My Work

Throughout my career I've worked on complex problems where finance, technology, and organizational change meet. The projects below are initiatives where I found systemic inefficiencies, designed and built technical solutions, and delivered measurable impact. From modernizing decades-old analytical infrastructure to building enterprise platforms used by 165+ legislators and staff, they show how I turn strategy into working systems.

Project 1: Legislative Budget Intelligence Platform

PROJECT 1

Legislative Budget Intelligence Platform

2020-2025 | Technical Lead & Project Manager

Built the enterprise budget intelligence platform that changed how the Kansas Legislature analyzes $25+ billion in state spending. Replaced static PDFs and manual spreadsheets with interactive dashboards used by 165+ legislators, staff, and analysts across legislative offices and state agencies.

Technologies Used: Power BI, DAX, MySQL, Data Modeling, ETL Development

Budget data was trapped. Kansas legislators needed to make informed decisions on 90+ state agencies, but the information sat locked in static PDFs and disconnected spreadsheets. Simple questions ("How does this agency's request compare to last year?" or "Which programs saw the biggest increases?") required hours of manual digging. With 165+ legislators and staff relying on this information during time-compressed sessions, the organization needed a system that delivered answers in seconds rather than hours.

Launched the platform to 165+ legislators, staff, and analysts across the legislature and 90+ state agencies, reaching 95% adoption within 6 months
Changed the budget analysis workflow: queries that took days of manual spreadsheet work now finish in seconds through interactive dashboards
Cut manual ad-hoc reporting requests by 40%, freeing analyst capacity for higher-value analysis
Delivered real-time visibility into budget modifications throughout the session, supporting more informed committee deliberations
Established the platform as the authoritative source for budget intelligence, now part of the appropriations process

Led stakeholder discovery with legislative leadership and committee staff to find the decision-making bottlenecks and define platform requirements
Designed the dashboard framework so non-technical users could navigate easily while power users kept full analytical depth
Built the data model integrating disparate source systems (agency submissions, historical appropriations, revenue forecasts) with governance standards that kept the data consistent
Built the Power BI solution using custom DAX formulas to handle complex budget calculations: multi-year comparisons, fund transfers, and appropriation adjustments
Directed the training program and change management strategy, building internal champions across legislative offices and state agencies
Set up a continuous improvement cycle through user feedback and quarterly releases

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Project 2: Budget Analysis Modernization & Timeline Acceleration

PROJECT 2

Budget Analysis Modernization & Timeline Acceleration

2017-2025 | Project Lead

Led the transformation of the foundational legislative budget publication, enabling a 3-month timeline acceleration from February to October hearings. Modernized 50-year-old manual processes through database automation and redesigned workflows.

Technologies Used: MySQL, Database Design, Power Query, Data Automation, Publication Design

The timeline was the problem. The Legislature decided to accelerate budget hearings from February to October, compressing preparation time by three months within an already constrained 90-day session. The Budget Analysis, KLRD's foundational multi-volume publication, hadn't fundamentally changed since the 1970s. Its manual production process (analysts hand-entering data, copying tables, formatting hundreds of pages) couldn't accommodate the accelerated timeline. Without change, the department would miss the deadline and leave legislators without critical information when they needed it most.

Delivered the Budget Analysis three months earlier, enabling October hearings and giving legislators more review time
Cut publication preparation from 2 weeks to 3 days, an 85% reduction, while improving content quality and analytical depth
Eliminated 100+ hours of manual data entry per budget cycle, redirecting analyst effort to substantive policy analysis
Improved data accuracy through automated validation rules that caught errors at the source rather than after publication
Modernized a 50-year-old document format, setting a new organizational standard for publication design
Drove institutional change under pressure through technical leadership and change management

Directed a multi-year initiative through structured iteration cycles, modernizing infrastructure while keeping publication delivery continuous
Designed and built the MySQL database architecture as the central repository for all budget data, eliminating redundant data entry across systems
Built an automated pipeline connecting agency submissions directly to publication templates, replacing manual data transfer
Redesigned document structure and visual presentation: added data visualizations, improved typography, reorganized content flow for easier reading
Restructured analyst workflows to use the automation, moving time from data entry to analytical content
Partnered with agency fiscal officers to align submission schedules with the compressed timeline
Led training for the 15-person team on new systems, methods, and quality assurance

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Project 3: Appropriations Report Technical Migration

PROJECT 3

Appropriations Report Technical Migration

2024-2025 | Project Lead

Migrated the 1,000+ page annual Appropriations Report from manual OpenOffice production to an automated Power BI ecosystem. Delivered dual outputs (an interactive digital platform and a print-ready PDF) from a single data source while eliminating 60+ hours of manual work per cycle.

Technologies Used: Power BI, Power BI Report Builder, MySQL, Data Modeling, Report Automation

The annual Appropriations Report, the definitive 1,000+ page record of legislative budget decisions, was produced in OpenOffice through manual table creation and data entry. Each cycle, analysts spent weeks building hundreds of tables, copying data, and checking consistency. The process was slow and error-prone, and it produced only static PDFs. Leadership wanted dual outputs: a print document for official records and an interactive digital platform for exploring budget data. The existing system couldn't deliver either one efficiently.

Migrated from the legacy platform to a modern Power BI ecosystem, delivering new capabilities without disrupting the production schedule
Deployed dual outputs for distinct needs: an interactive digital platform for analysis and a print-ready PDF for official records
Saved 60+ hours per publication cycle through automated report generation, time moved to content development and analysis
Enabled interactive data exploration: users can filter agencies, compare time periods, and drill into details that static PDFs could not provide
Established a single-source-of-truth architecture that improved data accuracy and removed version control issues
Freed analyst capacity from manual production for higher-value analysis

Ran a full requirements analysis for both print and digital outputs, identifying technical constraints and user experience priorities
Led the technical evaluation comparing Power BI, Tableau, and custom development on capabilities, licensing costs, team expertise, and long-term maintainability
Selected the Power BI ecosystem: Power BI Service for the interactive platform, Power BI Report Builder for print-quality PDF generation
Designed a unified database schema supporting both output formats from one authoritative data source
Directed a 4-person cross-functional team through migration: database development, template design, automated report generation, testing, and validation
Built automated table and chart generation logic that replaced manual creation, encoding business rules for calculations, formatting, and presentation
Created documentation and training materials so the team could maintain and extend the system

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PROJECT 4

Legislative Conference Negotiation Tracker

2021-2025 | Developer & Process Designer

Project 4: Legislative Conference Negotiation Tracker

Replaced a pen-and-paper conference committee tracking system with a real-time electronic platform. Automated position tracking and recommendation packaging for high-stakes budget negotiations affecting $500+ million in state spending, reducing documentation time by 75%.

Technologies Used: Excel/VBA, Data Integration, Workflow Automation, User Interface Design

Conference committee negotiations move fast and carry high stakes. House and Senate appropriations committees meet to reconcile differences on hundreds of budget items, often affecting hundreds of millions in spending. Decisions come fast. Positions shift. Compromises emerge. The tracking system had not kept up: analysts scribbled positions on legal pads and typed recommendation documents by hand, hoping nothing was missed. The pen-and-paper approach created delays when speed mattered, introduced errors when accuracy was critical, and kept no version history as positions changed.

Replaced pen-and-paper tracking with a real-time electronic system
Eliminated the manual transcription errors and formatting inconsistencies that plagued the prior process
Reduced negotiation documentation time by 75%, freeing staff for substantive policy analysis
Improved accuracy and version control during critical negotiations where precision matters and mistakes are costly
Established the system as standard infrastructure for the conference committee process, now part of the annual appropriations workflow
Supported negotiations affecting $500+ million in expenditures with zero system failures or data issues

Analyzed the existing workflow to document pain points, time bottlenecks, and where errors entered
Designed an electronic tracking system capturing real-time positions: House position, Senate position, competing proposals, agreed items
Built an automated document generation tool that packaged positions into formatted recommendation documents, removing manual typing and formatting
Integrated the system with the authoritative budget database for accurate baseline numbers and calculated impacts
Built a simple user interface that required minimal training, essential for a high-pressure, time-constrained negotiation environment
Stress-tested the system through simulated negotiations, finding usability and performance issues before live deployment

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PROJECT 5

State General Fund Forecasting Tool

2023-2025 | Lead Analyst & Developer

Project 5: State General Fund Forecasting Tool

Turned the static 10-year State General Fund forecast ($13+ billion in operations) into a real-time tool that updated automatically as legislative committees modified budgets. Improved forecast accuracy through historical data integration and reduced manual update time by 80%.

Technologies Used: MySQL, Data Visualization, Statistical Forecasting, Automated Reporting

Fiscal forecasting is hard, especially when budgets are moving targets. The State General Fund Profile provides the 10-year outlook guiding legislative decisions, but it was produced as a static document frozen at one moment. As committees modified budgets through the session, the forecast grew stale. Analysts updated projections by hand, slowly, and the document lacked historical context for trend analysis. Leadership needed a tool that updated automatically as decisions were made, used historical patterns for better accuracy, and supported scenario modeling for planning.

Turned the static document into a real-time forecasting tool that responded to legislative actions as they occurred
Enabled automated forecast updates within hours of committee decisions, providing current information when timing matters most
Improved forecast accuracy through historical trend analysis, reducing projection error and strengthening planning
Reduced manual update time by 80%, freeing analysts from repetitive calculations for scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis
Delivered on-demand forecast profiles for executive and legislative leadership during time-sensitive deliberations
Added scenario modeling for "what-if" analysis of policy alternatives

Redesigned the forecast model to incorporate 5 years of historical data, giving an empirical basis for trend analysis and better accuracy
Built a live data connection linking expenditure projections to the MySQL database that tracked real-time committee actions
Built an automated update mechanism triggered by committee budget modifications, refreshing forecasts within hours rather than days
Created interactive data visualizations showing trends, variances, and year-over-year comparisons, making complex fiscal data clear
Built a version control system tracking how the forecast evolved through the session, so analysts could see how projections changed as decisions were made
Modernized document formatting and presentation to current design standards while improving readability

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Project 6: Enterprise Budget Data Architecture

PROJECT 6

Enterprise Budget Data Architecture

2018-2024 | Database Architect & Lead Developer

Built the centralized MySQL database that became the single source of truth for all KLRD budget data. Connected 10+ publications to one infrastructure, eliminating data consistency issues and duplicate entry across the organization.

Technologies Used: MySQL, Database Design, ETL Development, Data Governance, Documentation

Data chaos was undermining quality. Ten publications pulled budget information from overlapping but disconnected sources: spreadsheets, databases, agency submissions, each maintained separately. The same numbers appeared differently across documents. Analysts entered identical data multiple times. When a source changed, the cascading updates were manual and error-prone. As the department modernized its publications, the fragmented architecture became untenable: without unified infrastructure, consistency was impossible and maintenance was unsustainable.

Established the authoritative single source of truth for KLRD budget data, removing inconsistencies and version control problems
Connected 10+ publications to the centralized database: Budget Analysis, Appropriations Report, SGF Profile, Committee Reports, and more
Eliminated data consistency issues across publications: the same numbers now appear identically everywhere because they come from one source
Eliminated duplicate data entry organization-wide, so analysts update once rather than maintaining multiple disconnected systems
Built infrastructure that supports future publications without added data management overhead
Created a reusable data model for multiple use cases: publications, ad-hoc analysis, and interactive platforms

Designed the MySQL database schema as the central repository for all budget data: appropriations, revenues, FTE positions, capital improvements
Built a data governance framework: standardized definitions, validation rules, update protocols, and quality standards that kept the organization consistent
Built ETL processes that automated agency data submissions, replacing email attachments and manual entry with structured feeds
Built multi-layered data validation and quality control that caught errors at ingestion rather than after publication
Established security and access controls that protected sensitive data while giving analysts and stakeholders appropriate access
Created database documentation and ran hands-on training so the team could query, maintain, and extend the system