Our Leadership

Steamboat Springs, CO

Whitney consulted for Public Knowledge® before leading our proposal team. She has a strong background in rule and policy analysis, contract development, procurement, research and writing, and program monitoring and evaluation, which she gained while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Whitney has worked in a variety of industries, including law, healthcare, and non-profits. Whitney holds a law degree from the University of Wyoming College of Law and a Bachelor of Science from Mesa State College, now Colorado Mesa University. She is also certified in group facilitation from the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) and is a certified Project Management Institute (PMI) project management professional (PMP).

Little Rock, AR

Since 1995, Elizabeth’s work has concentrated on leadership and management, public policy, effective approaches to change and implementation, and social justice in child welfare. Throughout her career, she has focused on ensuring that children are safely and permanently cared for within their own families and communities.

Additionally, she is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Alia, a Minnesota-based non-profit aiming to inspire change within child welfare throughout the United States. She was previously the Executive Director of the Office of Child Permanency at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) in Nashville. She was also a part of the federally funded Permanency Innovations Initiative Training and Technical Assistance Team (PII-TTAP) that used implementation science to improve outcomes for children languishing in foster care and then create the guide to developing, implementing, and assessing an innovation.

Tempe, AZ

Since 2021, Steven has been the Chief Executive Officer at Public Knowledge®. Steven is responsible for leading the business development affairs for the firm and overall advancement, with 30 years of professional IT consulting experience, including implementing large human services, financial, accounting, banking, and voter registration systems. Under his direction, a national team of project managers, consultants, and specialists help state government agencies mitigate project risks through Public Knowledge®’s high performance quality assurance (QA) and independent verification and validation (IV&V) solutions.

During his prior tenure as SLI Government Solutions’ CEO, Steven was accountable for sustainability and growth as he identified, pursued, and delivered project management and oversight services on government IT projects. Steven is a certified a PMI-certified project management professional (PMP) and is CRISC certified.

Littleton, CO

Phyllis has a record of initiating and leading change in client organizations nationwide as a program leader. Phyllis is an outstanding communicator and project champion known for establishing rapport with executives and key personnel across large state and federal organizations to deliver technical implementation and technical assistance.

Phyllis’s experience spans over 35 years and includes project management, delivery, IV&V, and quality assurance efforts for children, family and aging services. She has worked in multiple state agencies including human services – child welfare, Medicaid, and the judicial system. She is certified by the Project Management Institute as a project management professional (PMP).

Charlotte, NC

Since 2021, Kassie has been the Vice President for Health and Medicaid Services at Public Knowledge®. Kassie career has trained and facilitated communication strategies, action-planned and executed, change management, and performed visioning and strategy. Overall, she has managed more than two dozen projects. She has more than 20 years of experience with the workforce, leadership, and senior leadership development and training.

Kassie received her bachelor of arts in communications from the University of Colorado in Boulder and is a certified project management professional and certified Prosci ® organizational change management practitioner. Kassie is also trained in Technology of Participation group facilitation methods through the Institute of Cultural Affairs.

Denver, CO

Christoph has over 20 years of management consulting experience and has contributed to many external and internal initiatives during the five years he’s been at Public Knowledge. He brings a track record of leading consultants and supporting their growth here and before he joined our team; across many industries, countries, and diverse teams. He is fluent in English, German, and Spanish. Christoph helps our colleagues and teams most recently by stepping up to help with our project management methodology, leading the Tech Community of Practice, and supporting others in obtaining their PMP.

Christoph is certified in facilitation from the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), a certified professional in healthcare (CPHIMS) by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), an Agile-certified ScrumMaster® (CSM), and a certified project management professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute.

Daphne, AL 

Since 2021, Will has been the Vice President of Child Welfare and Human Services at Public Knowledge®. Will throughout his career has been responsible for business development efforts to assist state and local child welfare and human services agencies. He has assisted clients with better understanding the effectiveness of their programs and how best to implement needed improvements in their practice, policies, and procedures. He has 28 years of public sector child welfare and human services experience on the local, state, and federal levels. Will received his master’s degree in social work from the University of Alabama.

Indianapolis, IN

Since 2021, Susan has been the Vice President for Region 4 at Public Knowledge®. Susan is responsible for supporting teams in Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. She has 14 years of experience supporting large-scale software implementations for a wide range of government agencies. She has a solid understanding of large government IT implementation systems and excels at critically analyzing project management processes and schedules and is able to quickly develop actionable recommendations. Susan is a PMI-certified project management professional (PMP).

Cheyenne, WY

Since 2021, Stacey has been the President of Public Knowledge®.  Stacey is responsible for providing overall direction and leadership for Public Knowledge®, with 20 years of experience working within governmental agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. She also has extensive experience in training development and implementation; leadership assessments and coaching; organizational change management; and organizational development. Stacey received her juris doctorate from the University of Wyoming and is a certified child welfare law specialist (CWLS) and Project Management Institute (PMI) project management professional (PMP).

Evergreen, CO

Diane has a profound passion for child support and workforce services. Diane has served as an administrator, litigator, and policy consultant in child support for 23 years. She joined the Center for the Support of Families, now Public Knowledge®, in 2015 where her work focused on national child support policies involving intergovernmental issues, parentage, procedural justice, and low-income parents. She has created and provided nationally recognized professional development trainings ranging from intergovernmental laws and case processing to justice and civil contempt policies, and customer service.

Active in the national child support community, Diane served on the Board of Directors of NCSEA. She was also an official observer to the Uniform Law Commission’s revision of the Uniform Parentage Act, and currently is on the Commission’s Enactment Committee.

American Canyon, CA

Since 2021, Katherine has been the Vice President for Region 5 at Public Knowledge®. Katherine supports teams in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Hawaii, Guam, and National Child Support. With 26 years of experience working as a veteran policy and operations analyst, she has been involved in social service programs in the public and private sectors since the 80s and was a key player in the federal efforts to analyze and implement strategies to ensure child support compliance with the Affordable Care Act. Katherine received her master’s degree in public administration from The Evergreen State College.

Denver, CO

Since 2021, Robert has been the Vice President for Quality and Brand Integrity at Public Knowledge®. Robert is responsible for providing overall direction and leadership for the Center of Excellence and brand quality initiatives of the firm. He is responsible for building and growing Public Knowledge®’s brand presence and managing the staff that support the delivery of the core suite of project oversight services. Robert also maintains Public Knowledge®’s ISO-certified Quality Management System (QMS) and serves as the quality executive on the Corporate Quality Initiative Team. Robert’s position ensures that quality systems are continuously improved and implemented consistently throughout Public Knowledge®, in addition to ensuring that the firm’s products and services are following Public Knowledge®’s quality requirements, standards, and protocols.

Robert has 25 years of experience working in multiple aspects of project management, independent verification and validation (IV&V), quality assurance (QA), and information technology. Robert is a certified project management professional (PMP) and is certified in risk and information systems controls (CRISC).

Olympia, WA

Jennifer has been helping public agencies and non-profit organizations address human challenges, increase effectiveness, and manage change for over 20 years. She brings a blend of project management, organizational development, and public sector management experience that enables her to quickly understand underlying issues and work with clients to develop relevant and practical solutions. Prior to joining Public Knowledge® in 2007, Jennifer was a manager in the Innovative Project Delivery office at the Washington State Department of Transportation where she worked across the organization to facilitate collaboration, manage risk, increase knowledge sharing and spur innovative ways of working. Currently a regional vice-president, Jennifer works primarily to support teams in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Canada, as well as national courts and transportation projects. She leads new employee onboarding and co-leads the internal Project Management Community of Practice.

Jennifer is a professional certified coach (PCC) through the ICF. She has coached executives, leaders, new managers, and individual contributors in the public, tech, finance, construction, and biotech sectors. Jennifer has a master’s in applied behavioral science from Bastyr University and an undergraduate degree in psychology from Whitman College. She has completed advanced facilitation courses, a project management certificate program, and is certified to use several assessment tools, including the Hogan Leadership Assessment.