APMP® Foundation Certification: Prep & Exam

With more than 25 years of experience in business development, capture and proposal management, process improvement, and training, Lisa Pafe is a seasoned expert in her field. She holds multiple industry certifications. She is an APMP Fellow and holds APMP Professional-level certification (CPP APMP Fellow), a Project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and a trained Internal Auditor for ISO 9001:2008. She has managed hundreds of winning government proposals, writes and speaks extensively, and is a recognized thought leader in the proposal industry.

Before joining Lohfeld Consulting, Lisa was Vice President of Corporate Development and Proposal Operations for Ace Info Solutions, Inc., Lisa was responsible for the company’s full opportunity life cycle, including positioning to win through branding, marketing, BD, strategic teaming arrangements, and capture and proposal management activities. Previously, she was President of Vision Consulting, Inc.; Vice President of Business Development for GovConnect, Inc.; and Director of Marketing Services for MAXIMUS, Inc.

Lisa was the 2016/2017 President of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) National Capital Area (NCA) Chapter and previously served as Vice President and Speaker Series Chair.

Brenda Crist serves as a senior capture and proposal manager and develops strategic solutions for clients. She focuses on helping clients work with their staff and partners to create winning, well-written proposal solutions. She offers hands-on experience from leading and conducting systems and network management projects for many civilian and military clients.

Brenda Crist has more than 25 years’ experience providing capture, proposal, and program management support for companies serving the federal market. She supports companies by helping to qualify new business opportunities, conducting research, performing competitive analyses, providing capture support, managing proposals, and writing and reviewing proposals. Her areas of expertise include civilian IT, health, and scientific markets. Brenda is an experienced trainer focusing on business development for project managers, proposal writing and management, and APMP Foundation Level Certification.

Brenda carefully follows the latest procurements, their requirements, and industry best practices. Brenda served as the 2010 President and formerly as 2009 Vice President and Professional Day Chairperson for the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), National Capital Area (NCA) Chapter. She serves as the 2017 APMP Chesapeake Chapter Vice Chairperson and currently serves as Programs Chair. She has been an active member of APMP-NCA since 2003, serving as Professional Day Chair of Publicity, Speakers Program, and Chairperson for the 2006, 2007, and 2008 events, respectively. Brenda is a frequent presenter at APMP Bid & Proposal Conferences and APMP-NCA Mid-Atlantic Proposal Conferences.

Brenda was inducted as an Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Fellow in June 2011 and also received the Steven S. Myers Award for 2011 APMP Chapter Chair of the Year. She holds an MPA in Public Administration from American University and is Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certified.

Maryann Lesnick has spent more than 35 years in business development, Strength-Based Winning® (proposal management, writing, and editing), capture management, project management, and quality management for both federal and commercial sectors. She holds APMP Professional-level certification (CP APMP) and is a Project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She is also a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and certified Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS). Maryann is an experienced trainer focusing on proposal management, Strength-Based Winning®, and APMP Foundation Level Certification.

Since 1979, Maryann has prepared hundreds of winning proposals for contracts and task orders, written and oral, ranging in value from $2M to $1.5B. Her major customers have included federal civilian agencies (DHS, DoS, VA, USAID, IRS, FAA, DOJ, SBA, NIH, DoL, EPA, Census, and USPS), defense agencies (DHA, DISA), as well as state and local customers (Virginia, Georgia, New York State, New York City, and San Francisco).

Prior to joining Lohfeld Consulting Group, Maryann served as Vice President of Proposals for Base Technologies (later CA Technologies) where she supported the entire business development lifecycle and led all public sector services bids. She served as proposal manager, volume manager, editor, color team facilitator, capture manager, and writer. While at Base Technologies, she established an ISO 9001:2008-compliant proposal development methodology. She also built and maintained a knowledge base for proposal and corporate artifacts, boilerplate, past performance/project summaries, and resumes.

Maryann has been active with the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) since 2004, served on the Board of Directors of the National Capital Area (NCA) chapter for 9 years, and served as 2014-2015 President of that chapter—the largest chapter in the United States. She served on the APMP International Board of Directors (2015-2017). She is an ACT-IAC Fellow and member of the ACT-IAC Partner’s Class of 2000.