We have recently used Evergreen Solutions, LLC for a Civilian Classification and Compensation Study and also a Compensation Study for our Deputy Sheriffs. We have found the company to be professional, responsive and willing to work with your organization to customize a plan that meets all of your needs.

- Juanell P. Godwin, PPP
Human Resources Unit Manager
Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Florida

Senior Team Members

President – Dr. Linda Recio

A successful educational consultant for over two decades, Dr. Linda Recio has held leadership positions in the educational arena for more than 30 years. School systems and state departments of education from across the United States seek out Linda’s expertise and ability to deliver real-world solutions.

In addition to serving as president of Evergreen Solutions, Linda leads our Education Consulting Practice, as she did for 15 years at another national consulting firm. Linda’s extensive experience in comprehensive school district management and performance reviews, No Child Left Behind compliance, school improvement planning, and strategic planning has led many public education clients to hire Evergreen Solutions for improvement projects.

She is familiar with school districts in numerous states, having directed more than 150 management and performance studies in California, Florida, Washington, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. While at the Florida Department of Education, she was instrumental in developing the comprehensive audit criteria and data collection instruments utilized to conduct operational and managerial reviews in Florida's 67 school districts.

Linda also served as an assistant superintendent for a medium-size school district, where she was responsible for the district's strategic plan, school board policies and administrative procedures, staff plan, interagency and legislative planning, grants administration, and program evaluation.

Linda holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in science education, both from Florida State University. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology and education from the State University of New York at Albany.

Click here to email Dr. Recio

Executive Vice President – Dr. Jeffrey Ling

Dr. Jeff Ling has worked in the consulting field for more than 19 years, developing highly successful consulting practices targeted at state and local government as well as higher education markets. Organizations from around the country have turned to Dr. Ling’s vast knowledge base to improve their ability to deliver. Specifically, his portfolio includes experience in management evaluation, research management, efficiency analysis, survey analysis, data management, survey and polling, risk analysis, change management, statistical modeling, and technology planning. He specializes in summarizing major alternatives for decision makers and providing viable recommendations.

Dr. Ling has been instrumental in creating, reviewing, and evaluating the methodology employed by Evergreen Solutions on a number of engagements. In his professional work, he has interacted with over 400 clients from around the world working in the capacity of Project Principal and Director. His background and skill set make him uniquely qualified for assessing organizational critical needs and strategy.

Dr. Ling is renowned for his work in a number of types of studies, including Management and Process Reviews, Strategic Planning, Compensation/Classification, Market Research, Policy Development, Performance Evaluation, Gender/Race Audits, Change Management Studies, Employee Trainings, and Long-term Planning.

Dr. Ling holds a Doctorate’s Degree from Florida State University in Political Science and is Executive Vice President of Evergreen Solutions, LLC. Jeff has taught at the College of Wooster, Florida State University, and Iowa State University. His areas of specialization included public management and operations, econometrics, and government service provision.

Click here to email Dr. Ling

Manager – Brian Wolfe

Mr. Wolfe has worked with Evergreen Solutions since 2005 and has participated in a wide range of government and educational projects. In his current role as a Manager with the firm, he oversees the implementation of project work plans, deliverables and client relations. His long history of developing and maintaining strong client relationships, professional background in risk management, and years of experience working in the arena of professional liability and employee benefits makes him uniquely qualified to apply this knowledge on a variety of consulting projects. He has served on a large array of consulting engagements involving survey design, client research, collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, report writing and presenting, and the analysis of marketing research information.

As a project consultant and leader of over 45 project teams, he has personally conducted every level of statistical analysis dealing with assessing client’s compensation and classification systems. The differences between clients and their unique situations allow him to express his creativity in problem solving and his commitment to generating positive results. Additionally, Mr. Wolfe has directed numerous engagements which had a participant outreach component that included Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions, end-user focus groups and technical process mapping workshops. Mr. Wolfe has a broad understanding of performance measures and determining results. For Evergreen Solutions’ human resource consulting projects, Mr. Wolfe is the lead for determining and testing viable performance measures.

At Florida State University, Brian earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a specialization in social sciences.

Click here to email Mr. Wolfe

Marketing Coordinator – Kelly Tucker

Kelly Tucker has over 20 years of combined professional and consulting experience with various public and private organizations. Specifically, her expertise and project work fall into two areas: legislation, procedure, and policy assessment in the public sector, and the management of various aspects of Florida’s criminal justice system. Ms. Tucker’s involvement in grant development; data analysis and interpretation; and marketing, planning, and development make her uniquely qualified to contribute to a variety of projects as well as lead Evergreen Solution’s marketing effort.

Kelly’s skills in the marketing arena include technical writing, informational material design, and business development. Aside from her consulting experience promoting the United States Tennis Association, Kelly has been involved in the development and administration of several grants for nationwide organizations.

A graduate of Florida State University, Kelly earned her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminology and a master’s degree in Public Administration.

Click here to email Ms. Tucker

Consultant – Ryan Daigle

Ryan Daigle has extensive knowledge of data analysis collection and methodology. He has participated in multiple research groups working with private businesses. Ryan has experience working with a large number of public sector organizations, compiling quantitative data, researching solutions, and analyzing the results. Clients include those in the states of Florida, Kansas, South Carolina, New York, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, Mississippi, Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and California. He also has experience in developing marketing strategies to garner new business and revenues. His expertise includes conducting salary surveys, developing job descriptions, and generating viable solutions. Ryan is a Certified FLSA Administrator.

Ryan graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor's degree in Business Marketing and a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communication at Florida State University.

Click here to email Mr. Daigle

Analyst – Tom Masters

Tom Masters’ specific experience is in data collection and analysis for public sector organizations—primarily city and county governments, school districts, colleges and universities, state agencies, and housing authorities. He is familiar with quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, synthesizing large amounts of data, and conducting project research. In addition, he has experience conducting market research activities. He also has a thorough understanding of Evergreen Solutions’ compensation and classification study process having executed many salary surveys and developed and revised hundreds of job descriptions. Tom performs Website building and administration projects as well as serves as webmaster for Evergreen Solutions.

Tom earned a bachelor’s of science degree in Business Management from Florida State University.

Click here to email Mr. Masters

Administrative Assistant – Jacqueline Barnes

Jacqueline Barnes has more than 19 years of administrative and clerical experience, including supervising a large word processing department. She has also worked for the Florida Department of Education and a national public-sector consulting firm. Jacqueline has a far-reaching understanding of design, Internet, spreadsheet, and word processing software.

Click here to email Ms. Barnes

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Strategic Partners

Dianne Lane, President, Southeast Center for Effective Schools

Dr. Dianne Lane, the president of the Southeast Center for Effective Schools, is a former school district superintendent and school board member with a background in curriculum, instruction, and special education. As a consultant, she has conducted management and performance reviews of educational systems in school districts in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, and Oklahoma. The Center has conducted evaluations of Safe and Drug-Free Schools for several school districts, a study of waivers for the state of Florida, and several studies of No Child Left Behind. In the past decade, Dianne has conducted numerous projects with school and district leaders on applying school effectiveness research to drive continuous improvement for student achievement.

Mary Chambers, CPA

Dr. Mary Chambers holds a doctorate in educational leadership with a specialization in finance from the University of Florida. Last summer, she participated in the Oxford Round Table studying the Design of Leadership Practices for the Future of Public Education at the University of Oxford in England. Mary served more than 30 years in education and held positions such as superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent, and director of various functions within the districts. She served two years as a legislative auditor for the Florida auditor general. Mary has performed management reviews and consulting services for businesses and districts nationwide. In 2003, she was recognized by Governor Jeb Bush as a Woman of Distinction. She has condcuted more than 25 school district assessments.

Elizabeth Arledge

Ms. Elizabeth Arledge has over 16 years of management and leadership experience and assists clients in project management, planning, needs assessment, and facilitation. The majority of her consulting projects fall into two areas: public sector human resources and homeland security/agro-terrorism. In human resources, she has consulted on numerous projects including strategic planning, compensation and classification studies, salary studies, and business modeling. In addition, Ms. Arledge uses her experience in food and waterborne disease bioterrorism preparedness as a foundation for agro-terrorism consulting. She recently finished facilitating intentional water contamination exercises for the State of Florida and is preparing to teach agro-terrorism preparedness courses to first responders. Also, she is a member of a statewide, multiagency strategic planning group to address, prioritize and operationalize environmental health and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive capabilities in the State of Florida.

Ms. Arledge is a United States Air Force Reserve officer and has had both active duty and reserve experience as an Aircraft Maintenance and Munitions Officer. She has been exposed to many different and challenging components of leadership and organizational management including project management, strategic planning, execution, business process improvement, policy and procedure development, training, mentoring, and performance review and feedback. In addition to management, she has spent numerous years involved in aircraft maintenance, logistics support, operational security, anti-terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and other areas of disaster preparedness.

Todd Osburn

Todd Osburn has been a public sector consultant for more than 10 years. His experience includes quantitative and qualitative work in human resources management, public education, pay system development, information technology, and government efficiency analysis.

Todd has extensive experience in the areas of statistical modeling, database research, and quantitative analysis. In addition, he has worked extensively in performance management with an emphasis on developing and refining performance measurement indicators used in the continuous improvement process.

Before joining Evergreen Solutions, Todd was a senior compensation analyst for Travis County, Texas; vice president of operations at IMCO; an instructor at Florida State University; and a consultant with a national public-sector consulting firm.

He is a candidate for a doctorate in political science from Florida State University and holds a Master of Arts in political science from Bowling Green State University. Todd is also a magna cum laude graduate of Kent State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

Click here to email Mr. Osburn

Warren R. Enterprises, LLC (WRE)

WRE is an MBE consulting firm in Burke, Va., dedicated to business practices that provide maximum benefit to clients. WRE President Robert Warren has more than 30 years in the public and private sector in operations, management, marketing, and supervision. He has conducted more than 25 reviews of school district transportation systems including those in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and the District of Columbia. WRE serves as the agent for Evergreen's Virginia office.

Tom Martineau

Mr. Tom Martineau is retired from his tenured professorship at the Florida A&M University School of Architecture, but remains very active in the field. He is a recognized expert in facilities programming, planning, master planning, and management. In addition to his credentials as a licensed architect, Tom is a LEED Accredited Professional as awarded by the United States Green Building Council. He is also a Florida Department of Education Certified Uniform Building Code Inspector. Tom was previoulsy employeed full time with Evergreen Solutions as a Senior Manager, and he continues to collaborate on consulting projects.

Tom has wide-ranging know-how, as a project and program manager. As senior research architect and market leader at Battelle Memorial Institute, he directed more than 100 research projects ranging from under $5,000 to over $4 million. He also directed the institute's construction market research area. As director of the Institute for Building Sciences at Florida A&M University, he directed the groundbreaking research that led to the development of Florida's first statewide building code. Additionally, he led a team of architects during the renovation and restoration project of the historic Tallahassee Federal Courthouse.

As an independent consultant, he has conducted facilities use and management performance audits for 18 school districts in 10 states, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, the School District of Philadelphia, and the Cleveland Municipal School District.

Tom holds bachelor and master of architecture degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Nicholas Educational Consulting (NEC)

Dr. Karen Rae Nicholas, owner and lead consultant for NEC, has extensive professional work experience in planning, developing, supervising, and implementing academic, support service, transition, and self-advocacy programs for students with disabilities. Karen is an educational consultant who specializes in conducting management and performance reviews, facilitating strategic planning, and conducting staff training for educational systems that provide special education programming within state education agencies and school districts across the United States. She has a comprehensive working knowledge of state and federal compliance legislation related to education — specifically the No Child Left Behind Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 — and their impact on educational systems.

Jerry Williams, CPA

Mr. Jerry Williams has spent more than 30 years in management, performance analyses, and financial and auditing in public-sector positions. He served as project manager for the Texas Comptroller performance reviews of the Texas school districts of Brownsville, Laredo, Kennedy, Hitchcock, and Morgan. As a consultant, Jerry completed the reviews of financial management in the Los Angeles Unified School System and numerous school districts in the states of Washington and Virginia.

Christy E. Noe, President/CEO Collaborative Educational Network, LLC

Ms. Christy Noe has extensive professional work experience in curriculum and instruction, Special Education, charter schools, and public policy. She has served as a classroom teacher, principal, district administrator, and founded her consulting firm in 2004.

Prior to her starting Collaborative Educational Network, she served as the state director of charter schools where she assisted the state of Florida Department of Education, school districts, and charter schools in the areas of operations, school improvement, governance, legal issues, and special education. She worked closely with the Florida Legislature in the development of laws related to charter schools and developed the first statewide accountability report in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). Christy has collaborated with many state departments of education, universities, and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASSDSE), The Education Trust, and many other national organizations as a partner for school reform.

Christy has a comprehensive working knowledge of the state and federal compliance legislation related to education, including NCLB and IDEA and their impact on education systems.

Thomas Maureau

Mr. Tom Maureau recently honorably retired as a Division Commander from the Tallahassee Police Department after 26 years of service. His experience with the force was wide ranging and included management of primary public safety technology projects and applications, management of the E911, Police and Fire Communications Center, Records Management Section, Property and Evidence Unit, Police Information Management Services, Criminal Intelligence Unit, Crime Analysis Unit, State Attorney Liaison Unit, and Criminal Investigations and Patrol. He also served as the Project Manager of public safety information technology projects and as the Public Safety liaison to numerous internal and external IT entities.

Tom earned his MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix in 2007. He is a Certified Public Manager, and has experience as a Florida Registered Emergency Medical Technician/Paramedic. In addition to other professional certifications, he has a bachelor's degree in Criminology from Florida State University.

Tom is an experienced consultant and speaker to national public service organizations and entities that support them, including the International Association of Chief's of Police (IACP) Law Enforcement Information Managers (LEIM) and various national and regional public safety Information Technology conferences. His professional profile includes the following experiences:

Executive management responsibility for over $20 million in public safety Information Technology projects
Extensive experience with the design, procurement, configuration, and implementation of numerous public safety IT applications and projects
Development of strategic and master technology plans, budget reports, cost analysis assessments, return on investment reports, staff assignments, and recurring maintenance of technology projects
Creation of policies, standard operating procedures, business processes, and CALEA accreditation standards

Randall W. Moose

Randy Moose has worked in local government property taxation for over three decades. Beginning as a Real Property Appraiser for Catawba County, North Carolina government in 1974, he has served as Senior Appraiser, Revaluation Coordinator, and finally as Tax Administrator for his jurisdiction before retirement at the end of 2008. Currently, he performs Business Personal Property audits for various jurisdictions through Tax Management Associates, Inc., Charlotte, NC, on a part-time basis, as well as accepting assignments to assist jurisdictions with property tax issues.

Randy has been certified by the North Carolina Department of Revenue as a Real Property Appraiser and as a North Carolina Assessor. He has served on the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Association of Assessing Officers and as a charter member of the Steering Committee of the North Carolina Property Tax System.

Justin B. Hembree

Mr. Justin Hembree has extensive leadership experience in local government management, including planning, policy development, performance measurement, and human resources administration. Beginning as Town Administrator for Catawba Municipal Government, he has since served as Budget Analyst, Town Manager, and County Manager for various local governments in the State of North Carolina. Currently, he oversees water, wastewater, GIS, transportation, recreation, solid waste, and planning projects for Withers & Ravenel, Cary, NC, as well as provides senior level support to the management team. In addition, he has experience in financial analysis and planning, contract negotiation, and service delivery systems which contribute to his ability to coordinate and manage complex public sector projects.

Justin has served on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina City and County Management Association, as President of the Appalachian State University Local Government Alumni Association, and as Vice Chair of the Western Highlands Network.

Amy Campbell

Ms. Amy Campbell focuses on human resources functions in all aspects of state and local government. She has more than nine years of public sector research, analysis, and consulting experience, as both a public sector employee and as a consultant.

In addition to her experience in human resources management, Amy has broad knowledge in communications and marketing, quantitative research and evaluation, demographic and market research, database design and analysis, survey design and implementation, and statistical analysis.

Amy is a cum laude graduate of Florida State University with degrees in philosophy and creative writing. She also served in research and editing roles for three years with the Florida Bar.

Amy worked as a Senior Manager for several years and now works in Human Resources for the Austin Independent School District, Texas.

Legutko Enterprises

Mr. and Mrs. Lee and Susan Legutko are experienced consultants in the area of school district financial management including budgeting, auditing, cash management, payroll, asset management, purchasing, contracting, and support services. Lee has been a CFO in two large school districts and an assistant superintendent for business services for one of the largest school districts in the country. Due to his accliam as a national expert in his field, in 2008, Mr. Legutko was names to the National Performance Advisory Commission. Susan has been a CFO for two school districts. Most recently, they completed a financial review of the Alamance-Burlington school system in North Carolina.

Robert Friedman

Mr. Robert Friedman has more than 30 years of experience in MIS applications for school districts and state departments of education across the country. He began his technology career with the Florida Department of Education, where he worked in a variety of capacities for nearly 20 years. In his last position there, he was the program director for the statewide planning and implementation of comprehensive MIS requirements for all Florida school districts. This included the automation of local record keeping, automated state reporting, and electronic student records transfer.

Bob then served as executive director of the Arkansas Public School Computer Network and chief operations officer for the California School Information Services (CSIS) program. Since becoming a consultant, he has provided services to a number of school districts and state departments of education, including those in Ohio, North Carolina, and Idaho.

Dr. Carol Beers

Dr. Carol Beers has served Virginia’s school children in various educational capacities for more than 20 years. She has been a college professor, division reading supervisor, principal, and superintendent. Most recently, she served as the superintendent of Williamsburg-James City County Schools. There, she was responsible for an $85 million budget and 9,500 students.

Prior to becoming a superintendent, Carol served the division as the assistant superintendent for Academic Services. As such, she led efforts to develop elementary, middle, and high school standards; led the revision of the evaluation system for teachers; and led an effort to plan an extended school day for middle schools. In addition, Carol has served as an executive associate professor at The College of William and Mary. There, she was involved in curriculum training and the School Leadership Institute, which trains building administrators and superintendents.

Carol has provided consulting expertise to the National Bureau of Standards, the Virginia Department of Education, the Etobicoke Board of Education in Ontario, and the Toronto Ministry of Education, as well as several local school divisions in Michigan and Virginia.

Best Practice Design

Ms. Carol Spencer is director of Best Practice Design. She has served as a middle school principal for almost 20 years and has been a school district’s director of curriculum.

Carol is nationally renowned for her work in middle-school reform efforts, having served as president of the board of directors for the New England League of Middle Schools and as a member of the board for several years. Her firm, Best Practice Design, specializes in systemic education change initiatives, including whole-school reform, leadership development, and research-based teaching and learning practices.

Emily Mottern

Emily Mottern has professional experience in public sector consulting, advertising and marketing, and new business development. She has wide-ranging experience in human resources studies and survey research with community leaders. Her work includes both quantitative and qualitative research for numerous public sector human resources studies. Ms. Mottern’s background in marketing, sales and business contribute to her ability to effectively communicate with employee groups when initiating projects and gathering information while on site with clients. Further, her understanding of local governments and school systems contribute to the collection of market comparison data.

In addition, her experience includes serving as an events coordinator with the Florida House of Representatives. Emily graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University with a degree in marketing. During her studies, she was an active member of the prestigious business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma and the American Marketing Association.

Public Management Solutions

Managing Partner Mr. Davin Suggs is experienced in strategic planning, program and policy development, program evaluations, operational and performance reviews, financial planning and budgeting, and human resources management. He has worked for public agencies in Kansas, Nevada, and Florida, and consulted for numerous federal and local agencies. Davin earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Science from Florida A&M University. His most recent work with Evergreen Solutions was in Cleveland Public Schools, Ohio.