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Overall Process Consultant
Fred Miller is the overall process consultant for the Call to Action effort. He is guiding the design and flow of the work of the Steering Team (policy group that will report findings and recommendations to Council of Bishop, Connectional Table and others) and of the Project Team (task group assuring day-to-day implementation of the project’s research and other activities). As the process consultant Mr. Miller will not duplicate the roles of specific area content experts or researchers, but assure that the project’s goals and activities remain aligned, that the quality and timeliness of necessary work meets expectations, and is providing tools, facilitation, and consultation to support the efficacy of the ongoing work and deliberations of Steering and Project Teams.
Read Fred Miller's biography
Read Fred Miller's client list
Congregational Vitality project
About the Research Project
Towers Watson will partner with the Call To Action Project Team and Steering Team to provide a fact-based understanding of the characteristics, structure and practices that correlate most with church vitality.
They will work with stakeholders through interviews, focus groups and surveys across the organization to develop hypotheses on what drives church vitality. Towers Watson will then “test” the hypotheses with existing data as well as additional data they will collect through surveys and interviews.
Towers Watson will then present the findings from the research – the strongest drivers of church vitality – to the Steering Team.
About Towers Watson
Towers Watson is a leading global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance through effective people, risk and financial management. With 14,000 associates around the world, Towers Watson offers solutions in the areas of employee benefits, talent management, rewards, and risk and capital management.
Their focus is on giving clients the clarity to make the right decisions and take the right actions. And their approach is grounded in perspective — the kind that comes from their deep experience working on a wide range of issues.
Related documents
Project Methodology (.doc file)
Church Vitality Survey Methodology (.doc file)
Consultants
Operational Assessment of the Connectional church
Operational Assessment Project Overview
Apex HG LLC (“Apex”) has been retained to perform the Call to Action Project sub-project, known as the “operational assessment project ,” or the “Project”, which is a broad organizational review and evaluation of the decision-making, governance and leadership effectiveness of The United Methodist Church structures and processes.
The purpose of the Operational Assessment is to identify the primary three to five “levers” or “doors” that can be opened to support the Call to Action Steering Team “in bringing forward a plan that will lead to reordering the life of the Church for greater effectiveness and vitality in (1) the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and (2) addressing the Four Areas of Focus as distinctive ways we live into that mission together.”
The three guiding principles that will identify the Operational Assessment ‘doors’ or ‘levers’ are:
• Support the attributes of a vital connexion for the 21st Century;
• Improve Decision Making, Implementation Effectiveness, and Accountability; and
• Improve Affordability and Align Resources with the Determinants of Church Vitality and the Four Areas of Focus.
The focus of the Assessment will be on governance, leadership and policy.
The project will involve study and analysis of The United Methodist Church organization structures and processes along with substantial interview and survey input. The goal for Project completion is June 15, 2010.
Consultant - Mark Harrison, MBA, MPH
Mark Harrison’s career has been focused on organizational diagnosis, problem-solving and solution implementation for large highly complex organizations. He brings to the Call to Action Project core competencies in governance, organization structure and process, management performance measurement, management process, strategy, operations, finance, enterprise risk management, capital structure/finance and mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. He has worked with a variety of not-for-profit organizations including a number of faith based institutions in an advisory/consulting capacity. Much of his work has been with healthcare organizations and prior to that as an investment banker. More recently he has worked as a senior healthcare executive.
As an investment banker, Mr. Harrison provided merger and acquisition, capital markets, strategic advisory and governance advisory services for health systems, academic medical centers, large physician practice organizations and payer organizations.
Mr. Harrison started his career at Lehman Brothers in New York before managing the West Coast offices of Cain Brothers, Shattuck & Company as a partner and Shattuck Hammond Partners as a founding partner.
More recently, Mr. Harrison served as the Chief Financial Officer of Allina Hospitals and Clinics, a large integrated delivery system based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Harrison’s executive oversight responsibilities at Allina included strategy and business development, internal consulting, supply chain, revenue cycle and payer contracting in addition to the finance function. In his most recent executive role, Mr. Harrison served as the Chief Financial Officer at DaVita, a Fortune 500 public company specializing in renal care. At DaVita, Mr. Harrison’s responsibilities included investor relations, G&A expense management, risk management and certain strategic roles in addition to the finance functions.
Mr. Harrison’s current position is Principal and Founder of Apex Healthcare Group, LLC, a firm that specializes is advising the Boards and CEO’s of major healthcare and not-for-profit organizations in approaching and resolving critical “apex” issues that cross strategy, governance and leadership, operations, finance, and capital markets (finance and mergers, acquisitions and divestitures) disciplines.
Mr. Harrison has also performed grant research and published numerous articles including a notable research project for the California Healthcare Foundation entitled, “The Financial Health of California’s Hospitals” which was later published in summary form in Health Affairs.
Mr. Harrison has both Master of Public Health and Master of Business Administration degrees from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College. Mr. Harrison currently serves as a Board member of CalRHIO and has served on several other community boards including Tubman Family Alliance and the Ross School Foundation.
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