We Are You!

KPI is a team of professionals with a collective portfolio that includes decades of: policy making, program development, research, evaluation, mediation, marketing, graphic design, writing, and advocacy in education and related fields.

We understand the leap our client-partners often feel they are taking and asking others to take. We are you!

We are inspired by the digitally native generation, but the generation that is currently leading most education and training institutions, initiatives and organizations do not come from it. Those leading now must begin to embrace the new digital paradigm although many of us are intimidated by the medium or question its relevance to our day-to-day work. KPI makes the bridge between past and future.

Our Approach: Adaptive Consulting

Disciplined planning, flexible engagement, actionable analysis.

Work always has to start with a good plan but the minute it is written we know that factors change, the ground shifts, and we have to be responsive to the environment around us as goals are pursed. We get that reality is a shape shifter. KPI is nimble and continuously responds to project circumstances as they are, not as we hope them to be. We keep moving toward the set goals. We get work done on-time and within budget.

Our Team

Diana D. Woolis, PHD, Founding Partner, co-founded KPI in 2001 after more than two decades of leadership in education, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. Her service includes: Deputy Commissioner in New York City; Vice President and Director of Program Demonstration for a think-action tank; Director of Education for a citywide literacy program for low-income adults; principal investigator for several large scale national innovative substance abuse intervention projects; and Chief of Employment and Training for a state education agency. Diana's experience led her to believe there had to be a better way of working and that web based collaboration and knowledge services showed great promise to achieve the objectives that preoccupied her – helping organizations work smarter and achieve better outcomes. Her pursuit is for: Solutions that are scalable, sustainable, inclusive, and data driven; assessment and evaluation that are relevant, real-time, and actionable; and process that is transparent, dialogic, and community driven.

Diana's work has been published in professional and popular journals and is focused on access and equity, organizational learning, and most recently the power of the Internet to revolutionize education and training programs and policy. She received her Doctorate and Masters Degrees in education from Columbia University and a Masters of Social Work from The University of Connecticut.

Susan Restler, Founding Partner, has had a 25-year career in financial services with JP Morgan. She was a Managing Director and head of Marketing for JP Morgan Private Banking and JP Morgan Investment Management. Prior to joining Diana in forming KPI she developed the marketing strategy for an Internet-based personal financial management service. Susan has served on the Board of the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society, a network of five publicly funded day care centers. She also chaired the Board of Trustees of the Packer Collegiate Institute, an independent school in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of Radcliffe College/Harvard University and has an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Brenda Kaulback, Communities Manager, facilitates groups -- large and small, virtual and face-to-face -- and trains others in facilitation skills. Her particular interest is in bringing people together across boundaries - systems, cultural, or geographical. She has experience with Future Search, Open Space, and Family Group Conferences and other large- and small-scale group interventions. Her work is grounded in Appreciative Inquiry and strengths-based practice. Brenda directed programs in state government (policy and management, higher education, labor, and welfare) for many years and has been an independent consultant in the public sector for more than ten years. She has an extensive background in education and the social services. She has a BA from Bates College and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Maine.

Lisa Levinson, Communities Manager, strives to hear the voices of those in the community who aren't always heard. Her 25 years in public, not for profit and educational organizations includes leading cross-agency initiatives, and projects on the local, state and national levels. As director of the Equipped for the Future National Center at the University of Maine, Lisa was responsible for standards implementation -- working with students, teachers, program administrators and state officials, as well as involving businesses and experts in adult learning to guide the project. Lisa has used technology and web-based tools to manage a nationally distributed staff, and knows how essential these tools are for creating community when distance creates a challenge to collaborative work. She is versed in a variety of strength-based techniques to explore and then achieve common goals including consensus building, the Right Question, and Study Circles as well as Transformative Mediation. Lisa has a MS from New York University and certificates in mediation and facilitation.

Doris Reeves-Lipscomb, Communities Manager, believes that her most satisfying work may be yet to come. Doris works to effect social change benefiting people and communities. Her background includes state public policy development in state legislatures, the AARP, and the Office of the Florida Governor; program leadership in state government; distance collaboration design and facilitation; and economic development for women and girls. She enjoys working with individuals, groups, and networks to innovate ideas and change processes to make dreams come true. As a contractor doing program development and facilitation, Doris made her biggest transition perhaps--from computer-phobe to computer-phile. Consequently, she is happily focused on realizing the collaborative potential of computers and the Internet for public sector and nonprofit groups to accelerate their learning and performance. Doris has a BSW and MSW from Florida State University, and certificates in OD, performance excellence, and facilitation.

Laren Droll, Webmaster, supports Polilogue, KPI's virtual community of practice technology. He has become expert at adapting the technology to meet the specific needs of KPI's clients, and continually develops improvements to the software. Laren also focuses on helping clients gain a firm footing with the new technology. Laren has worked in the field of computer-aided design for over 15 years, founding his own Web Design business in 1999. He is also a talented artist. Laren has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis.

Our Advisors

Bob Bozeman General Partner, Angel Investors, LLP, has 24 years of management experience in high-technology enterprises, 12 as CEO/President or GM. Bob has special expertise in software, information technology/services and computer supplier industries (including Vetronix Sales Corporation, Altos Computer Systems, and Wang Laboratories). He is the founder of two successful high-tech businesses (Library Systems and Bozemans', Inc.). Bob helped create Angel Investors L.L.P., the venture capital behind Ask Jeeves, Spinner.com, LoudCloud, Google, PayPal and more. He has been involved in early stage development of approximately 100 Internet start-ups.

Dr. Barbara Grosz, Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. She is Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Dr. Grosz's research addresses fundamental problems in modelling collaborative activity, developing systems to collaborate with each other and their users, and constructing collaborative, multi-modal systems for human-computer communication. Before joining the Harvard faculty in 1986, Barbara worked as a senior staff member in the Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI International and as a founder and principal investigator at the Center for the Study of Language and Information. She is a fellow and past president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. She holds an A.B. in Mathematics, Cornell University and M.A. and Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of California at Berkeley

Dr. Gary Hendrix, President of Goodbyte Corporation, a consultancy specializing in Web-based human resources applications. Previously he served as Vice President for Advanced Technology at Symantec Corporation. Before founding Symantec and serving as its first president, he was Associate Director of the Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI International, and Director of SRI's Natural Language Research Program. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas, Austin.

Nancy White, Founder and President, Full Circle Associates, a communications consultancy, helps non-profits and businesses connect through online and offline strategies. Nancy is recognized internationally for her leadership and expertise in the emerging field of online group facilitation and interaction. She is a skilled online facilitator and coach for distributed communities of practice, online training and education, virtual teams and virtual communities. Her Emmy award-winning communications experience includes KIRO Inc.'s “A World of Difference Campaign”, numerous health and social service education campaigns and event marketing. She is a graduate of Duke University