About Halcyon Northwest

Halcyon Northwest provides project leadership and change management to help our clients achieve the ambitious, high-visibility policy goals that are critical to their continued success.

Getting from your current state to your desired state can present challenges for the team who is committed to getting you there.

Managing those challenges is essential to achieving results.

And yet, most project teams lack the skills and support to effectively navigate these unavoidable challenges – and even better, to use those conflicts as a catalyst for change.

That’s where Halcyon comes in.

Working with mission-driven organizations, we combine proprietary project management prowess with professional mediation, research, and facilitation skills.

So you get optimal results. And a process with your team members that is a source of growth and transformation.

This isn’t just project management. It’s project LEADERSHIP.

And it’s why 100% of our clients would hire us again.

 

The higher bar that Halcyon sets ensures your custom projects and change-transformation initiatives:
  • Tap all individual and collective skills, talents, voices, and contributions of your team
  • Apply qualitative research-backed efforts that uncover the most critical needs among customers, stakeholders, and employees
  • Run more efficiently via consensus-driven, stabilizing facilitation
  • Foster a more stable culture with inspired, engaged employees who stay longer
  • Build diverse coalitions in environments that support psychological safety
  • Achieve ambitious and high-visibility policy goals and ROI

Our Team

Change Management Team

Halcyon Principals Katherine Boyd and Ed West are both Pro-Sci credentialed change management experts.

Katherine Boyd

CEO and Founder, Change Management & Strategic Planning

Katherine founded Halcyon Northwest in 2014 to guide institutions through organizational change initiatives. She helps clients articulate desired goals and achieve transformative change, using an approach that centers on respect for an organization’s existing culture and the treatment of all people with dignity.

Katherine leads collaborative teams that deliver projects on time, on budget, and with the highest degree of quality. Halcyon’s rigorous project and change management approaches are informed by extensive experience and industry best practices, while adhering to Katherine’s high standards for integrity. Katherine takes pride in leaving clients in a stronger place than at the start of each project, imparting strategies and knowledge that will help organizations capably address future change initiatives.

Katherine has focused her career in the public sector because she believes it makes the biggest impact on society and community. Recent and current projects that Katherine has worked on include the Washington State Suicide Prevention Plan, the Washington State Agricultural Needs Assessment, and the fpOnline organizational change management project.

Katherine’s approach to client work extends to Halcyon’s partners and employees. All Halcyon team members excel in their areas of expertise and are encouraged to level up professionally. As a result, Halcyon is a dynamic firm that continuously evolves to offer best-in-class service to clients, staff, and strategic partners.

Katherine’s leadership propels Halcyon into the future as the firm expands its footprint in the public service and healthcare sectors, as well as into new geographies. Halcyon will continue to help organizations achieve their ambitious goals and prepare for continuous  change and transformation.  Meanwhile, Katherine will oversee Halcyon’s growth as a firm, scaling its industry-leading solution offerings, strategic partnerships, consulting talent, and operations.

Katherine earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and graduated magna cum laude. She went on to earn a Masters of Public Administration from The Evergreen State College. She funded her education with scholarships, public loans and grants, and work study, which makes it especially meaningful to give back to the public through her work.

Martha Burwell

Change Management

Martha is a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) expert with a focus on intersectional gender equity. Her specialty using data and research to pinpoint DEI opportunities with small companies, then using a design-based approach to translate that data into positive action. In addition to her work on the Halcyon Northwest change management team, she also leads Martha Burwell Consulting.

Ed West

Principal and VP, Change Management

With a steadfast belief in empowering individuals within organizations to optimize their performance and satisfaction amidst change, Ed West embodies over three decades of dedicated leadership in change management. His journey as a transformation expert is underscored by an extensive academic background, including a Masters degree in Organizational Development from The Johns Hopkins University. He pairs this with certifications in Change Management from ProSci, Lean from North Carolina State University, and Safe Agile Project Management. Ed’s extensive portfolio spans diverse realms of change management, from overseeing IT system integrations and organizational restructuring, to spearheading clinical transformations and performance redesign initiatives. His strategic acumen and commitment to sustained improvement have yielded millions in cost savings for prominent clients such as Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Sutter Health, Providence Health, MedStar Health, and University of Washington Medicine. Recognized as a thought leader, Ed’s contributions extend beyond his projects as a practitioner, encompassing a prolific publication record and influential lectures on transformation and change management services. Currently serving as a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Public Health, Ed imparts his wealth of knowledge in healthcare transformation, change management, and project management, shaping the future of healthcare leaders.

Project Management Team

Jeff Kass

PMO Lead and Senior Project Manager

​Jeff is a certified project management professional and certified scrum master with extensive experience in enterprise rollouts of applications and environment buildouts. Most recently, under contract, he managed multiple projects for the County of San Diego, California over a four-year period, successfully leading engineering teams and analysts. Prior to that, Jeff worked multiple years with an international team as the deputy program manager for a Middle Eastern government as part of a Boeing initiative. Jeff’s stands out in completing challenging projects with diverse groups of team members. He is a US Air Force officer veteran.

Bridget Eileen Manalo

Senior Project Manager

Bridget is a passionate communications-centered project manager, focusing on team dynamics and clear messaging to deliver results. She is a certified project master and has demonstrated success leading large-scale events and change management projects.

Bridget has experience in working with cross-functional teams and understanding communication barriers. She also has an entrepreneurial eye targeting process improvement, program language, and mentorship while creating opportunities to market success.

Jay Pankhania

Senior Project Manager

Jay Pankhania is a seasoned, certified project management consultant with over 18 years of experience leading multi-million-dollar transformation efforts across diverse industries including biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, health care, data analytics and financial services. He has transformed businesses with emerging technologies and is an expert in solution delivery through close collaboration, engagement, and well-honed project execution strategies. His leadership style focuses on a results-oriented approach where he prides himself with creating immediate value and consistently delivering results to his clients.

Dave Frederick

Senior Project Manager

David leverages more than two decades of dynamic experience in project and program management, coupled with over 12 years of strategic consulting for Fortune 500 corporations and government entities. His commitment to excellence infuses every endeavor with a results-driven mindset. Possessing respected credentials including the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and numerous Scaled Agile Framework certifications, David adeptly tailors approaches to suit each client’s unique needs, thereby enhancing the likelihood of optimal outcomes. He boasts a diverse professional background, having occupied roles spanning both functional and technical domains, and has spearheaded numerous transformative initiatives utilizing custom-built applications as well as commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) ERP software solutions. David’s expertise transcends industry boundaries, having made impactful contributions across sectors such as Government, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Media and Telecom, Utilities, and Higher Education.

 

Process Improvement Team

Bill Braswell

Process Improvement

Bill is a process improvement consultant with more than 20 years of experience in leveraging Lean concepts and Organization Development, including a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt from the Management and Strategy Institute. He has a talent for bringing together diverse groups to identify priorities and to ensure buy-in for transformation efforts. His specialty is in coaching staff and leaders to excel in their roles and to continuously seek excellence.

Mark Sneeringer

Process Improvement

​Mark Sneeringer is a continuous improvement leader with deep expertise in Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), Lean, Change Management, and Program Management. His strengths include cross-functional team leadership, extensive technical experience, improvement methodology training and mentoring, facilitation of complex improvement efforts to closure, and ability to quickly diagnose problems and to define and implement effective solutions.

Kathryn Bost

Marketing and Business Development Lead

​Kathryn Bost has been supporting marketing teams for over 25 years by finding project opportunities, developing subconsultant teams, and submitting winning proposals. From her work in engineering, architecture, and communications firms, she has developed significant expertise in navigating public agencies and procurement processes. She specializes in working with small and disadvantaged firms to help them develop new markets, expand their connections, and win more work.

Mina Hochberg

Writer and Editor

Mina Hochberg is a professional writer and editor with extensive experience in content and feature writing, editing, copy editing, and proofreading. As a careful reader and skilled interviewer, her mission as a writer is to convey information with clarity, accuracy, and humanity.

100% of our clients would work with us again!

  • Our clients feel that hiring Halcyon dramatically increased the pace of their projects and the quality of their work.
  • Our clients think that we’re an incredible value for the work that we do.
  • We free up our clients so they can do the work that they’re passionate about.
  • Our collaboration and ability to make every voice heard is one of our strengths.

 

 

100% of our clients would hire us again

“[Katherine’s approach] is not going to be the same thing as what the next person did, it’s going to be unique to what our needs are and what we’re looking for. And she knows the right questions to ask.”

“I’m in awe of her ability to stay on task, catch everything that’s going on, and manage all the projects she’s working on.”

“Katherine is my benchmark of what a good contractor is.”

Contact Us

Ready to talk about your project? Reach out to us to set up a conversation at contact@halcyonnw.com or 360.386.5645.

Thank you!