Novak Consulting Group

Michelle L. Ferguson, Associate

Michelle Ferguson has 13 years’ management experience in local government, most recently as assistant county manager in Arlington, Virginia. She also served as director of engineering and capital projects in Arlington as well as assistant city manager in Overland Park, Kansas.

Michelle is skilled in project management, process improvement strategies, performance measurement, consent building and public process design. Her special expertise is performance measurement, capital budgeting and financing, project implementation and process re-engineering.

As a consultant, she has trained numerous organizations in the development and use of performance measures. She has completed detailed organizational reviews of entire jurisdictions, and recommended improvements to specific processes and departments. These include specialized knowledge in human resource functions, capital management and development review.

During her tenure with Arlington County, Michelle was responsible for the implementation and daily management of the County’s $500 million capital program. She also designed and led public processes to garner community consensus for projects, and exercised oversight responsibility for the County’s performance measurement program.

In Overland Park, Michelle served as project manager for the development of the City’s $150 million convention center and hotel project. She led a team that developed a public-private financing structure for the project and oversaw startup management of the new convention center. Other key functions included nurturing the City’s relationship with community business organizations and investigating all harassment and discrimination claims for the City.

Michelle earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola University-Chicago and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. She is a member of the International City/County Management Association and the American Society of Public Administration. She also served as the president of the Metropolitan Association of Local Government Assistants in Washington, D.C.