Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in Lean Thinking who has taken concepts and tools from Fortune 500 companies and demystified them and made them accessible so they can be applied in small companies, and in government. She has delivered numerous presentations and training classes on the subject of Lean Enterprise, as well as publishing several articles in the field. In addition to facilitating Lean Events herself, Ms.Stopher led the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Lean Initiative and delivered training to more than 2000 employees of Manufacturing Extension Centers around the country enabling them to deliver Lean Events to their clients. She founded Ultimate Lean Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to bringing Lean Enterprise methodologies to industry and state and federal government agencies, in 2005. Government clients include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Industry clients include Astra Zeneca, Boeing, Caterpillar, Heywood Hospital, ILC Dover, Pactiv (Hefty Bag), Pat’s Aircraft, Perdue Farms, Playtex, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Schering Plough, State Farm, and WR Grace. Prior to founding Ultimate Lean, Inc., Ms. Stopher worked at the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology for a total of 10 years and served in numerous roles helping to build the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. In 2001, she left the federal government to serve as Director of Product Development for the Lean Enterprise Institute. Before government service, she worked as Engineering Manager in several manufacturing companies, both large (Xerox Corp.) and small (Danaher Motion, formerly American Precision Industries).Specialties: Lean Thinking, Lean Leadership, Lean Product Development, 3P, Lean in Government and Service industry, Continuous Improvement, Business Process Improvement,