Learn. Educate. Excel.
The KSI Center of ExcellenceDriving quality and performance for our clients and team.
About the Center of Excellence
The Key Solutions, Inc. (KSI) Center of Excellence (CoE) was created with our customers and team in mind. The CoE ensures exceptional support is provided across all phases of the opportunity lifecycle, ultimately helping organizations win more contracts.
Our trademarked process, the KSI Advantage™, is a key agent through which we deliver quality. On every project, KSI implements industry standards coupled with our KSI Advantage™ approach, a set of comprehensive capture and proposal best practices, tools, and agile methods that have helped our clients win over $215 billion in Government contracts.
Our clients find that working with KSI increases proposal response quality, efficiency, and win probability. With a turnkey team (all roles filled by KSI consultants), KSI has a 76% overall win rate.
Meet the CoE Quality Team
As part of our CoE, our team of Quality Advisors manage all quality assurance activities. Each member of our Quality Advisory Team is a Senior Proposal Development Consultant with more than a decade of proposal writing, management, and training expertise. The Quality Advisory Team helps oversee the performance of consultants on each proposal, provides on-the-job support and guidance as needed, delivers training, and also upholds quality standards on all KSI content.
Harry Pritchett
Vice President
Mr. Pritchett, CF APMP, brings over 25 years of experience in proposal development, communications, and technical writing. An excellent proposal writer whose areas of expertise include executive summaries and management sections, Mr. Pritchett has played a part in helping KSI’s clients win over $20 billion in Federal contract awards.
Emilie Waickwicz
Director of Professional Services
As Director of Professional Services, Ms. Waickwicz, CF APMP, oversees our consulting offering to the market. She has over 12 years of experience in proposal development and account management. She ensures that KSI follows a flexible approach incorporating industry best practices, enabling our consultants to step onto a client’s team and process seamlessly.
Doug Brisson
Senior Proposal Consultant
Doug Brisson, CF APMP, PMP, is a Senior Proposal Consultant at KSI with 20 years of experience in roles such as Director of Programs and Budgets at ALIS. His combined military and civilian background gives him extensive experience as a successful analyst, senior project and program manager, and proposal manager and writer. He brings expertise in writing management sections, program management plans, quality plans, and transition plans.
Debi Marine
Senior Proposal Consultant
Debi Marine, CF APMP, is a Senior Proposal Consultant at KSI with over 16 years of experience collaborating with teams in both management and writing roles oftentimes wearing multiple hats seamlessly. A master wordsmith and strategic thinker, she crafts compelling proposals tailored to each project’s unique needs, effectively communicating value to clients.
Mary Beth Keelan
Senior Proposal Consultant
As a Senior Proposal Consultant, Mary Beth Keelan, CF APMP, brings over 17 years of experience in the proposal industry with roles including Business Development Manager, Capture Director, and Senior Proposal Manager. She brings expertise in program management, recruiting, marketing, editing, and writing to deliver compelling proposals that drive success.
Creating Exceptional Consultants
In addition to benefiting our customers, the CoE supports our employees in becoming outstanding consultants. Through the CoE initiatives, our team grows their skills and careers, remain at the forefront of industry best practices, and offer valuable support to our clients.
FAQs
“What are some examples of how the CoE promotes quality and continuous improvement?”
Click on the icon to expand each answer.
KSI Advantage™ Training
KSI team members receive KSI Advantage™ training facilitated by our Quality Advisory Team. The KSI Advantage™ is a set of capture and proposal processes and tools developed by KSI’s founder, Jim McCarthy. The KSI Advantage™ best practices are flexible and scalable to meet our clients’ needs.
Content, Resources, and Additional Training
Our high-quality content is another area that sets KSI apart in the industry. Our Quality Advisory Team develops and oversees content guidelines and reviews our monthly lunch-and-learns, webinars, KSI blog content, additional resources, and educational presentations.
Performance and Excellence KPIs
The Director of Professional Services and Quality Advisory Team define and establish metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to support quality and performance, identify action plans, and drive solutions. The Director of Professional Services works with the Quality Advisory Team and KSI leadership to ensure that the development of consultants meets quality goals and standards. Employee and client feedback is obtained through project completion surveys and addressed and incorporated under the guidance of the Quality Advisory Team.
The KSI Mentorship Program
This program is designed for KSI proposal development professionals who want to learn additional skills and expand their proposal knowledge. Each team member that expresses interest in participating in the program is paired with a senior mentor based on their focus and development goals. The mentor conducts one-on-one check-ins, provides career advice and guidance, skillset feedback, and suggestions for improvement.
KSI Accountability Partner Program
Research shows that having a specific Accountability Partner to share one’s goals with can increase the likelihood of achieving them by up to 95%. At the start of the year, KSI team members are assigned an Accountability Partner to help them set, track, and measure their professional development goals. The program aims to empower employees to learn new skills, boost their confidence, and enhance their professional abilities.
KSI Advantage™ Capture & Proposal Guide
Our CoE Quality Advisory Team helps manage the writing, editing, and quality review of our Guide. The Guide is a single, digestible manual for capture and proposal development, as well as oral presentations.
Learn More
Want to learn more about our quality and performance standards?