CECILE E.

STEPHENSON
9410 S.W. 6th Street Residence: 954. 436. 7838
Pembroke Pines, FL 33025 Cell: 954. 536. 3161
Email: Public Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilestephenson
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Enthusiastic and dynamic Regulatory Compliance, Operations Management, Business
Process Improvement, Project Management Executive and Business Adviser with crit
ical thinking, results driven, detailed and process oriented attributes known fo
r outstanding leadership, flawless execution and unparalleled performance in div
erse service industries. Achieves operational excellence by strategically direct
ing operational resources, leading and implementing IT and operational improveme
nt initiatives for large public entities by increasing operating margins, improv
ing revenue cycle, diminishing lead times, and dramatically improving customer s
atisfaction. Possesses proven track record of success in improving organizationa
l efficiency and effectiveness through instituting value driven business process
es, enabling technological solutions, maintaining regulatory compliance, negotia
ting, drafting, and maintaining contracts, and inspiring leadership. Areas of ex
pertise include:
* Six Sigma/Lean/BPR/BPM/BPO
* Functional Project Management
* Relationship Management
* Business / Systems Analysis
* System / Client Implementations
* Regulatory Compliance
* Change Management
* Strategic Planning
* Quality Assurance Strategy
* Business Development
* Operations Management
* Financial Management / P&L
* Business Process Improvement
* Training Development / Delivery
* Negotiating and Consulting
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
LIBERTY POWER CORPORATION, Fort Lauderdale, FL 2009- Present
(Fast growing national retail electricity provider serving 16+ states and a broa
d spectrum of customer segments.)
Business Process Consultant (05/2009 - Present)
Oversee enterprise-wide quality management operational and system projects apply
ing Lean Six Sigma, Project Management, and SDLC methodologies. Advise executive
management in deploying organizational strategy / goals to drive operational st
rategy and achieve business results through aligning projects and business proce
sses to meet critical customer requirements, maximizing supplier to customer val
ue chain, and garnering individual acceptance by applying Prosci's ADKAR model.
Also provides guidance in setting up an enterprise PMO.
* Counsel executive leadership in setting up and leading Business Process Steer
ing, Project Steering, and Strategic Steering councils to monitor and continuous
ly improve project and business process performance.
* Facilitate development of effective performance measures that provide immedia
te feedback on financial and operational performance on projects and processes.
ECS INTERNATIONAL, INC., Pembroke Pines, FL 2008 - 2009
(Provider of business performance / healthcare consulting services to small busi
ness entities / professionals)
Business Strategist & Operations Improvement Advisor (03/2008 - 2009)
Advise, coach, and mentor small businesses / self-employed professionals on best
practices and management theories and methodologies to improve and sustain oper
ating efficiency and effectiveness and product and business development strategi
es. Infuse business process improvement, operations management, project /program
management, event planning, and regulatory compliance expertise enabling enhanc
ed quality, timely delivery of products and services, increased customer satisfa
ction, competitive ability, and top and bottom line results.
CRAWFORD & COMPANY, Plantation, FL 2006 - 2007
(The world's largest independent global provider of claims management solutions,
700 offices 63 countries.)
Director / Sr. Project Manager, Program Management Office, (PMO), (2006-2007)
Applied Lean Six Sigma to standardize and govern enterprise wide PMO processes a
nd policy compliance across four core business segments. Managed $50M portfolio
of projects. Administered Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance for IT development
. Implemented, monitored, and reported key performance indicators and managed te
chnology vendors and contracts. Directed Project Managers, Business, and Quality
Assurance Analysts and $5M budget for 200 + employees providing medical bill re
view and case management services.
* Enabled 47.5% billing savings, 11% for Preferred Provider Networks, and $367M
revenue for Bill Review.
CECILE E. STEPHENSON Page Two
* Saved $125K within eight months of hire, absorbing loss of FTE through attrit
ion using Lean concepts.
* Streamlined account set up, renewal, and non-renewal activities yielding $2M
in revenue per account for 16 accounts annually.
* Headed California Insurance Guaranty Authority claim system conversion and fi
nancial reconcilement retaining a $10M revenue account.
* Utilized paralegal experience to revamp vendor contracts reducing business ri
sk, enforcing contractual obligations, and overseeing medical bill review federa
l / state procedural and reporting regulations.
FIRST DATA CORPORATION, FDC, Coral Springs, FL 1997 - 2006
(Leading global provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions to busines
ses and consumers worldwide.)
Director, Projects, Sales Services Operations (2004 - 2006)
Orchestrated design, development, testing, and implementation of new or enhanced
products and services, application systems, and process improvement initiatives
engaging business process re-engineering, Six Sigma, or Kaizen events for 400 +
employees for Sales Services Operations. Integrated new client business develop
ment initiatives and managed $3M budget.
* Produced average benefit of $250K per process improvement project using Six S
igma / Lean for 4 projects.
* Increased merchant account activations by 5% and improved activation timeline
ss by 20% increasing average revenue by $4.50 per account for 500 accounts activ
ated daily.
* Developed and implemented merchant activation reporting which derived key per
formance indicators monitoring financial, effectiveness, efficiency, and quality
of business process improvement initiatives.
* Led Sales Operations' business venture initiatives with Burger King for its g
ift card program and American Express for piloting its full service processing.
Achieved target business segment goals and increased profitability through enhan
ced revenue streams.
Director, Accounts Services Product Management (2000 - 2004)
Oversaw application systems development, quality assurance, regulatory complianc
e, and release changes for all account boarding products and systems affecting F
DC alliance partners, full service processors, distribution channels, and sales
force. Managed $8.5M P&L. Authored, maintained, and ensured compliance to Busine
ss Continuity Plan. Served three years on FDC's Visa and MasterCard Association
Compliance Council. Acted as alternate member of site Business Continuity Planni
ng Command team. Promoted sales of bundled / unbundled functions of FDC's accoun
t boarding systems to bank partners.
* Established, administered, and served as team lead for Y2K Command Center for
Coral Springs facility receiving FDC's prestigious Winners' Circle Award for 19
99 for smooth transition to new millennium.
* Implemented new merchant account boarding system reducing unit costs 50%, boo
sting productivity 25%, quality 30%, and diminishing lead time from three days t
o one day in Account Implementation Services.
* Received FDC Guardian of Excellence Award, 2000, Leader of the Pack Award for
1st Qtr 2000, Certificate of Excellence in Team Development, 2001, and Leader o
f the Pack Award for 1st Qtr 2002 for consistently exceeding individual and team
performance objectives. Received 125% of annual bonus, 2001 and 2002.
Director, Product Support, Account Implementation Services (1998 - 2000)
Managed $3.5M budget and 30 staff providing project services. Developed and deli
vered operations training for new account set up policies / procedures for 120 e
mployees. Monitored compliance to billing / credit policies and bankcard associa
tion rules for products / services. Reduced reject rate for new applications by
20%.
Director, Business Analysis / Senior Business Analyst, Business Expansion (1997
- 1998)
Promoted to Director 6/98. Liaised between operational departments and IT for im
plementing new systems / process improvements. Managed PMO Revenue Cycle Redesig
n initiative plugging $350K revenue leakage due to account set up defects.
SPHERION INC., formerly owned Interim Healthcare, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL 1995
- 1997
Business Analyst (1995 - 1997)
Implemented major home health care business product / system resulting in 15% gr
owth rate for over 400 nationally located health care offices with $1B combined
sales and ensured compliance to federal and state rules.
CECILE E. STEPHENSON Page Three
ASSURANT SOLUTIONS, Miami, FL 1990 - 1995
Business Operations Analyst / Project Leader (1994 - 1995)
Headed business process re-engineering project affecting 175 employees processin
g $375M in property and casualty (P&C) premiums for 60 products across global di
stribution channels. Incorporated dashboard reporting.
* Realized $1.5M benefit in four years. Received Honorary Mention and Employee
of the Month Awards.
Supervisory Analyst (1990 - 1994)
Managed staff of 35 supporting P&C systems, rate, regulatory, product, endorseme
nt, and client implementations. Oversaw regulatory compliance, KRI's, monthly fi
nancial reconciliation, and premium reporting for flood product to FEMA. Impleme
nted time tracking for resource planning, forecasting, and transfer pricing.
* Eliminated flood premium variance of in one year and instituted 1st Career P
rogression Program.
* Enacted disaster recovery resuming operations following site destruction by H
urricane Andrew, 1992.
WACHOVIA BANK, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL Prior to 1990
Operations Officer / Technical Product Analyst - Coordinated and financially rec
onciled large bank and product data conversions and implemented branch automatio
n, returned item, and Demand Deposit Accounting Systems and greater than 25 Inte
rfaces. Managed 40 retail customer service, bookkeeping, and statement rendering
staff.
EDUCATION / PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / AFFILIATIONS
Certified Business Coach, Worldwide Coach, Miami, FL
Master Certificate, Six Sigma, Villanova University, Villanova, PA
Master of Business Administration, MBA, General, Nova Southeastern University, F
t Lauderdale, FL
Post Baccalaureate Certificate, Paralegal Studies, Nova Southeastern University,
Ft Lauderdale, FL
Bachelor of Professional Studies, BPS, Business Concentration, Barry University,
Miami Shores, FL
Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society in Business, Management, and Administration, Nova
Southeastern University
Lambda Epsilon Chi Honor Society in Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies, Nova Sout
heastern University
APPLICATION SOFTWARE SKILLS
Windows XP/2002 SP2, MS Office 2003/2007: MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS P
roject, MS Visio, MS Outlook, QI Macros Add-In for Excel (Statistical Process Co
ntrol), Lotus Notes., and MS Access.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Precinct Committee Person and Member of the Broward County, Florida, Executive C
ommittee of a Major Political Party.
Member of Local Political Party Club for Pembroke Pines / Miramar, Florida
Name:
Cecile E. Stephenson, Email:
LinkedIn Public Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilestephenson
Industry Experience: Commercial /Retail Banking, Financial Services, Property &
Casualty Insurance, Electronic Payment Processing, Home Healthcare Staffing, and
Third-Party Claims Management Administration, and Business Process Outsourcing
(Third-Party Card Management, Issuing and Merchant Processing Services, Third-Pa
rty P & C Insurance, and Third-Party Workers' Compensation Services).
Strengths:
Leadership, Strategic Thinking, Time Management, Facilitation, Team Building, Pr
oblem Solving, Execution Ability, Initiative/Drive, Campaigning and Negotiating
Ability, Articulate. Ability To Consistently Exceed Targeted Goals and Performan
ce Expectations. Seeing the Big Picture (Vision), Juggling Priorities, Excellent
Presentation Skills. Also, Creative, Organized, Resourceful, Tenacious, Persist
ent, Excellent People, Coaching, and Staff Development Skills, Charismatic, and
Passionate with Proven Ability To Transfer Skills and Qualifications to Diverse
Industries.
Future Plans:
* Secure a senior leadership / individual contributor / consultant position in
a financially stable enterprise, where I can influence, enhance, promote, and ef
fect innovative, strategic systems and business process implementations or impro
vements, develop strategic plans and tactics, oversee daily business operations,
devise business development initiatives, and monitor, refine, and maintain regu
latory compliance and reporting, and quality assurance to ensure continued profi
tability through tightened revenue streams, operational excellence, market leade
rship, and cost differentiation.
Mission:
Improve enterprise's top line and bottom line, growth, efficiency, effectiveness
, customer satisfaction, and competitive ability through value contributions of
my proven professional experience and skills as an effective and organized leade
r / manager / consultant in Business Process Improvement, Operations Management,
Functional / Applied Project/Program Management, Business Process Outsourcing,
and Regulatory Compliance.
Skills and Interests:
* Business Process Improvement Initiatives: Applying Lean / Six Sigma/ BPR / Ka
izen / BPM / Problem Definition (Situation Analysis & Action Items) / SWOT Analy
sis / Hoshin Planning / PDCA (Deming Wheel), SPC (Statistical Process Control).
* Lean Concepts (Waste Elimination and Lead Time Reduction) through applying DO
WNTIME (Defects, Overproduction, Wait Time, Non-Utilized Resources, Transportati
on, Inventory, Motion, and Extra Processing).
* Process Improvement (Defect and Variation Elimination) through applying DMAIC
(Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) Tactics.
* New Process Design / DFSS (Design for Six Sigma through applying DMADV (Defin
e, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify) Tactics.
* Process Optimization (Optimize and Stabilize New or Improved Processes) throu
gh applying DMEMO (Design, Model, Execute, Monitor, and Optimize) Tactics for Bu
siness Process Management (BPM).
* Business Process Outsourcing (Implement and Deliver Outsourced Services) thro
ugh applying effective Change Management, Organizational Readiness, and Strategy
Development.
* Training Development Oversight for instructional designers / developers apply
ing the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) model for ins
tructional design.
* Change Management Oversight for process improvement initiatives through apply
ing Prosci's ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement) Mo
del.
* Functional / Applied / Operations Project / Program Management - Customizing
PMP Life Cycle through applying IPECC and PMBOK (PMI). Working around triple con
straints of scope, cost (budget), and time (schedule). Balancing Act - Utilizing
Communications and Risk Management Plans and other PMBOK knowledge areas. Ident
ifying and Mitigating Project Risks, Ensuring Regulatory Compliance, Setting Mil
estones / Tollgates. Applying Change Management (ADKAR Model), Implementation, a
nd Post Implementation Planning and Execution.
* Operations Management - Leading, Promoting, and Instilling Operational Excell
ence and Customer Value through Strategic and Tactical Direction and Organizatio
n to Operational staff creating an Environment of Efficiency, Effectiveness, Qua
lity Management, Productivity, Service, Timeliness (lead time, cycle time), Proc
ess Capability, and Customer Satisfaction.
* Performance Metrics: Developing and Monitoring KPI's, KRI's, Balanced Scoreca
rd, Trigger and Dashboarding Reporting.
* People Management - Demonstrating Situational Leadership, Direction, Communic
ations, and Interpersonal Relationship, and Optimizing Team Performance through
Performance Management and Results Orientation.
* Product Development / Implementations - Leading new electronic payment produc
t development initiatives for Sales Operations at FDC ranging from POS and eComm
erce products to new card types for varying vertical markets, such as Retail, Lo
dging, Car Rental, Petroleum, Supermarkets, Quick Service Restaurants, Restauran
ts, Mail Order / Telephone Order, Internet, B2B, applying Stage Gate NPD methodo
logy. Implemented new merchant services processing relationships including bank,
front-end (authorization) and back-end (settlement and funding) platforms and o
n-boarding of new merchants through virtual and traditional application processi
ng methods.
* Regulatory Compliance/ Risk Management - Interpreting, applying, implementing
, and overseeing federal or state legislative laws and regulations pertaining to
the applicable financial sector line(s) of business, e.g., commercial / retail
banking, electronic payment processing, property & casualty insurance, departmen
tally, divisionally, or organizationally, and ensuring compliance via auditing p
rocedures, quality assurance monitoring / sampling, key risk indicators, canned
and ad hoc reporting, and verifying that technological and process solutions sup
port regulatory requirements. Researching legal issues, statutes, or legislation
s via Westlaw or Lexis Nexis (augmented by American Bar Association Accredited P
aralegal Studies Post Baccalaureate Certificate - NSU).
* Vendor / Supplier / Contract Management - Procuring, negotiating, and draftin
g legal agreements with vendors / suppliers enabling mutually beneficial interes
ts, protecting business interests, and ensuring adherence to legal obligations i
n addition to facilitating reasonable rates and fees (augmented by American Bar
Association Accredited Paralegal Studies Post Baccalaureate Certificate - NSU).
 * Business Development/Relationship & Client Management - Leading new / enhance
d client (B2B), systems, products / services, business processes, proposals or i
mplementations to increase revenue, market penetration, organizational and clien
t profitability, facilitate client or account satisfaction, proactively anticipa
te and resolve client issues, reduce client or account attrition, and support ne
w and existing alliance and business partnerships. Developing marketing strategy
and coordinating events to promote new product, services, or operational initia
tives to client and organizational base.
* Quality Assurance / Release Management- Developing QA Strategy, Managing and
Executing QA Testing, Defect Reporting, Metrics, and Release and Configuration M
anagement.
Education:
* Certified Business Coach, Strengths Based Business & Leadership Model, Worldw
ide Business Coach, FL
* Master (Graduate) Certificate, Six Sigma (Lean / Black Belt), Villanova Unive
rsity, PA
* Professional Certificate, Essentials of Project Management, Villanova Univers
ity, PA
* MBA, General Business Administration, Nova Southeastern University, FL
* Post Baccalaureate Certificate, Paralegal Studies, Nova Southeastern Universi
ty, FL
* BPS, Professional Studies, Business Concentration, Barry University, FL
* Principles of Banking, American Institute of Banking
* Principles of Property and Liability Insurance, Insurance Institute of Americ
a
* Personal Insurance, Insurance Institute of America
* Overview of the Bankcard Industry, MasterCard University, First Data Corporat
ion Leadership Development