Catherine A. Gouge, MS, MPH
CEO & Principal consultant
Catherine is the Founder & CEO of Be Bravely Bold, LLC, a woman-owned strategic consulting firm based out of Phoenix, AZ and Charlotte, NC. Ms. Gouge has Bachelor of Science in Biology from East Carolina University, a Master of Science in Molecular Biology, and a Master of Public Health (Data Management & Epidemiology) from the Brody School of Medicine. Ms. Gouge was inspired to build a team of professionals to support organizations who face everyday challenges without the confidence and capacity to problem solve and execute solutions. Ms. Gouge’s unique experience and background have helped her support each client’s unique needs. Her specialties include, facilitation, structured process improvement, organizational assessment and evaluation, coaching, epidemiology, data management, analytics, and visualization, and sustainable change management. Ms. Gouge is a trained Intel Kaizen facilitator and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Ms. Gouge began her career as a clinical informatician working for the East Carolina Heart Institute (ECHI) where she focused her efforts on improving patient outcomes and addressing breakdowns in internal processes to provide quality patient care for Cardiothoracic and Interventional Cardiology Patients. During her time at ECHI, she identified critical process flaws in clinical workflows and established multi-disciplinary teams to address the identified issues. She facilitated these teams through structured process improvement processes to identify strategies for introducing control points and standardizing clinical workflows. Additionally, Ms. Gouge collaborated with surgeons and researchers to support clinical research largely focused on vulnerable populations. Additionally, she mentored and oversaw the ECHI Scholar research projects. List of professional publications.
In 2013 Ms. Gouge moved to Arizona to work for the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) overseeing the enhancement and improvement of electronic healthcare messaging between Arizona’s Health Information Exchange, AHCCCS, and ADHS. She later led efforts to build an informatics office at ADHS and oversaw the efforts to achieve the State’s first comprehensive Health Improvement Plan and implement the effort to develop the second State Health Assessment. Also, during her time with the State, she supported the Governor’s Office on special assignment to roll out the Arizona Management System (AMS). AMS is a Lean centric system focused on efforts to identify wastes, provide superior customer service and improve government ability to adapt and support business. Ms. Gouge supported multiple Agencies (e.g., Economic Security, Real Estate, and Financial Institutions) in achieving measurable improvements in their customer facing processes through reducing waste, strategic planning, building balanced scorecards, developing team problem solving skills, and enhancing the customer experience. For her excellence in achieving results she received a Commendation from the Governor.
DAN Edney
Senior lean consultant
Mr. Edney has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State University. Mr. Edney is a seasoned organizational development, process and quality improvement professional with more than 25 years of industry experience in manufacturing (e.g., Intel, Delphi Automotive), communications (e.g., Lightspark), and government (e.g., Arizona Department of Health Services). His specialties include facilitation, training, coaching, assessment, evaluation, change management and structured process improvement. Dan is an accomplished Lean practitioner.
Mr. Edney began his learning journey as an industrial engineer, progressing to an internal consulting role with Delphi Automotive deploying the Delphi Manufacturing System within North American Operations. During his tenure, Delphi was separating from General Motors and implementing their own management system. The skills learned in the competitive auto industry were transferred to semiconductor, where the foundations of lean organizational transition were supplemented with Lean Six Sigma, TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) and Model Based Problem Solving. Mr. Edney became an organizational transformation leader within Arizona Fab Sort Manufacturing, providing coaching, facilitating foundational improvement work, training improvement specialists, and coaching all levels of the organization for over 15 years. These skills were further refined in a government setting, as the leader for the Office of Continuous Improvement at the Arizona Department of Health Services. There, Mr. Edney was responsible for defining and deploying the Arizona Management system at the agency.
Mr. Edney has a knack for engaging any level of an organization, meeting teams where they are, and setting a course to make their world better. With a diverse background in change management, process and quality improvement (Lean, Six Sigma, TRIZ), Dan can take familiar concepts, introduce simple additions and slight modifications, and get results for the team without overloading the team with complexity.
Mr. Edney also enjoys exploring the great outdoors. Whether it’s finishing an Ironman, hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim, or navigating the many Arizona off-road trails in his orange Jeep, you will most likely find him outside.
Guillaume Bagal
Senior Management & DEI Consultant
Guillaume has a remarkable background, including a strong track record for bringing about change, generating associate engagement and creating programs that help diversity initiatives and organizations prosper. While at UNFI Foods his work centers on building, reviewing, and revising current Diversity & Inclusion efforts, and bringing together a more holistic strategy across the organization.
Guillaume most recently served as head of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) where he refined BCBSRI’s internal and external DEI efforts and, in just over two years, helped grow BCBSRI associates of color population and foster a sense of belonging, elevated the supplier diversity program with a stronger focus on Tier 2 spend, and earned the Rhode Island Black Business Association’s Diversity Champion Award in 2019. In 2020, Mr. Bagal was also appointed to the Rhode Island Governor’s Equity Council, to help address inequities witnessed through the COVID-19 pandemic and inform Rhode Island’s reopening plan.
Prior to BCBSRI, Mr. Bagal served two and half years as the Associate Director for Policy at Whitman-Walker Health in Washington DC and, prior to that, served as a director of policy at the Center for Global Health & Diplomacy, and engaged with various healthcare stakeholders (e.g., Pfizer, Regeneron) while employed at Avalere Health. He also has extensive community leadership experience and currently serves on several boards, including the Rhode Island Public Health Institute, where he chairs the community advisory and advocacy group for Open Door Health (Rhode Island’s first LGBTQ health center). He also previously served as president of the GLAA (Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance), the nation’s oldest continuously active gay and lesbian civil rights organization.
Guillaume is fluent in French, English and two African dialects and holds two master’s degrees: Master of Healthcare Administration from George Mason University and Master of Sociology from East Carolina University. He earned his undergraduate degree in French and biology from East Carolina University. Mr. Bagal resides in Providence, R.I., with his husband, and is an avid traveler.
Libby Puccio
Organizational Development & Human Resources Consultant
Libby has a Master of Education, specializing in Adult Learning with more than a decade in higher education and governmental organizations. Libby’s Human Resources experience is focused on organizational planning and the creation, execution, and optimization of strategic and results driven HR Programs. Libby is an extraordinary communicator with exceptional interpersonal skills. Her specialties include facilitation, training program development, online training, strategic planning, and human resources data management. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, a great glass of wine, and traveling.
MAX L. Gouge, JR
Business Development & CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER
Max has extensive experience in Business Development, Operations and Executive Management. After leaving a successful corporate career he became an entrepreneur, building Industrial Propane and Petroleum, Inc. from the ground up to realizing annual sales in excess of $4.5 million. He is an expert in designing and building large scale industrial, retail and hydrocarbon energy systems. Max is currently serving his community as a member of the NC 2050 Coordinating Committee identifying infrastructure needs and improvements for the County. In his spare time he enjoys spending time working on the family farm.