Sector examples
“Compared to other facilitators, Sean Brady’s skills are in a league of their own. He models high standards of professionalism, organizational thinking and written expression. His knowledge of and facility with group dynamics, interpersonal communication, problem resolution, empathic listening and sequential thinking are extraordinary. As a facilitator, he possesses a rich background steeped in best practices from business, industry and education. His capacity to lead large numbers of divergent thinkers toward convergent agreement has been nothing less than inspiring.”
– Jim McCartney, Principal, CV-TEC, Champlain Valley Educational Services
“In my ten years at this district, I have never been involved in a committee or event that was as professionally conceived and run as the Strategic Planning Committee was last week. The facilitator was not just some nice guy who wrote some books; he was obviously a man of action. Kudos to the administration for bringing in Sean Brady. This man was truly a breath of fresh air.”
– Keith Egan, Acting English Department Chair, Elmsford Union Free School District
“Sean Brady’s superb facilitation and the rapid prototyping by Prism’s Group Decision Support System™ allowed the Washington, DC Area Metro Transit Authority HR group to gain great insight into its future direction.”
– Dr. David J. Koehn, Chief Learning Officer, McDonald Bradley, Inc., lead consultant on the Wash DC intervention
“SchoolBenchmarker™ is an awesome tool! Within minutes, I found two phenomenal benchmarks. I believe we will be able to learn a lot from these schools and will be contacting them very soon.”
– Terry Dougherty, Superintendent, Hancock Central School District
“I contact Prism whenever I am ready to schedule a strategic planning retreat with my Board of Directors and executive staff. Not only is Sean Brady an excellent facilitator, but he utilizes the most advanced technology to arrive at critical consensus and decision points for the group.”
– P. J. Walker, President and CEO, Bridgeway Federal Credit Union
“Our success depends on the ability of all Mercy Health System colleagues to support the objectives set forth by our strategic plan. The Concept System™ provided information from colleague focus groups essential to developing a plan that addresses issues deemed important to the future success of the system by those who contribute to that success.”
– Mark T. O’Neil, Jr., CEO of Philadelphia’s Mercy Health
“Prism’s Group Decision Support System™ polling improved the quality of discussion at our Times Mirror’s leadership meeting and helped us surface issues that we might have missed.”
– Mary Junck, President, Times Mirror
“Sean Brady’s facilitation skills are among the best I have experienced in 30 years in education.”
– Mark Mondanaro, Superintendent, Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District
Education
“This strategic planning process could not have occurred at a better time. After reviewing school and district documents, it was clear that we needed to revisit our mission and establish a vision, core beliefs, and benchmarks. The Board of Education is already using the strategic plan to inform budget and resource allocation decisions. Additionally, the strategic planning process has helped revitalize our educators and community partners. Working with Prism Decision Systems has resulted in an immediate return on our investment.”
– Dr. Lesli Myers, Superintendent, Brockport Central School District
“Over the past 25 years in education, I have participated in countless committees, task forces, and faculty meetings. The efficiency that Sean Brady brings to facilitation cannot be underestimated. Strategic planning, with clear and actionable steps, is accomplished with clarity and in a timely manner. The result is more time spent on the work that can truly impact student achievement and less on endless meetings that can often result with indecision.”
– David Thon, Principal, Dryden Central School District
“Sean Brady’s professional knowledge, ability to engage and focus some “group diversity,” and calm support allowed us to accomplish a solid plan of action. I personally enjoy having Sean as a part of my professional world. He is inspiring.”
– Mary Beth Hammond, Principal, Chenango Bridge Elementary School
“Sean Brady recently assisted our entire staff to articulate Crown Point’s technology vision and to prioritize its Smart School technology goals. I had a ton of feedback about our day with Sean, all of it extremely positive. In fact, we have never had a professional development day before the start up to the school year that our peeps have appreciated more.”
– Shari Brannock, Superintendent, Crown Point Central School
“The Elmsford Union Free School District utilized Prism to facilitate our District Facilities Task Force. Although we began this journey with a wide-range of opinions and no agreement for future decisions, the guidance of Sean Brady and adept use of Prism’s Group Decision Support System™ allowed us to work through numerous options, conduct a cost-benefit analysis, and reach group consensus. It was a magnificent procedure, and I would highly recommend his services to any group looking for an outstanding facilitator.”
– Barbara Peters, Superintendent, _Facilities case study_group multi criteria and cost benefit analysis
“Sean Brady’s work is really exceptional and I am so glad to have Prism Decision Systems work with our district every year!”
– Sandy Sherwood, Superintendent, Dryden Central School District
“I am so thankful our District had the foresight to engage Sean Brady of Prism Decision Systems to help us with the process of deciding on a district wide early literacy assessment. I was impressed with how his facilitation and the use of the technology helped everyone to share experiences, opinions and information about all of the tests in a respectful and constructive manner. The process allowed accurate information to be shared and limited the effect of politics and ego on the decision making. Because of the thoroughness and integrity of the process, I have confidence that we have made a decision that will improve instruction and learning. This conversation was truly one that held the best interests of children’s learning at the core.”
– Carol Cedarholm, Reading Teacher, Multi-criteria decision making
“Sean Brady helped our school’s Shared Decision-making Team create focused goals that directly impact student achievement. We attribute the positive trend in our student achievement data directly to this process, as staff members are working in a strategic manner towards the same goal. One teacher mentioned, ‘Sean has a simple procedure to help large groups of people, with different interests, make decisions for kids.’ I would highly encourage any school looking to improve their student’s achievement to work with Prism Decision Systems.”
– Nicole Wolfe, Principal, Adams Primary, Whitney Point Central School District
“Working together with Prism has helped us quickly identify priority improvement strategies. The teachers at East and West Middle Schools said this was the most productive planning day they have ever experienced. At the end of the day each school staff left with appropriate action plans to begin the process of improvement. We highly recommend Prism Decision Systems.”
– Dr. Peggy Wozniak, Superintendent, SINI Schools Case Study
“I have had the good fortune of collaborating with Sean Brady and Prism Decision Systems for nearly 15 years. We have utilized Sean’s expertise and marvelous group dynamic skills to help our Shared Decision-making (SDM) team receive training and understand the true meaning of consensus decision making. The work of our SDM team is essential to the academic success of our students. Sean’s outstanding services to SDM make him a valuable asset to our administration, faculty, and parent community.”
– Albert Penna, Principal, Binghamton High School
“Prism recently helped us choose an early literacy assessment. Both teachers and administrators said they could not remember a decision-making process that went as smoothly or that resulted in as great a commitment to the outcome. One teacher commented, ‘Because I had confidence in the process, I was able to really learn and think through the individual questions rather than feeling as though I had to keep my mind on staking out a position.'”
– Kim Fontana, Director Staff Development and Research, Multi-criteria decision making
“Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of the Kenmore Town of Tonawanda School District’s Destination Graduation committee. The great amount of work that this important committee accomplished in a short period of time was very impressive, and would not have been possible without your expertise and the involvement of Prism Decision Systems.”
– Dennis Priore, Principal, Transition and Alternative Programs, Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District
“Prism’s decision matrix provided an effective, efficient process that enabled a group with diverse backgrounds to reach consensus on prioritized strategies.”
– Meg Grant, Superintendent, Newark Valley Central School District
“With the help of Prism’s Group Decision Support System™, we now have a comprehensive plan with high-level agreement on key priorities. This is exactly what we sought in the planning process.”
– Dr. Dennis Sweeney, Superintendent, Union-Endicott Schools
“Prism Decision Systems superb facilitation combined with the skilled use of its group decision systems enabled our team to develop a comprehensive Title 1 school-wide plan complete with concrete goals, roles and time table. As a result, we realized a 23% increase in our ELA score, the highest increase in our district.”
– Christopher Arnold, principal Anna Merritt Elementary, Lockport City School District
“Prism Decision Systems has provided invaluable assistance to our organization in the development of planning and collaborative decision making processes. Prism’s training programs have been extremely well received. In fact, many participant comments indicate that those sessions are among the most valuable our district has offered as we implement higher learning standards”
– Dr. James Lee, Superintendent, Binghamton City School District
“Through the use of Frontier Analyst™, a sophisticated benchmarking tool being used to focus school improvement efforts, school districts now have the ability to identify demographically similar schools that are achieving at the highest levels and seek how they are being achieved. Benchmarking with Frontier Analyst™ has added an exceptional tool to the school improvement process.”
– Paul Preuss, education consultant and former school superintendent
Web and mobile apps
SchoolBenchmarker™ is very, very cool! It’s so slick, I love it. I can see where it would be really useful to school districts looking to improve their performance.
– Solvejg Wastvedt, Education Reporter, WSKG Public Media
SchoolBenchmarker™ is a fabulous tool! I am so grateful that the NYS Center for Rural Schools is providing this much needed school comparison tool.
– Barbara Recchio, Staff Development and Data Coordinator, Center for Instruction, Technology and Innovation
“CohortTracker™ is the easiest software I have ever used!”
– – Deb Switzer, District Registrar, Odessa-Montour Central School District
Budget Playground™ “is like magic…It’s a terrific app on an iPad®…I love the little charts on the side and the sliders to change scenarios are a very handy way to modify assumptions.”
– Assistant Commissioner, New York State Education Department
“SchoolBenchmarker™ is great! I love that it is so simple to use. In seconds my administrators can get the benchmarking information they’ve been asking for — information that would take an experienced database expert days or more to prepare.”
– Cheryl Lyn Covell, Data Analyst, Tompkins Seneca Tioga BOCES
“SchoolBenchmarker™ is fantastic! In a few minutes, I can get the benchmarking information it took my district a month to get last year working on our own!”
– Mark P. Mondanaro, Superintendent of Schools, Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda UFSD
Healthcare
“Using Prism and the Concept System® created tremendous efficiency for us in a very difficult project. The wealth of knowledge in the concept maps and ladder graphs enabled us to know with real certainty what was most important to a large constituent group. We could then make key decisions swiftly and confidently. We were extremely pleased with the outcome.”
– Floyd Metzger, Executive Director, UMA
“Our organization accomplished more with Prism Decision Systems than at any of the other ‘strategy’ meetings we have ever had. Prism’s Group Decision Support System™ and the interaction with Mr. Brady focused the Board and management team on what was important for the future of the organization to become a leader in the EMS field. Over the next year, we look we look forward to focusing on our strategies and priorities and on hitting our targets.”
– Joseph Nirchi, President, Board of Directors – Union Volunteer Emergency Squad
“The insights we gained from the CoNexus® focus groups forced us to rethink some basic beliefs about our customers’ needs and our performance as a health care provider — and strongly influenced our five-year plan.”
– Joanne Borfitz, Vice President, Chenango Memorial Hospital
Finance
“Prism Decision System’s dynamic facilitation and the skilled use of group decision systems allowed us to move rapidly and very effectively through the strategic planning process. Our Board of Directors and senior management team are extremely pleased with — and our employees very energized by — the resulting growth plan. This is the best planning process we have ever used.”
– Stephen M. Gardner, President and Chief Executive Officer, GHS Federal Credit Union
“After a one-day retreat with Prism Decision Systems, our team is armed with a fresh set of three-year strategies and immediate priorities. Without Prism’s process and Group Decision Support System, we would have required three or four full days to complete this work. Prism and the GDSS delivered great value to us in this process.”
– Arthur D. Field, President and CEO, First Heritage Federal Credit Union
News and entertainment
“Prism Decision Systems and CoNexus® contributed to the effectiveness of the Times Mirror senior manager off-site. We were able to know within minutes where a large and diverse group was in their thinking and receptivity to each topic. We could then address the issues raised by the CoNexus® polling. I am a great fan of CoNexus®, a very effective tool.”
– Kathryn Downing, President, Times Mirror
Faith
“Prism’s presence, expertise and group decision support tools contributed powerfully to our decision making and our ability to achieve consensus.”
– Rev. Tim Taugher, pastor, Church merger
Not-for-profit
“The Roberson Museum and Science Center’s strategic planning process started without help from Prism Decision Systems, and though we thought that we were making reasonable progress, at a certain stage we got stuck and frankly did not know how to continue. However, once Sean Brady volunteered to lead the process, our strategic planning was extremely effective. We now have an actionable plan with approved mission and vision statements. We have significantly improved our image with a group of important community representatives. And we actually had fun throughout the entire process. Unbelievably, unexpectedly great! I highly recommend Prism Decision Systems!”
– Koen Gieskes, Vice President, Research & Development at Universal Instruments and a Roberson Museum and Science Center Trustee
“Prism’s skill and expertise guided our Board and staff through a long-range planning retreat. The Board and staff were extremely pleased with the results of the planning session, which was largely due to Prism’s ability to focus our efforts.”
– Cathy Williams, Executive Director, The Family and Children’s Society
Anonymous feedback
“The strength of the planning process is directly related to the skill of Sean Brady as facilitator. Sean is efficient in time management, organization, and in facilitation of the meeting. He quickly captures essential information to develop consensus.”
“I dreaded the thought of having to develop another plan, but this process was great!!”
“Excellent job — this was the easiest plan that I have developed — the process worked.”
“Sean Brady’s ability to say and to summarize is awesome!”