Arizona. With the Change & Innovation Agency, Veronica has led process improvement projects from Alaska to Texas to Washington, D.C., and everywhere in between.
Veronica Bossack
Jacky Beshar, Consulting Partner
Jacky Beshar has served in Rhode Island as a special assistant for Lean Project Development to the state Treasurer and as an assistant for Governor Gina Raimondo. In these positions, she worked primarily with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, helping the agency refine its processes to provide more efficient services to the residents of the state. Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency in 2016, Jacky has led process improvement initiatives with the Washington, D.C., Department of Human Services.
Jacky Beshar
Leona Hodges, Change Agent
Leona Hodges began her career at the Arizona Department of Economic Security in 1993 where she worked as the Chief of Internal Audit within the Division of Employee Services and Support, Assistant Director for the Division of Employee Services and Support, Assistant Director for the Division of Child Support Services, and, most recently, Assistant Director with the Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility. Leona was responsible for many programs that assist families and individuals in need including SNAP, TANF, medical, Tuberculosis Control, and the Disability Determination Services Administration. Collectively, these programs serve more than 1.5 million Arizona individuals and families in need. With the Change & Innovation Agency, Leona works with managers, supervisors, and directors across the State of Texas to help streamline their service delivery.
Leona Hodges
Rebecca Henrie, Consulting Partner
Rebecca Henrie has 15 years of experience in state government, including 13 in management and nine leading or assisting with BPR efforts at the executive level. She is a skilled project and change management lead, and has substantial experience in process analysis and performance management, as well as SNAP policy. As Chief of Field Operations for Community Services in Washington State, Rebecca was responsible for developing and deploying service delivery changes to help bring consistency to Washington State operating procedures. With the Change & Innovation Agency Rebecca works with the states of North Carolina, New Mexico, and Kansas.
Rebecca Henrie
Naomi Lewis, Senior Consultant
Naomi Lewis has 28 years of experience in state Health and Human Services Operations with the state of Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services. Most recently Naomi served as the Deputy Administrator for Program and Field Operations. In this role she planned, organized, directed, controlled and evaluated the statewide operations for the division’s public assistance benefit and support programs including SNAP, TANF, Medicaid (MAGI and Non-MAGI), CHIP, Child Care, LIHEAP and the SNAP and TANF Employment and Training programs. Additionally, she directly supervised the district office managers and program chiefs in support of 26 local offices and 1700 staff.
Prior to serving as the Deputy Administrator Naomi served as the Social Services Program Chief of Eligibility and Policy, was a Social Services District Office Manager, a Social Services Program Specialist, a Social Services Eligibility Supervisor, an Eligibility Worker and a Clerical Trainee. Each role provided for progressively more responsibility along with more skills, knowledge and abilities in successfully delivering programs and services to needy Nevadans.
As a result of sponsoring and supporting business process redesign efforts in Nevada, along with multiple other initiatives, Nevada’s ability to “do more good” improved dramatically. The agency recipient count increased from 150,000 total recipients to over 616,000. Application processing increased from 17,000 applications processed per month to processing over 51,000 apps per month. The call center wait time reduced from over 60 minutes to less than 3 minutes. The average processing days (APD) decreased from 44 days to 7 days. Finally, Nevada was among the most improved in the nation in SNAP access, SNAP timeliness, and SNAP error rate.
Since joining the C!A team in May of 2019, she has worked with Alaska, Los Angeles County, and Washington DC to facilitate change and improve access and delivery of services to needy individuals and families.
Naomi Lewis
Reginald Wright, Consulting Partner
Reginald Wright began working for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in 2001. For 14 years, he served in a variety of positions including financial service specialist, program manager, lead worker, and administrator. As the EBT/EFT and Contracts Administrator for the DSHS Community Service Division (CSD), his responsibilities were to apply the principles of state budgeting and accounting practices to managing, monitoring, and providing oversight for the annual $75 million contract for the EBT program and the more than $204 million CSD personal and client service contracts. He also had direct oversight of cash benefits totaling more than $5.5 million per month for direct deposit clients. In 2013, Reginald joined the Change & Innovation Agency to apply his expertise across the country.
Reggie Wright
Suzi Stott, Consulting Partner
Suzi Stott began her career in human services in remote Western Alaska as an eligibility worker more than 25 years ago. During her career, she worked her way up through the Department of Health and Social Services serving as an agent for change in a variety of positions through every level of management. Suzi has a passion for helping families in need of services, and for the hard-working staff who serve them. As a Regional Manager and later as the Chief of Field Services for Alaska’s Division of Public Assistance, Suzi was part of the Division’s leadership team that led the charge to improve Alaska’s service delivery model that resulted in both timeliness and accuracy performance bonuses for the state.
As a full-time Consulting Partner with the Change & Innovation Agency, she has expanded her impact through business process redesign (BPR) assessment, planning, and implementation activities in six additional states, and has conducted management academies across the country to share her passion with hundreds of government leaders.
Suzi Stott
Clint Brooks, Consulting Partner
Clint Brooks has a deep passion for helping people overcome obstacles on the path to reaching their true potential. Growing up in a home that fostered more than 300 children, Clint understands the impacts of a broken system. With that knowledge, Clint began his career in human services working in the trenches with government staff from clerks to upper management as an agent for change. Prior to joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Clint was the manager of Community Education & Outreach in Colorado for the Department of Human and Social Services. There, Clint was responsible for networking with local community partners to ensure a holistic approach to social services, and worked with a team that streamlined business practices and service delivery to better adapt to customer needs.
Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Clint has worked on business process redesign projects in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. While working with these states, Clint has been able to partner with staff from all levels of government to find practical solutions to real problems and help agencies increase their capacity to do more good.
Clint Brooks
Larry Lee, Consulting Partner
Larry Lee has dedicated his life’s work to public service. After serving a distinguished career in the United States Air Force, he began his 20+ year career in human services working for the State of Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS). During his tenure with the state, he held various positions, each with increasing responsibility in both child support enforcement and Medicaid and other social safety net programs.
Beginning in 2011, Larry managed the Business Process Redesign (BPR) effort for DWSS and served as team lead. As a result of the BPR effort and with Larry’s guidance, DWSS made significant improvements. Despite a doubling caseload in a two-year period, SNAP timeliness improved from 73% to 98% with no negative impact to quality.
Larry is committed to innovation and process improvement. In 2018, he joined the Change & Innovation Agency team to help clients across the country adopt and fully implement BPR efforts, so that they, too, can increase their capacity to do more good.
Larry Lee
Karl Allison, Change Agent
Karl Allison had a 22-year tenure at the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), where he worked in positions ranging from clerical staff at a call center to eligibility worker, supervisor, and Deputy Administrator. As Deputy Administrator, Karl served as interim Regional Administrator in Western Washington and later in Eastern Washington (overseeing three offices and 60 staff members). He was also responsible for facilitating the implementation of the business process redesign (BPR) project throughout the rural and urban offices in the region. Karl has experience providing eligibility determinations and direct client services for programs including TANF, General Assistance, SNAP, Medicaid, childcare, and WorkFirst (Washington State’s welfare-to-work program). Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Karl has worked with the states of Washington, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Colorado, South Carolina, and Texas to help implement process improvements within social service organizations.
Karl Allison
Gregg Broyles, Change Agent
Gregg Broyles spent 30 years of his career dedicated to improving operations in the State of Washington. This included 15 years with the Division of Child Support where he held the positions of Support Enforcement Officer, Program Administrator, and Regional Administrator. Gregg then transitioned to the state’s SNAP/TANF agency where he was the Interim Chief of Field Operations and oversaw the statewide business process redesign initiative and change management operations. Gregg resides east of the Cascade Mountains in Yakima, Washington, where he enjoys hiking, running, and directing running events.
Gregg Broyles
Nicole Shields, Change Agent
Nicole Shields spent her career in social services administration in Fairfax County, Virginia. She has held positions as benefit program specialist, quality assurance specialist, staff development and training coordinator, and operations manager. In her role as operations manager, the Benefit Program Division implemented a new service delivery model. Nicole now serves as a Change Agent with the Change & Innovation Agency, and has worked with the states of Texas and North Carolina, and the District of Columbia, on the assessment of current operations and redesign of their business practices.
Nicole Shields
Sarah Winter, Consultant
Sarah Winter began her career as an eligibility worker in the State of New Mexico in 2011. She quickly moved into a leadership position to train and mentor staff during the implementation of a new eligibility system in New Mexico, as well as policy, and process. Two years later she found her passion for training and curriculum development. She was responsible for overseeing the training units within the New Mexico Human Services Department, Income Support Division as well as the New Mexico Department of Health Developmental Disabilities Division. This included development and implementation of change management concepts, including manager system training, time coaching and developing training techniques, as well as create materials, review material for accuracy, and edit materials developed by training staff for in-person and online trainings. Sarah also sent out training updates and ensured training compliance for both state employees and external clients.
A firm believer that a well-trained staff will help increase an agency’s capacity to serve more families, Sarah now helps Change & Innovation Agency clients by developing and conducting eligibility training academies utilizing adult learning theory. She also assists the C!A team with Business Process Redesign (BPR) and monitoring and oversight for multiple states.
Sarah Winter
Liz Steele, Change Agent
Liz Steele spent 35 years of her career managing multiple public service programs for the State of Arizona. She has assisted Arizona families in need of food, financial assistance, Medicaid, and child support, and has helped individuals develop and improve employability with job search, referral, and placement assistance. Most recently, Liz served as Program Administrator for Field Operations at the Arizona Department of Economic Security, overseeing 2,300 staff statewide in 60 local offices and 22 hospitals who determine eligibility for SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid programs. At the Change & Innovation Agency, Liz has been instrumental in co-managing regional operations for the State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Liz Steele
Rebecca Trevino, Consulting Partner
“As someone who knows the challenges of caseloads and being on the other side of the desk, I feel passionate about helping those who do the work. We all know that people of government are noble and it’s an amazing benefit to see their work-life drastically improve with the process improvements they helped change.”
Rebecca Trevino has worked at one of the largest health and human services centers in the State of Texas, where her areas of expertise ranged from the front counter of a busy lobby to the review of cases within various eligibility programs. Given her experience, Rebecca was selected to participate in the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s business process redesign (BPR) project where she collaborated with her peers to implement processes and principles that continue to thrive years later. Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Rebecca has continued to serve communities across the country by helping agencies refine their processes to allow residents to gain access to much needed social services faster.
Rebecca Trevino
Lorrie Walker, Change Agent
Lorrie Walker joined the Change & Innovation Agency with 30 years of experience in human services. She began her career with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and served as an eligibility worker, as well as in leadership, project management, and consultant positions. During her time with Washington State, Lorrie was the team lead for the business process redesign (BPR) project that drastically changed how business was conducted. Since joining C!A, Lorrie has worked with 14 state social service agencies to help implement process improvements strategies. Her focus is on providing service and benefits to customers in a more efficient and effective way while ensuring greater accuracy and timeliness.
Lorrie Walker
Joe Berra, Change Agent
“I used to be the captain of the technology train. I thought 80% of our problems could be corrected through the right software and confused innovation and automation. True innovation is in fundamentally changing how we work, and that’s where the potential is. C!A unleashes that potential by focusing on how we work first.”
Joe Berra has a long history of partnering with multiple levels of government to enhance service delivery and improve overall performance. As an information technology specialist, Joe was instrumental in introducing new software and hardware solutions across government agencies. With a heart for public safety, he has worked with all levels of law enforcement and correctional officers to increase interoperability, reduce costs, and enhance officer safety. In 2015, Joe changed his focus from technology to fixing the problems of government before automation. His goal is to help agencies maximize their technology investment by first streamlining their processes and fully understanding if and how a new IT solution may benefit them.
Joe Berra
Lisa Kim, Change Agent
Lisa Kim began her career in social services as an eligibility worker in Santa Barbara County, California – working Medicaid, SNAP, and AFDC (the TANF precursor) – and later as a social worker. From Santa Barbara County, she relocated to San Francisco to accept a federal position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Food and Nutrition Service, overseeing SNAP operations in twelve western states and Pacific territories. Lisa retired from FNS in March 2015 after 26 years of service to join the Change & Innovation Agency.
Lisa Kim
Alisa Henson, Development Manager
Alisa Henson is a problem solver who is passionate about applications development. In her 20-plus years of IT experience, she has worked as a developer, manager, and director. She enjoys creating IT strategy and building high functioning Agile teams. Alisa has worked in development her entire career, which has given her the opportunity to work with application development, system administration, business intelligence, integration, ETL, data warehousing, EDI, strategic planning, change management, vendor selection, and contract negotiations. In her role as Director of Systems Development at Sonic Drive In, she was instrumental in converting their waterfall development process to Agile. Further, she helped implement business intelligence analytics to help operating partners and corporate franchise managers improve drive in operations, and converted several low functioning teams to be highly productive
Alisa Henson
Dennis Davis, Change Agent
Dennis Davis has more than 25 years of strategic leadership experience in state government, business, nonprofit, and academic settings. He enjoys a history of significant success as a key change agent in several leadership positions. Dennis’ work in implementing business process redesign (BPR)/process management principles includes assignments in New Mexico, Texas, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Colorado. Dennis’ skill and ability allow him to impart his knowledge and instill contagious optimism in change-reluctant individuals.
Dennis Davis
Trenton Hodges, Support Agent
With a background in first contact help desk support, network administration, data reporting, and account management, Trenton is a great addition to Change & Innovation Agency’s technology team. In his role as Support Agent, he provides front-line technology and data reporting support to C!A clients and staff.
Trenton Hodges
Bobby Stanton, Consultant
Bobby Stanton has dedicated much of his career to human services, holding various positions, each with increasing responsibility. He started with the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Family Assistance Administration in 1990 as an eligibility worker where he determined eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP, TANF and State Assistance programs. He transitioned to policy where he clarified, edited and drafted policy for the programs administered by the Administration. He then served as the Family Assistance Administration Policy Manager through 2015. Most recently he served as Quality Assurance Manager for the Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility Case Auditing Team, which was responsible for auditing Medicaid, SNAP and TANF cases for accuracy in eligibility determinations as required by State and Federal regulations.
Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Bobby has mentored New Mexico training staff to ensure a consistent training approach for the Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, General Assistance and LIHEAP programs. Bobby has also assisted in business process redesign (BPR) assessments, reviews, implementation and maintenance in Texas, South Carolina, District of Columbia and Los Angeles.
Stephanie Montoya, Consultant
Stephanie Montoya started her career in Social Services as an eligibility worker in New Mexico. She later transitioned to a Training and Development Specialist with a focus in SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, GA, and LIHEAP curriculum development and delivery for new hire employees in Policy and Procedure. In addition to her time in human services, Stephanie has experience in education with curriculum development, delivery methods and strategies, and implementation.
Since joining the Change & Innovation Agency, Stephanie has assisted in developing and implementing training efforts in the state of New Mexico.