About the Authors

Alan P. Balutis is director and distinguished fellow in Cisco Systems’ Internet Business Solutions Group. He has spent more than 30 years in public service and industry leadership roles and is a founding member of the Federal CIO Council. He led its strategic planning and outreach committees, helped create the council’s e-government committee, and served as its first chair. His 27 years in the federal sector were spent at the Department of Commerce, where he headed the management and budget office for over a decade and was its first CIO, and at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now the Department of Health and Human Services). He is also a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and is chairman of The Public Manager Board of Directors. He can be reached at abalutis@cisco.com.

Sheila Beckett is an intermittent international budget advisor and consultant. She previously served as a resident advisor for the budget and financial accountability program with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance and was assigned to the Republic of Macedonia’s Ministry of Finance for three years. Prior to that, she assisted the Ministries of Finance in both Serbia and Montenegro on budget matters. Beckett previously served as executive director of the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS), managing an investment portfolio with a market value of nearly $20 billion. She also served in a variety of budget positions spanning over 20 years in Texas state government, including budget director to both the governor and lieutenant governor.

Bart Bevers was appointed by Governor Rick Perry in 2007 as the Inspector General for the Texas Health ＆ Human Services Commission—Office of Inspector General. He oversees activities involving fraud, abuse and waste in Texas’ health and human services systems and supervises over 655 employees in 31 cities across the state. Bevers began his career in law enforcement in 1995 working for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, where he was the Chief Prosecutor in five different criminal courts. He also serves on the Board of Regents for the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists (ACFS), the Board of Directors for the Association of Inspectors General (AIG), and is an instructor for the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). He is certified as a Certified Fraud Specialist by the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists, Certified Homeland Security, Level III (C.H.S-III) by the American Board of Certification in Homeland Security, Certified Inspector General by the Association of Inspectors General, and Certified Public Manager (CPM) by the American Academy of Certified Public Managers. Bevers is also licensed to practice law in Texas.

Anthony Bingham is president and CEO of the American Society for Training ＆ Development (ASTD), the world’s largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals. ASTD offers programs and services to help members improve individual and organizational performance through its 133 chapters in the United States and 30 international partner organizations that convene at local and regional levels throughout the world. Bingham also is the coauthor of Presenting Learning, released in April 2007. With broad-based business, financial, operational, and technical management expertise, Bingham joined ASTD in 2001 as the chief operating officer/chief information officer. He became president and CEO in February 2004. He can be reached at www.astd.org.

Aaron B. Corbett is an associate at McManis ＆ Monsalve Associates and holds a master’s degree in public administration from The George Washington University.

Dale R. Fleming directs strategic planning and operational support for San Diego County’s Health ＆ Human Services Agency. This division manages the agency’s strategic planning, performance measurement, and operational evaluation efforts for all health and social services. In addition, she leads operational support services for healthcare access and self-sufficiency programs for the county. She is a 2009 recipient of the YWCA’s Tribute to Women in Industry Award (TWIN), San Diego.

Toby Hammett Futrell has 32 years of experience in public administration, beginning as she rose through the ranks from an entry-level position with the City of Austin organization to become its top executive. As City Manager, she performed functions as diverse as human resources, parks, public health, finance, auditing, public works, utilities, and public safety. During this distinguished career, Futrell has worked on myriad major projects from economic development to environmental protection. She helped lead the initiatives that brought major employers to the City’s Desired Development Zone and was instrumental in creating the thriving Second Street Retail District and Austin’s Smart Growth initiative. Her cultural and recreational endeavors include winning the coveted national Gold Medal for Austin’s parks system. Futrell earned an MBA from Southwest Texas State University. She taught political science at Texas A＆M Corpus Christi University and is currently teaching through Texas State University’s Certified Public Manager’s Program.

Tracy Haugen is director of federal public services in human capital for Deloitte Consulting, LLP. She has worked in both the public and private sectors with domestic and international clients over the past nine years, implementing and adopting change for mission impact. Haugan has helped agencies cut through bureaucratic barriers using change techniques that connect people to deliver successful results. Recently, she hosted a half-day event, Best Practices for Making Government 2.0 Work Now with Information Week. She has also been interviewed by Federal News Radio on the topic of Gov 2.0. She can be reached at thaugen@deloitte.com or www.deloitte.com.

James Horton is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Arlington and has been employed in local government for the past 13 years. His research interests include local government management and performance improvement. He earned BS and MPA degrees from the University of North Texas and can be reached at james.horton@mavs.uta.edu.

Philip Kangas is a director within the Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector Organizational Improvement Team, working with federal clients to improve organizational performance through sourcing and acquisition management, business transformation, and human capital strategy consulting. He holds an MPA from the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and is certified by the Association of Government Accountability as a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM).

Peter McHugh is the CEO of Covalent Software Inc. He can be reached at peter.mchugh@covalentsoftware.com or www.covgov.com.

Nancy Fagenson Potok is the Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was previously the chief operating officer of McManis ＆ Monsalve Associates, a management consulting firm, and principal associate director and chief financial officer at the U.S. Census Bureau, among other senior executive positions in the public and private sector. Dr. Potok is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award. She can be reached at npotok@doc.gov.

Alan R. Shark serves as the Public Technology Institute’s executive director/CEO. He also serves as assistant professor at Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration. As an author, lecturer, and speaker on technology developments and applications for most of his distinguished career, Shark’s experience both balances and embraces the business, government, education, and technology sectors. He has been elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), as well as Fellow of the Radio Club of America (RCA) and Fellow of the American Society for Association Executives (ASAE). Shark holds a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California’s Washington Public Policy Center and is the author of Beyond e-Government ＆ e-Democracy: A Global Perspective. He can be reached at shark@pti.org.

Robert Shea is a director within the Grant Thornton Global Public Sector Cost and Performance Team and coordinates the firm’s Recovery Act services. He has trained hundreds of federal employees on Recovery Act compliance. He was most recently at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as associate director for Administration and Government Performance. Shea is a fellow and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).

Robert Shick is an assistant professor at the Rutgers-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration, managing director of the National Center for Public Performance, and director of the Executive MPA Program. He has extensive experience in the public sector as a senior administrator in New York City government, working on contracting policy and implementation, and received his PhD in public administration from New York University. Shick’s research interests include privatization and the contracting-out of government services, nonprofit management, and organizational development. He can be reached at rshick@andromeda. rutgers.edu.

James H. Thurmond is director of the MPA program and clinical professor at the University of Houston, where he teaches administrative theory, urban management, and comparative public policy. He retired from city government in 2003 after 30 years, including tours as director of community development with the City of Denison, Texas, and city manager of Cleveland, Uvalde, and Missouri City, Texas. He served two years in the U.S. Army, including 14 months in Vietnam, and has a PhD from the University of Houston and an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. He can be reached at jhthurmond@uh.edu.

William Trahant is a senior business consultant with extensive knowledge of strategic human capital planning issues, having consulted widely to cabinet-level federal government agencies and Fortune 500 corporations. The coauthor of several books, including Business Climate Shifts: Profiles of Change Makers, he most recently led the Government Consulting Services Practice of Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Trahant speaks frequently on human capital issues before public sector audiences and writes on human capital topics for publications such as Government Executive, Federal Times, and The Public Manager. He can be reached at Wtrahant@aol.com.

Jackie Werth is a project coordinator within the Office of Strategy Management, Health and Human Services Agency, San Diego County. She facilitates workshops, conducts analyses, and coordinates a wide range of projects to address performance challenges or advance strategic initiatives. Formerly, she served as senior evaluator for the U.S. General Accounting Office in Washington, D.C., where she received the Assistant Comptroller General’s Award for excellence and community service. She can be reached at Jackie.Werth@sdcounty.ca.gov

Tim E. Winchell, Sr., is a retired federal human resources professional and president of Winchell Global Human Resources Consulting Services, LLC. He is currently working for a large consulting firm in the Washington, D.C., area and serves on the adjunct faculty of George Mason University and the Board of Editors of The Public Manager. He can be reached at TWinc33551@aol.com.