Barbara Hower Email & Phone Number

Supporting proposal development for the Solid Waste East operating unit.

Maintain and create content for use in healthcare proposals using RFPIO/RESPONSIVE proposal management software to create records that clearly articulate Optum’s value story. Serve as internal subject matter expert and consult with writers on opportunities, and assist with content inquiries from end-users, such as proposal managers (PMs) and writers. Capture new/updated content from recently completed proposals, verifying content is accurate, concise, and in compliance with organizational editorial guidelines and the Chicago Manual of Style. Proofread and provide quality assurance checks for all content produced. Proof content written by subject matter experts and correct grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors.

Write and edit documents housed in Qvidian proposal management software for both Stericycle and Shred-it responses. Respond to questionnaires for large, high-value healthcare and document destruction opportunities. Proofread all RFPs before submittal.

As a proposal writer, craft winning responses to requests for proposals (RFPs). Develop, write, and edit proposals for the solid waste industry while supporting sales and marketing efforts by identifying and clarifying opportunities and needs and determining proposal concept. Study RFPs and attend strategy meetings. Particular focus on complex municipal, recycling, federal, and higher education opportunities.Maintain quality results by using templates and following proposal-writing standards, including readability, consistency, and tone. Obtain approvals by reviewing proposal with key stakeholders. Meet proposal deadline by establishing priorities and target dates for information gathering, writing, review, and approval and coordinating requirements and deadlines with stakeholders/contributors.Lead brainstorming sessions to craft win themes. Write and edit proposals by using SmartDocs, a content management system. Collaborate with senior sales, operations, legal, and marketing leadership to better position WM’s solutions for environmental services and sustainability. Outcomes: New client wins in several WM market areas. Winning proposals with contract values of approximately $50 million over the course of the contract. Proposal win rate of approximately 20%. Received several Manager Recognition Program awards for outstanding work.

Long-term freelance consultant, offering writing, substantive editing, and copy editing expertise on white papers, internal communications, grants, digital content and more. Write promotional B2B marketing materials for the contract labor market. Interview firm-based SMEs and write white papers on human capital acquisition industry technology and services. Also produce datasheets, which are used by the sales team as a talking point in describing products and services. Additionally: • Researched and wrote content on culture transformation and corporate leadership.• Edited book: "Approaches to Pain Management: An Essential Guide for Clinical Leaders" and "Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services." • Wrote blog posts. • Proofread and copyedited books and journals following clients’ style guidelines. Clients: The Hackett Group, RFP MD, Smartbug Media, Freestyle, Sourcebooks, Association of Midwest Museums, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Waste Management, Mentoring Minds, Quest Books, Fieldglass, Nalco, DCG, iHealth, Naper Settlement, Hewitt Associates (now Aon Hewitt), University of Chicago Press Journals Division, Chicago Tribune, Fabric Architecture, World Architecture, Loyola magazine, and Interiors and Sources.

Conduct research on social, business, and political events that occurred in Naperville and Northern Illinois more than 100 years ago. Enter data into a searchable spreadsheet so other researchers can have easy access to the data.Researched Civil War soldiers from Naperville and wrote biographies of them. Called National Park Services, cemeteries, and museums to track down information on these men. Compiled a list of area Civil War veterans and shared with the local American Legion.Monitor a social networking site on Naperville history, researching questions asked though online sources and the Settlement archives. Assist Curator of Research with oral histories and transcribe these histories. Write and edit oral histories. Write blog posts. Help Curator of Research on other research projects as needed.

Monitor global trends and research and write best practices, benchmarking, and risk and control content for the Global Best Practices knowledge base. Uncover leading-edge business practices in human capital, finance, and business management to help companies increase business process efficiency. Work with all levels of client services professionals, particularly subject matter experts, to support client engagements and proposals. Responsible for strategic planning, which included trend analysis and project prioritization to determine key HR messages to develop for the calendar year. Part of a team that developed change management documents for PwC's onboarding program. On this large-scale change effort, worked with project managers from HR, Training and Development, and Global Human Capital to guide the development of a globally consistent onboarding program framework and the wording of the training documents. Serve as lead writer on special projects that include multiple business analyst/writers and/or multiple client services practitioners.

Authored reports and knowledge tools on the most effective business approaches. Researched and wrote reports for Andersen's Global Best Practices,® a Web-based database of information on best business practices. Global Best Practices (GBP) was the firm's #1 market differentiator among the (then) Big Five accounting firms and the number-one knowledge service used at the firm. Researched and analyzed academic and business source materials; interviewed and consulted with Andersen experts.

Complete editorial, advertising, production, design, vendor management, and circulation responsibilities for monthly membership newsletter. Web-site content editor. Wrote and edited material for the Web site, and directed updating and site maintenance. Managed project development, including project schedules, work assignments, budgets, and reports. Oversaw project teams. Desktop publishing in a PC environment.

Solicited and edited managed care and health care finance articles for this healthcare magazine. Directed authors on needed article revisions and rewrites.

Publications Coordinator with complete editorial, production, vendor management, and circulation responsibilities for newsletters and collateral materials. Desktop publishing in a Mac environment.

Edit all copy for feature and departmental articles, proofread all editorial and ad copy, and write stories for this bimonthly journal of midwestern architecture and design. Supervise freelance writers, assign articles, and commission new authors to report on architecture in the Midwest. Hire, manage, and schedule freelance editors and proofreaders. Liaison with typesetter to direct copy flow. Write press releases and promotional materials and perform banking and accounting duties.

Copy edit all magazine copy and research material for Commerce magazine and other related directories published by the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry (now the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce). Write feature business articles, solicit articles, layout copy, and research and write monthly columns. Serve as Photographer for Association meetings.

Ba, English And History

Education record

Publishing Program