People

President

Ronni Allen Ward

ronni@forwardinc.net (540)247-8931

Ronni Allen Ward has over 30 years of experience in providing professional consulting services to a diverse array of public sector and commercial clients. From strategic planning through RFP preparation and proposal development, Ms. Ward brings understanding of the marketing and business development processes that are required to achieve success in today’s professional…

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Carol Levin

carol@forwardinc.net

Carol Levin’s technical skills have assisted numerous clients to transform business objectives into winning proposals. With a focus on the long-term big picture and the ability to drill down to uncover all of the details required to craft a winning proposal, Ms. Levin’s successful interpretations of business requirements are turned into her clients’ successes She brings a full understanding of the proposal…

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Amanda Farris

amanda@forwardinc.net

Amanda Farris brings her extensive analytical skills to the benefits of our clients. With a strong background in analyzing qualitative data and performing statistical analyses on quantitative data to provide insight and recommendations, Ms. Farris supports proposal preparation, market analysis, and theme development. Ms. Farris is passionate about the …

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Jessica Kushner

jessica@forwardinc.net

Jessica Kushner brings over a decade of psychosocial research and consulting experience concentrated within the legal, political, and healthcare fields. She utilizes her extensive background in applied research to proactively identify and address potential issues, eliciting objective and insightful conclusions from a variety of qualitative, quantitative, and observational…

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Nancy Young

Nancy Young brings over two decades of professional experience in analytical roles and hands-on field work with vulnerable populations. Ms. Young began her career as a systems engineer and technical consultant. She facilitated work sessions with end-users, directors, and executive leadership representing various government agencies to analyze business functions, understand…

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Kay Mitchell-Healey

Kay Mitchell-Healey is a public health subject matter expert with experience in the subfields of health education, public health statistics, health disparities, environmental health, and international health. She is skilled at persuading target audiences to consider the potential of innovative solutions to complex problems that serve the needs of diverse socio-economic…

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Gary Ward

In Memoriam

June 2, 1955 - February 15, 2016

Gary Ward founded Forward Inc. in 1998 but left in 2001 to pursue other endeavors including Federal service.. Mr. Ward returned to the firm in 2014 to pick up where he left off. His vision of a small, boutique firm supporting organizations to increase their market share is still the driver behind Forward’s mission today.

Triona O’Connor

Triona O’Connor’s experience in International Non-Governmental Organizations and non-profit environments lends to her strengths as a responsive, competent and versatile professional. Her extensive understanding of client relationships, program planning, and communications sustains positive client rapport throughout her career. She has led business development teams..

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Barbara Selter

Barbara Selter has more than 35 years of professional experience in policy development, business process reengineering,  and implementing systems for Federal and State agencies, focusing on the use of technology to optimize health and human services delivery. Leveraging her extensive background in Government contracting, Ms. Selter consults with large…

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Giving Back

We are incredibly lucky to work within a tight knit group of people that enjoy each other as much, if not more, than the work we do. Working with and writing about vulnerable populations touches every one of the Forward team to our core. One can’t help to think that “there but for the grace of God go I.” To that end, we recognize the importance of giving back and we do so in all sorts of ways. As our team is spread across the US, each of us provides volunteer hours as we are able on local projects.

As we are headquartered in Loudoun County, Virginia, Forward is proud to be a Bronze sponsor of Loudoun Cares. President Ronni Ward sits on the Board of Directors and chairs the Fund Development Advisory Committee for this organization whose mission is connecting those who serve with those in need to build a stronger community.

 

Ronni Allen Ward

President

ronni@forwardinc.net (540)247-8931

Ronni Allen Ward has over 30 years of experience in providing professional consulting services to a diverse array of public sector and commercial clients. From strategic planning through RFP preparation and proposal development, Ms. Ward brings understanding of the marketing and business development processes that are required to achieve success in today’s professional services market. She has led a variety of clients in developing marketing strategies, creating business development plans, writing and editing collateral materials, and constructing Requests for Information and Requests for Proposals. She leads efforts to craft proposals in response to Federal,State, and Local governments and supports the grants writing process for nonprofits seeking funding. Ms. Ward estimates that throughout her career, she has contributed to over 3500 proposals and grant requests. Her clients include  large professional services firms including Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Maximus, Inc.

 

Further, through her extensive experience across the full systems development life cycle, Ms. Ward brings an in depth understanding of the information technology industry. For over 20 years, Ms. Ward has endeavored to help organizations overcome many of the obstacles that prevent technology implementation projects from successful completion. Ms. Ward has worked within IT projects in a quality assurance role, external to projects in an IT audit role, at the executive level in an advisory role on organizational transformation, and external to organizations in an Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) role. Ms. Ward has also worked extensively with industry standards, including CMMI and ISO 9000, in order to bring structure and methodologies to technology organizations.

 

Ms. Ward received her MBA from The George Washington University and her BS in Business Administration from the University at Albany. She lives with her daughter and two dogs in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Carol Levin

Associate

carol@forwardinc.net

Carol Levin’s technical skills have assisted numerous clients to transform business objectives into winning proposals. With a focus on the long-term big picture and the ability to drill down to uncover all of the details required to craft a winning proposal, Ms. Levin’s successful interpretations of business requirements are turned into her clients’ successes. She brings a full understanding of the proposal development process and has participated in numerous efforts for large consulting companies, crafting proposals in response to Federal and State RFPs. Ms. Levin’s background includes all aspects of the software development lifecycle, from defining functional requirements to implementing systems into production.

Ms. Levin earned  her MBA from The George Washington University and her BS from Hiram College. She is also a trained chef, having graduated from the Baltimore International Culinary College. Ms. Levin lives in Washington, DC.

Amanda Farris

ASSOCIATE

amanda@forwardinc.net

Amanda Farris brings her extensive analytical skills to the benefits of our clients. With a strong background in analyzing qualitative data and performing statistical analyses on quantitative data to provide insight and recommendations, Ms. Farris supports proposal preparation, market analysis, and theme development. Ms. Farris is passionate about the implementation of social science research into strategy. She previously worked at both the Cook County Public Defender’s Office and the Cook County Jail. Her skill set encompasses legal research, clinical forensic psychology, and mental health and substance abuse policy and practices.

Ms. Farris received her M.A. in Forensic Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She currently resides in the Charlotte, NC area with her husband, two adorable daughters, and her dog.

Jessica Kushner

ASSOCIATE

jessica@forwardinc.net

Jessica Kushner brings over a decade of psychosocial research and consulting experience concentrated within the legal, political, and healthcare fields. She utilizes her extensive background in applied research to proactively identify and address potential issues, eliciting objective and insightful conclusions from a variety of qualitative, quantitative, and observational data sources. She is adept at prescribing thoughtful and advantageous strategy, giving careful consideration to all aspects of the project to drive success toward the big picture. Her execution helps to facilitate winning proposals, strategically highlighting win themes and differentiators, and enabling clients to lead with their best foot forward.

 

Ms. Kushner’s unique experience includes research and analysis of complex and highly technical legal, medical, contractual, and political issues in a multitude of venues across the country. In both the public and private sector, she excels by turning data and solution information into accurate, clear, and concise narratives that are tailored to resonate with the desired audience through consultation and actionable work product.

Ms. Kushner received her M.A. in Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and her B.A. with a double major in Psychology and Criminal Justice from the University of Dayton. She resides in Florida with her husband and her two rollicking sons.

Nancy Young

ASSOCIATE

Nancy Young brings over two decades of professional experience in analytical roles and hands-on field work with vulnerable populations. Ms. Young began her career as a systems engineer and technical consultant. She facilitated work sessions with end-users, directors, and executive leadership representing various government agencies to analyze business functions, understand significant issues, and re-engineer business processes. She has written functional requirements documents, system concept documents, and quality assurance test plans for large, federal systems development projects. In addition, she participated in major proposal efforts in which she developed technical and staffing approaches and documented resumes and past performance.

 

More recently, Ms. Young has provided direct service to hundreds of at-risk preschool-age children. Using her training and research in childhood adversity and childhood education, she has taught self-regulation and problem-solving skills using an evidenced-based social-emotional resiliency program along with integrated active learning techniques. She collaborated with Head Start classroom teachers to ensure effective program delivery and to evaluate individual children as well as the overall program. She also maintained up-to-date records on program participants and activities according to program requirements and kept informed of the developments in the field of childhood education, childhood adversity and other related professional disciplines including federal and state programs and regulations. Further, Ms. Young developed and delivered presentations for parents, care-givers and other community stakeholders on the importance of social skills and emotional resiliency in young children. In addition, she participated in preparing grant proposals for a non-profit whose mission is to open doors for brighter futures for kids.

 

Ms. Young received her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland. She lives in Charlottesville, VA with her husband and enjoys visits from her three grown children.

Kay Mitchell-Healey

PUBLIC HEALTH SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT

Kay Mitchell-Healey is a public health subject matter expert with experience in the subfields of health education, public health statistics, health disparities, environmental health, and international health. She is skilled at persuading target audiences to consider the potential of innovative solutions to complex problems that serve the needs of diverse socio-economic populations. Prior to joining Forward, she was most recently a Recruitment and Retention Coordinator for a company providing long term services and supports to seniors living at home.

 

In this role, Ms. Mitchell-Healey supported client care management, provided training to employees, and built partnerships with local schools and programs to improve recruitment and retention.

 

Ms. Mitchell-Healey brings international public heath experience as well, including spearheading a rural water development assessment in Rwanda and working with local physicians in rural health clinics in Panama.

 

Ms. Mitchell-Healey is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and is Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE). She received her Master of Public Health (MPH) from Thomas Jefferson University and her BA in Hispanic Studies from Vassar College. She currently resides in Florida.

Triona O’Connor

Triona O’Connor’s experience in International Non-Governmental Organizations and non-profit environments lends to her strengths as a responsive, competent and versatile professional. Her extensive understanding of client relationships, program planning, and communications sustains positive client rapport throughout her career. She has led business development teams, coordinated successful multi-million dollar proposals, and built trust among clients. Previous employers are MicroStrategy Inc., International Foundation for Electoral Systems, and the Council for International Education and Exchange. A researcher at heart, Ms. O’Connor began her career as a market research analyst and continues to use her succinct writing and in-depth research capabilities today.

Ms. O’Connor earned her MS in International Affairs from the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology and her BA from Dublin City University. Ms. O’Connor lives in Maine with her husband and two children, as well as three dogs and too many foster dogs to count.