Lead teams dedicated to sales development and support, providing guidance navigating public procurement, legislative developments, and funding landscapes.

Advancing proposal capabilities to support new sales strategies and business development opportunities. Monitor and research legislation and funding across the nation to inform sales direction. Working cross functionally to build operational excellence through strategic partnerships.

Manage due diligence and integration strategies for new partnerships and acquisitions attributed to more than $50M in growth. Analyze current integration points with existing acquisitions and develop optimized operational processes. Establish enterprise-level business solutions.

Optimized ability to track, evaluate, and respond to competitive bids and RFPs resulting in 30% increase in volume attributed to over $13M in revenue in the first year of implementation and $20M in the second. Established best-practice processes to streamline proposal development and built highly-qualified team which has increased win rate to 70%. Work across sales, marketing, and product to inform strategic positioning, product investments, and sales support which has improved awareness and utility of proposal development services.

Delivered broad support of sales operations including market analysis, sales enablement, presentation support, competitive intelligence, and sales training. Developed methods of pursuing and capturing new, large district sales and expanding current contracts. Continued management of Proposal Services. Conducted pricing analysis and pricing strategy work. Collaborated with CRM team to improve sales tracking and reporting.

Built and managed Proposal Services at a pivotal time in Odysseyware's development. Expanded sales strategies and new business partnerships required greater knowledge of public procurement. In less than nine months, win rates increased from 5% to 58%, our finalist rate rose to 90%, and revenue associated with RFPs rose 400%.

Hurst Consulting, LLC provides formal proposal development services to businesses in pursuit of large-scale sales opportunities. Developing proposals with certified proposal professionals reduces stress on internal teams and ensures high quality, competitive, winning bids. Services include sales strategy development, proposal management, content development, sales training, and proposal process optimization.

NWEA is dedicated to improving student learning by working with public school districts and state education agencies to use data to inform teaching. NWEA gains its largest contracts through formal RFP procurement. As a Sales Director, I helped develop and direct organizational strategies. I also led a team that created 250+ proposals attributed to more than $350M in sales. By implementing industry best practices in proposal development, win rates jumped from 13% to 34% and the number of responses to opportunities increased five-fold. This was achieved by expanding opportunity identification, leading pursuit and capture plans, developing sales and proposal strategies, building operational efficiencies, creating value-based proposals, and providing sales and presentation coaching.

In order to further its mission of "Partnering to Help All Kids Learn", NWEA made the strategic decision to work with more large districts and state departments. To support this strategy, responses to RFPs became critical. We optimized and documented proposal development processes and trained staff in APMP best practices . As a result, we gained company-wide support to create very large, successful proposals. We also worked cross-functionally with sales, product, marketing, and other groups to overhaul a content and graphics library. This elevated NWEA proposals from baseline responses to value-add sales presentations. The result was a rapid increases in win rates from 13% to 34% and the beginning of multi-million dollar contract awards with partners like Chicago Public Schools.

Managed proposals and responses to RFPs for statewide assessment contracts and custom services.

Led English courses in literary analysis and composition. Course topics included exploration of fiction, poetry, and drama; critical analysis and discussion; and improved writing skills.

Provided proposal development services that included:• Writing and editing sales proposals and marketing materials• Researching and responding to grant opportunities • Assisting a small publisher in project management and editorial services• Consulting with educational companies to strengthen RFP response processes

• Created sales proposals and RFP responses for state and large-district contracts. • Managed the entire proposal process from capture to execution: - Located sales opportunities relevant to business development strategies - Wrote strategic, position papers to influence pursuit - Led analysis and evaluation of RFPs and opportunities - Guided response team through proposal development - Edited all input from product, technology, solution, and finance groups - Composed new proposal text and ensured full compliance and responsiveness - Oversaw review cycles, layout, and final proposal production process• Worked with business partners to represent corporate capabilities, negotiate proposal positioning, and build collaborative sales that further mutual sales goals.• Wrote sample proposals, funding updates, grant applications, contract vehicles, and marketing materials to help support and generate new sales.

• Wrote grant materials including position papers, sample proposals, product reviews, and marketing collateral. • Conducted internal and external presentations on funding, policy, and proposal strategies that improved client relations and opened new markets. • Led proposal strategies and market positioning that leveraged federal grant programs like No Child Left Behind to fund and support a wide range of Scholastic products. • Researched and monitored funding trends, education policy development, state adoptions, procurement requirements, and new market opportunities.

Led English courses in composition and literary analysis. Course topics included criticism, essay organization, development, critical thinking, grammar usage, writing strategies and other related subjects.

Composed grant proposals and RFP responses accounted to over $2M in sales.Conducted ongoing grant research and watched foundation, federal, and state grants. Also updated the sales force and customers of funding developments relevant to their interests.Wrote sales support materials including position papers, web content, and other marketing materials.

Wrote marketing materials, sales support, web content, district and national grants, state adoptions.Mastered the nuances of the No Child Left Behind Act, specializing in Reading First, Early Reading First, 21st Century Learning Centers, Enhancing Education Through Technology, and similar funding programs.Worked closely with the Grants and Adoptions Manager to complete several successful state adoptions.