Our Team
Experienced Expert Advisors
We have assembled a highly experienced team of expert advisors who all have a proven history of guiding successful initiatives and helping clients achieve sustainable service improvements. Each member of the team brings a unique set of skills, knowledge and expertise. The specific expertise of team members includes service transformation, strategic planning, organizational development, change management and outsourcing contract management.
Rob Cooke
Rob Cooke MBA, (Victoria) is Managing Partner of Focis Consulting Inc. He brings extensive consulting experience in service strategy planning and transformation and in the assessment, design and implementation of shared services and outsourcing initiatives. He has been providing advisory services to clients for over 20 years and is the co-author of the highly successful book, "Shared Services: Mining for Corporate Gold", (Prentice Hall 2000) and the professional journal "Adopting and Implementing Shared Services”. His articles ‘Buying Force’ on procurement shared services and Signed, sealed…now to deliver’ on outsourcing contract management were published in Summit Magazine. Rob has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from York University.
Telephone: 250.516.6432
Russ Grabb
Russell Grabb (Vancouver) offers clients proven executive leadership and considerable depth in senior management. He has over 30 years of experience working within a variety of business settings — service-to-client, business transformation, organizational design and governance, change leadership and business architecture, just to name a few. He has led complex service-delivery operations, managed effective business transformation projects, and facilitated business-process innovation. He specializes in facilitating customer-centred service and accomplishment of better outcomes for clients, partners and stakeholders. He has earned a reputation across Canada for analyzing complex business challenges in order to execute sustainable action plans that optimize service performance and mitigate enterprise-wide risk. Prior to entering the private sector in June of 2006, as an executive management consultant, he served over 28 years with the Government of Canada. As a Superintendent and head of corporate planning and service-delivery development for BC, he served as an ex-officio member of the RCMP executive team in the Pacific Region.
russ.grabb@focisconsulting.com
Telephone: 604.812.5987
George Barnhart
George Barnhart PMP (Victoria) is a senior business and service-transformation specialist with extensive executive and consulting experience in information technology management, process innovation, and transition management. He is known as a results-oriented strategic thinker. Prior to joining Focis Consulting, George was a senior management consultant with CGI. He has extensive executive corporate and senior management experience including many years negotiating and leading outsourcing agreements. His experience consulting on large scale transformation, growth and innovation in many sectors including utilities, oil and gas, construction, government, transportation, real estate and even competitive sport has given George a unique perspective and expertise. He is an Agricultural engineer, a Western Executive Program graduate and certified Professional Project Manager (PMP).
george.barnhart@focisconsulting.com
Telephone: 250.858.0780
Dr. Ray Johnston
Dr. Ray Johnston DEd (Toronto) is a senior business and service-transformation specialist with extensive experience in shared services and organizational change leadership. He has led major shared service and change initiatives in organizations across most government and business sectors He has a Doctorate Degree in Education in Developing Human Resources.
ray.johnston@focisconsulting.com
Telephone: 416.539.9907
Erik Morch
Erik Morch (Victoria) is a senior business- and service-transformation and alternative service delivery and outsourcing specialist. Most recently he was the Executive Contract Manager of the Business Management Office (BMO), B.C. Ministry of Health. The BMO is responsible for the oversight of the 10 year, $330 million contract with MAXIMUS BC for Medical Services Plan and Pharma Care administration. Erik has been involved in a number of ASD projects and outsourcing contracts including the Revenue Management contract with EDS Advanced Solutions valued at $572 million over 10 years. His experience on this contract started with creation of the business model followed by vendor selection, contract negotiation and transition. He was the government lead for transition and became IT Advisor in the contract management office following handover.
erik.morch@focisconsulting.com
Telephone: 250.920.9428
Blair Matheson
Blair Matheson (Victoria) is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) with considerable experience in business transformation and in using technology to meet business needs. He has over 25 years experience working within large organizations and as a consultant developing technology solutions and managing change. One of Blair’s successful assignments was the transition of British Columbia’s Crown land information distribution system from a paper based, labour intensive process into a ‘first of it’s kind’ tool which allows Internet access with on-line payment capabilities. This project was a finalist in the Government of Canada’s GTEC awards. As a consultant, Blair has been focusing on assisting newly formed Crown agencies and Ministries through business and service transformation. He has a particular interest in ensuring efficient operations of new organizations while ensuring statutory and legal requirements are achieved.
blair.matheson@focisconsulting.com
Telephone: 250.384.8232
Valerie Sluth
Val Sluth, CMC (Regina) is a senior management consultant with over 15 years of consulting experience in the areas of strategy, organizational effectiveness, evaluation and governance. Her passion is the alignment of organizational structures and systems with strategy. She has provided consulting services to a diverse set of clients in the public and NGO sectors at provincial and federal levels. Val has served as a sessional lecturer at both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan where her topic areas have included governance, management, leadership and interpersonal communication. Val has undergone Aboriginal culture training and has worked extensively with organizations and government agencies in the advancement of First Nations issues. As a certified management consultant and an active member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants, Val puts into practice the ethics and standards of this professional organization. She is currently President of the Saskatchewan chapter.
Telephone: 306.585.3634
Keith Ellwood
Keith Ellwood (Victoria) is a senior business and service transformation specialist with over two decades’ of management consulting experience in strategic planning, marketing, and operations management in the technology and government sectors. He brings a balanced, objective perspective on technology industry ventures and operations, program planning, implementation, and evaluation; and change management. His achievements include progressively responsible experience in technical, management, and leadership positions, including professional and consulting roles providing solutions for commercial, government, municipal, and higher education customers. His personal approach derives largely from methodical precision coupled with a desire for action, a willingness to benefit from risk, a keen interest in asking questions, and a penchant for insights that lead to new ideas and solutions.
keith.ellwood@focisconsulting.com
Neil Kemp
Neil Kemp, (Ottawa) is a senior business and service transformation specialist with 29 years of diverse business and systems experience. He has played a significant role in the analysis and development of many large and small business and systems projects, utilizing state of the art formal and structured architecture tools and methods to address governance, business and system alignment requirements. This work has involved him in all aspects of the delivery process on a wide range of successful projects, including the application of Enterprise Architecture methods and practices. Mr. Kemp has extensive experience and expertise in the areas of project management, project process improvement and in project and engineering best practices in the areas of software, business and information architecture and is now becoming recognized as a major contributor to methods and practices in these areas. Neil has managed in excess of thirty projects, half with budgets of more than 1 million dollars and in eighty percent of these projects he was brought in to rescue the project from a troubled state.
Telephone: 613.791.2183