Ross & Associates

Strategic Planning at the National Center for Environmental Health

Todd — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:12:38 +0000

Ross & Associates has supported a variety of strategic planning activities over the last several years for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health. These have included work with specific Branches such as Environmental Health Tracking as well as for the Environmental Hazards and Health Effects Division. We have facilitated two day workshops that involved senior leadership assessing current challenges and potential future opportunities for their branches. Additionally, we have held day-long sessions with Branches to focus on priorities and consider how current activities are supporting those priorities, and to develop new strategies if they are not.

Our approach typically focuses on assisting clients to identify key factors in their programs that are impeding their ability to achieve goals. We work with them to define the outcomes they want, and then ask them to examine potential strategies, with a focus on considering how the strategies will actually contribute to the change they want to see in their programs to meet their goals. In the course of this work, we help to identify key priorities and measures that can help track progress the program is making.

Lean in Government Starter Kit

Todd — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:08:32 +0000

Drawing from the experiences of several state and federal agencies, Ross & Associates helped EPA develop the Lean in Government Starter Kit: How to Plan and Implement Successful Lean Initiatives at Environment Agencies, Version 3.0. The Starter Kit is designed to help government agencies plan and implement successful Lean events. The Starter Kit contains practical tools, resources, and tips for:

Understanding Lean
How to select a Lean project
How to scope and prepare for a Lean event
How to conduct and manage the phases of a Lean event
How to implement follow-up activities after a Lean event, ensure accountability, and evaluate performance
How to diffuse Lean activity and become a Lean enterprise

The underlying goal of this Starter Kit is to provide information, tools, and downloadable resources that agencies can use to develop or incorporate into a Lean continual improvement system. With Version 3.0, Ross & Associates revised the Starter Kit to provide more information on selecting and scoping Lean events, distinguishing between Lean methods, and becoming a Lean continual improvement agency, as well as improved its usability as a step-by-step guide to Lean.

Lean Government Initiative Support

Todd — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:01:30 +0000

Ross & Associates has supported EPA’s Lean Government Initiative since its inception in 2005, facilitating the expanded use of Lean and Six Sigma among environmental agencies to improve diverse processes, ranging from permitting to standard setting. We have developed several practical resources on the application of Lean methods to government, such as The Lean in Government Starter Kit, which has been used by government agencies across the U.S. and in several other countries. Other products have included the Lean Government Primer, Lean Leadership Guide, Lean Government Metrics Guide, Lean in Air Permitting Guide, Lean Government Event Scoping Guide, and numerous case studies and presentations.

We developed many of these publications through collaborative processes involving EPA, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), and States with experience implementing Lean and Six Sigma methods. Along with developing tools and communication materials, we support EPA’s efforts to build partnerships with other federal and state agencies implementing Lean and Six Sigma, and help EPA think strategically about its own deployment of Lean.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:40:17 +0000

Ross & Associates, in collaboration with Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc), conducted an evaluation of the design and implementation of the global Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles-Lead Campaign. Over the past 10 years, this voluntary, public-private partnership has helped to catalyze the global elimination of leaded fuel, which each year is saving over a million lives and trillions of dollars. Today the Partnership is also focusing on reducing sulfur levels in fuel and promoting clean vehicles, transit-oriented development, and non-motorized transit. Ross & Associates led the evaluation, which involves close coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations Environment Programme, and partners across the world representing governments, petroleum industry representatives, and non-governmental organizations. The results of this evaluation, published in January 2012, convey lessons and insights from this successful public-private partnership’s design and implementation that could apply to other partnerships.

Fact sheets on the evaluation can be found here and here, and the full evaluation report can be found here.

AGree Transforming Food and Ag Policy

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:35:35 +0000

Ross & Associates is providing monitoring and evaluation support for a food and agriculture initiative funded by numerous foundations and managed by the Meridian Institute. The AGree initiative (see http://www.foodandagpolicy.org) brings together diverse interests to transform U.S. food and agriculture policy to enhance access and availability of nutritious foods, protect natural resources while producing food, and create economic opportunities for rural communities. Ross & Associates developed a framework to enable several activities, including monitoring, strategic learning, and periodic summative evaluation. We outlined data collection and analysis responsibilities and strategic evaluation questions and methodologies. Ross & Associates is conducting the first phase of the periodic summative evaluation in 2012.

ClimateWorks Evaluation

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:30:38 +0000

Ross & Associates, Industrial Economics, Incorporated, and the Stockholm Environment Institute are conducting a five-year evaluation of the ClimateWorks Foundation, a global philanthropy and network of institutions working to prevent catastrophic climate change (see www.climateworks.org). The evaluation is exploring the progress of targeted policies and the contributions of ClimateWorks and the global ClimateWorks Network toward toward these policies, and, ultimately, large-scale carbon emissions reductions. The evaluation combines real-time feedback on strategy and management with more traditional process and outcome evaluation. This evaluation is now in its third year.

EPA Region 1 Stormwater Funding Evaluation

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:23:53 +0000

Ross & Associates is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters and EPA Region 1 to evaluate community approaches for addressing stormwater program funding challenges, with a particular focus on the role of multi-party dispute resolution in the establishment of stormwater utilities. The project will identify specific contextual and procedural factors that have allowed communities (including stormwater management agencies, local elected officials, and stakeholders) to come to agreement on establishing effective, long-term programs for stormwater program funding. In addition, it will identify effective practices and resources that can help communities come to agreement as they address stormwater program needs in the future.

Evaluation of Air Quality Regional Planning Organizations

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:21:53 +0000

In 2011, Ross & Associates conducted an evaluation of roles and activities of Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs) in supporting air quality management and planning across the United States. The evaluation explored the effectiveness of regional technical support and coordination in equipping state and tribal air agencies to meet diverse air quality planning requirements under the Regional Haze Rule and Clean Air Act. The evaluation report identified lessons from state, tribal, RPO, and EPA experience with regional air quality planning and made recommendations on approaches to meet future needs in the context of state and federal budget challenges.

Evaluation of the Drinking Water Clean Water Infrastructure Tribal Set-Aside

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:18:07 +0000

Ross & Associates, in conjunction with Industrial Economics, Incorporated, conducted a process and outcome evaluation of two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tribal grant programs, the Drinking Water Infrastructure Grant-Tribal Set-Aside, and the Clean Water Infrastructure Set-Aside. The evaluation provided EPA with a more complete understanding of:

the programs’ impacts on access to safe drinking water and sanitary facilities,
the programs’ impacts on compliance with National Primary Drinking Water Standards in Indian country; and
the aspects of the programs that are most effective in improving drinking water and wastewater conditions in Indian country.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund—Performance Framework

Todd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:11:57 +0000

Ross & Associates has provided support to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund program on grant and program performance since 2003. NOAA provides grants to state and tribal entities (annual funding ranged from $58 to $90 million for fiscal years 2000-2011) that fund projects to address salmon conservation and recovery, carried out by local governments, tribes, state agencies, public partners, watershed councils, soil and water conservation districts, and other organizations. Ross & Associates’ work has focused on development of a comprehensive evaluation framework to examine measures of outputs and short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes assessing salmon recovery. Ross & Associates has also reviewed state and tribal grant applications, developed logic models, identified indicators, defined data structures for organizing data collection to support measures, and developed an annual Report to Congress tracking program progress.

Ross & Associates

Strategic Planning at the National Center for Environmental Health

Project Staff

Lean in Government Starter Kit

Client

Project Staff

Lean Government Initiative Support

Client

Project Staff

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles

Project Staff

AGree Transforming Food and Ag Policy

Client

Project Staff

ClimateWorks Evaluation

Client

Project Staff

EPA Region 1 Stormwater Funding Evaluation

Client

Project Staff

Evaluation of Air Quality Regional Planning Organizations

Project Staff

Evaluation of the Drinking Water Clean Water Infrastructure Tribal Set-Aside

Client

Project Staff

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund—Performance Framework

Client

Project Staff