Late Start. Strong Finish. How a New Process and Weekly Huddles Helped one Team Award 110 Grants in Record Time.

This presentation was delivered as part of the Tribal Lands and Environment Forum: Virtual Gathering in August 2020 by Jeremy Bauer, USEPA Region 9.

This session will focus on the use visual management tools and techniques (Environmental Lean Management System) for managing teams and projects, specifically as the U.S. EPA Region 9 Tribal Branch has applied them in its administration of the GAP grant program. In 2019, the team leveraged LEAN tools to successfully award $16 million in environmental capacity-building grants to 110 tribes and tribal consortia in California, Arizona, and Nevada, awarding grants on time and in record time, despite starting much of the work a month later than planned. In 2020, the team has adapted the tools in the wake of shelter-in-place and telework. The branch manager will share successes and lessons learned.