Potomac Forum
Project Management in Alexandria

Potomac Forum, founded in 1982 to provide a wide range of educational services for academia, Ltd. is a non-profit educational organization, government and industry.

This one day course is designed to offer a framework into how category management and shared services can serve as enablers for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of agencies, one of the four categories each agency is required to address and align to its mission, role, and performance. Course instructors are experts in their field and will discuss both their federal and private sector experience implementing category management and shared services initiatives. A panel of government experts will also share their insights, highlights, challenges, and lessons learned, particularly in the context of complying with the new Administration’s requirements. Learn how to adopt the principles of category management and shared services from subject matter experts with substantial experience implementing change in government organizations successfully. Understand how these two business models can help your organization save money and conserve resources while delivering your mission. Attend this Potomac Forum training workshop and you will understand some of the key concepts, tools, and techniques to begin aligning your organization with the Administration’s plan for reforming the Federal government. Describe the shared service models available for agency implementation. Review the successes and challenges in transforming traditional government operations. Identify the key roles and responsibilities for successfully integrating category management and shared service practices. Prior to GSA, Beth served as the Executive Director of the Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation (FIT) in the Treasury Department to address the need for greater efficiency and transparency in the Federal financial environment. Prior to FIT, Beth held several leadership positions in the Bureau of Fiscal Service in the Treasury Department leading government-wide projects and running IT and accounting support organizations. Beth loves to spend her personal time exploring the outdoors with her husband, and teaching their two sons to rock climb, scuba dive, and camp. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Public Sector Managing Director Tim Lawler joined the firm in 2008, and has more than 40 years of experience advising public sector clients in financial management and IT. Lawler is a certified Project Management Professional and a member of the Association of Government Accountants.