GHD Services Inc.
Request for Proposal
RFP No. 03172025 – Website Design and
Maintenance Services
City of La Quinta
April 25, 2025
The Power of Commitment
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 1
1. Cover Letter
We are pleased to submit a proposal for the design and development of a new website for the City of
La Quinta. Although our proposal is submitted through the GHD Digital Products and Platforms division,
we are proud to highlight that our broader GHD organization is currently engaged in ongoing work with
the City of La Quinta, led by Lindsey Van Parys. This established relationship underscores our
commitment to your community.
Your website isn’t just about having a presence, it’s an opportunity to create a web experience that will
bring users back through clear calls to action, user-friendly tools, and content and design that bring your
webpages to life.
Your website should be scalable, able to expand and grow as you do. It should also have a backend
that is as user-friendly as the front end, where staff can easily update content, page components, and
even update the design and layout with just a few clicks in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG)
editor.
Your website should be responsive, and our solution, the GovstackTM Content Management System
(CMS), even allows you to preview pages before posting them in all device sizes from smartphones to
desktops and everything in between, so you will know exactly how a page is going to look on every
device before you publish it.
These are just some of the features that come included with the CMS build, because we know how
important it is for staff to be able to make changes to your website quickly, easily, and without worrying
about how it’s going to display to the end-user. It’s also accessible to WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards at
a minimum, because we believe that if it’s not accessible to everyone, it’s not usable for anyone.
At GHD, we have a strong track record of keeping up with the latest advancements in technology and
staying ahead of the curve. We work closely with our clients to co-create innovative solutions that meet
the evolving needs of their stakeholders. Our team is agile, creative, and dedicated to helping you
achieve your digital transformation goals. We will work with you to create a website that is intuitive, user-
friendly, and promotes open government. Our focus will be on enhancing the user experience,
streamlining workflows, and automating low-value tasks.
We are eager to meet with the City of La Quinta staff to discuss the wants and needs of your users
while exploring and showcasing all that your new website will have to offer. We look forward to
delivering a website that exceeds your expectations with easy-to-use features and tools that will both
excite and delight your staff and end-users!
All information and pricing provided in the proposal is valid for at least ninety (90) days. We can confirm
that there is no conflict of interest for GHD to perform the services.
Daniel Shaw
Senior Business Solutions Consultant
Products & Platforms (PnP)
daniel.shaw@ghd.com
519-591-4546
Nicole Pyman
Manager, Proposals
nicole.pyman@ghd.com
519 340-4331
Authorized Signatory:
Alison Carden, Vice President, GHD Digital I Global
Practice Director, Products & Platforms (PnP)
ali.carden@ghd.com
519 340-4084
Main Office and Office that would
serve this project
455 Phillip Street, Waterloo, Ontario,
N2L 3X2
T: +1 519 884 0510
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 2
Table of Contents
1. Cover Letter 1
1.1 Firms Background, Qualifications, and Experience 3
2. References 3
3. Complete Pricing List 4
4. List of Complementary Services Offered by Proposer along with Corresponding Prices 6
4.1 Scope of Services 6
Govstack Events 13
Govstack Forms 14
News Module 14
5. Staffing and Project Organization 16
6. Disclosures 17
Acknowledgement of Insurance Requirements (Attachment 2) 18
Non-Collusion Affidavit (Attachment 3) 19
Non-Collusion Affidavit (Attachment 3) 20
Appendix 21
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 3
1.1 Firms Background, Qualifications, and Experience
(a) Number of years in business
GHD is a global professional services firm established in 1928, with over 11,000 employees. Since
1999, our Products and Platforms division, with over 150 team members, has specialized in delivering
scalable SaaS solutions. With more than 750 successful deployments for government and public sector
clients, we have demonstrated consistent growth and strong market adoption of our Govstack CMS
platform.
(b) Taxpayer identification number
FEIN - 16-1229774
(c) Resumes of the Project Manager and key personnel who will be responsible for performance
if any agreement results from this RFP
Please refer to Appendix A – Resumes.
(d) Firm ownership and if incorporated, list the state in which the firm is incorporated and the
date of incorporation
Official Company Name: GHD Services Inc.
Firm Ownership: Corporation
Incorporation Place: Delaware
Incorporation Date: 8/13/2003
(e) If the firm is a subsidiary of a parent company, identify the parent company
Name of Company: GHD Services Inc.
DBA Names: GHD PTY LTD / GHD Group Ltd DBAs GHD, GHD Digital
Location of Parent Company (GHD): Level 15, 133 Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000
2. References
CITY OF LEMON GROVE
www.lemongrove.ca.gov
3232 Main Street
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
Contact Name: Greg Jackson,
Communications Specialist
Contact Number: 619-825-3826
Contact Email:
gjackson@lemongrove.ca.gov
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA
www.readyslo.org
990 Palm St UNIT 14,
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Contact Name: Anita Konopa,
Emergency Services
Coordinator
Contact Number: 805-781-1335
Contact Email:
akonopa@co.slo.ca.us
MOHAVE COUNTY, AZ
www.mohave.gov
700 W. Beale Street
Kingman, AZ 86401
Contact Name: Eric Advincula,
Business Systems Manager
Contact Number: 928 753-0740
ext. 4686
Contact
Email: advine@mohave.gov
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 4
3. Complete Pricing List
Detailed Breakdown
GHD is pleased to provide our financial proposal for the implementation and annual fees for the City of
La Quinta’s RFP Website Design and Maintenance Services project. The succeeding tables outline the
breakdown of initial and ongoing costs. Pricing for optional products and services is also provided.
City’s Investment – Cost Summary
Description One-Time Fee Annual Costs
Govstack Standard – Website CMS and Implementation $26,639.00 N/A
Govstack Enterprise Hosting and Licensing N/A $7,025.00
Sitemap and Navigation – Full Sitemap Process $4,515.00 N/A
Content Migration – 50 Pages $2,342.00 N/A
Training Included N/A
Ongoing Support N/A Included
Total Investment $33,496.00 $7,025.00
*Excludes applicable taxes and travel expenses for on-site visits, annual fees subject to CPI increases
What is Included – Cost Breakdown
Govstack Standard Package Govstack Enterprise Hosting and Licensing
Platform:
▪ 1 identity per user to access
all applications.
▪ Maximum of 50 MAU (Monthly
Active Users).
CMS:
▪ Website Theme
▪ Site Builder
▪ Google Search (3rd party fees apply)
▪ News & Subscriptions
▪ Accessible WCAG 2.1 Level AA
Events:
▪ 2 Calendars
▪ Public submission with approvals.
▪ Event email notifications
Forms:
▪ 50 Forms
▪ 20,000 submissions (total per year)
o Reports
o Workflow Automation
▪ Status Tracking
Govstack is hosted in Microsoft Azure within US
Geographic Zones:
▪ Azure SQL database
▪ Disaster recovery
▪ High availability infrastructure
▪ Resource scaling
▪ 99.95% uptime
▪ Microsoft Defender for Cloud
▪ Traffic management and DDOS (Denial of
Service Attack) protection with Azure Front
Door
GHD-issued SSL/TLS certificates – included through
Azure Managed Certificates. All products use GHD-
managed certificates with 256-bit encryption.
Hosting Infrastructure Certifications: ISO 27001,
SOC 2, SOC 3, HIPAA/HITECH, and PCI-DSS.
Licensing and maintenance of Govstack CMS.
Standard Support
▪ Named Contacts: Designate 2 members of your team authorized to contact Customer
support and log tickets.
▪ Email and Online Portal – Access to our online support portal:
o Create and review your tickets
o View ticket priority
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o Update ticket notes or status
o Close or re-open resolved tickets
o View tickets for your entire organization
Sitemap and Navigation – Full Sitemap Process
▪ GHD Information Architect to create first draft sitemap based on a review of Analytics,
existing website, and best practices in navigation and user experience.
▪ One (1) presentation to staff of draft sitemap, including overview of website navigation best
practices.
▪ GHD Information Architect to work through sitemap revisions with you to obtain final
version (up to 3 rounds of revisions).
Content Migration – 50 Pages
We will migrate content from your current website as-is to your new Govstack CMS.
Content migration includes:
▪ Migration of the set number of pages stated within your contract
▪ All pages must appear in the sitemap/navigation of the current live site
▪ All images that appear in page content
▪ All documents that appear in page content
▪ Embedded videos
▪ Relinking between pages, documents and images
▪ Any links with a "mailto:" email address
View a full description of what is included with your content migration, and any exclusions here:
https://www.govstack.com/learning-centre/onboarding/content-migration/
Training
Our comprehensive online training program ensures your team gains full proficiency in the
Govstack Platform suite.
The program includes:
▪ Complete coverage of all Govstack Platform products
o Flexible learning approach:
▪ Regular refresher webinars
▪ Drop in “Office Hours” for Q&A with our trainer leading up to go live
▪ Full access to online learning resources:
o Product documentation
o Tutorial videos
o Best practices guides
o Implementation resources
OPTIONAL ADD-ONS
Description One-Time Fee Annual Costs
Custom Theme Layout
GHD will work with your team to create a custom theme layout
based on an existing Govstack theme and existing
components. This includes presenting the custom theme to
your team and two (2) rounds of revisions to the selected
layout.
$8,000.00 N/A
Custom IDP Integration
▪ Integration with your organization's identity provider
(i.e. Azure AD/Entra ID) for seamless user
authentication through the Open-ID protocol. The
platform allows custom configuration of access groups
and permissions to manage user capabilities.
N/A $2,835.00
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4. List of Complementary Services Offered by
Proposer along with Corresponding Prices
4.1 Scope of Services
The City of La Quinta is seeking proposals from qualified firms to design, develop, and host a
modern, user-friendly, and ADA-compliant municipal website.
Modern
At GHD, our team is committed to helping the City create a website that authentically reflects your
municipality's unique identity. Our goal is to deliver a modern, user-friendly experience for residents,
businesses, and visitors, while also ensuring the redesign improves both functionality and ease of
maintenance.
The new website will be the City’s digital front door for all your prospective and regular customers,
users, and partners. We understand and commit to the delivery of products and services, including (but
not limited to):
• Implement new sitemap architecture
• Implement the approved design theme
• Provide website training and content management workshops for the new website with your staff
including training on best practices and writing for the web
• Utilize UX and UI best practices to provide an exemplary user experience
• Host the website through Microsoft Azure in a localized facility
• Provide or allow for efficient site maintenance, upgrades and enhancements
The new City website must serve your unique audiences of current and potential visitors to the site. To
do that, your site's modern, innovative tools and resources can effectively help the City enhance the
user experience, simplify content management, provide engaging information, and better customer
service to its communities, while meeting high standards for design quality, visual appeal, and
functionality.
User-friendly
Our design themes empower your content with immersive layouts, expressive typography, bold calls -to-
actions, and clever overlays to ensure that your website isn't just beautiful but also dynamic, user -
friendly, and a pleasure to use. GHD will work with you to ensure that your new website is implemented
with mobile devices and performance in mind. Our user-friendly, responsive design themes ensures that
your website looks great, whether it’s being viewed on a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone.
ADA-compliant
GHD designs our solutions in support of the principles, guidelines, and success criteria as outlined in
the WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility guidelines at a minimum (as this is the guideline most Accessibility
regulations are based on, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508. We use
the WCAG 2.1 Sufficient and Advisory techniques as the basis for our websites and products, and
regularly review the latest best practices in the industry, such as the newer WCAG 2.2, and updates to
ARIA specifications. We update our development standards accordingly. We strive to provide web
solutions that are accessible to users of all abilities, considering the end-user impact beyond legislation.
We manually test our websites and products using assistive technology. Our developers and quality
assurance specialists are trained in testing with JAWS, Apple VoiceOver, and NVDA, the three most
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 7
used screen readers. GHD performs semi-annual accessibility audits on all our products to ensure that
we are meeting WCAG standards and best practices.
These audits involve:
• Screen reader testing
• Keyboard testing
• Review of ARIA best practices
• Semantic HTML structure, and more
The Design Themes have been tested to ensure that each element of the site is compliant, this includes
testing for:
• Proper use of headings
• Tagging of all required page elements (links, images, tables, etc.)
• Compliant font types and sizes
• Compliant color contrast
Our thorough testing processes allow us to identify and address accessibility barriers quickly and
effectively.
OPTIONAL - To further assist our clients with their website accessibility, GHD can integrate with third
party tools such as UserWay, AudioEye or AccessiBe. These accessibility widgets are powerful tools
designed to help your website meet accessibility standards, enhance usability, and provide an inclusive
digital experience for all users.
The selected firm will be responsible for creating an intuitive and visually appealing website that
enhances user experience, improves accessibility, and integrates essential city services and
communication tools.
GHD Digital understands that the new site will need to provide the visitor with intuitive, easy-to-use, and
clear ways to find the information they are looking for. A typical site visitor has a specific task they would
like to accomplish, and it is our job as a team to get them there quickly and efficiently. To do this, we will
use our expertise, experience, and best practices along with your deep knowledge of your users to
create a new website sitemap.
This process includes:
• Sitemap Development – Our navigation and usability experts will create a draft sitemap as the
starting point for the new site's navigation. We will use our expertise along with an evidence-based
approach using your existing site analytics to create the draft. This includes:
▪ GHD Information Architect to create first draft sitemap based on a review of Analytics, existing
website, and best practices in navigation and user experience.
▪ One (1) presentation to staff of draft sitemap, including overview of website navigation best
practices.
▪ GHD Information Architect to work through sitemap revisions with you to obtain final version (up
to 3 rounds of revisions).
• Sitemap Approval – Once you have completed and finalized the sitemap, the design starts.
We want to ensure that navigating and interacting with your site requires minimal cognitive effort. Users
should always have the freedom to navigate, perform actions, and recover from mistakes without being
penalized by cumbersome and confusing infrastructure and content. Our sitemap structures the content
in a logical way that benefits users while assisting search engines in navigating the website to create
Seach Engine Optimization (SEO). Once live, the City will have full control of the sitemap to make any
changes to the menu navigation.
The website we develop will captivate users with visually appealing design elements, incorporating
modern aesthetics and intuitive navigation. Through strategic use of color schemes, typography, and
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 8
multimedia, we'll create an engaging digital experience that reflects the City's brand identity while
maximizing user engagement and satisfaction.
To integrate essential city services and communication tools, the CMS will allow you use key
functionalities and optimize workflows for both residents and staff. This may include online forms, event
calendars, and alerts and notifications where appropriate. Our goal is to make it easy for users to find
information and complete tasks quickly—whether paying a bill, reporting an issue, or accessing
important updates from the City.
Website design
We use a variety of design themes to thoughtfully represent your brand, creating a refreshed website
that feels both engaging and aligned with your vision. By integrating these themes within your existing
branding, we help ensure your website feels modern and resonates with your audience. Our design
approach supports your content with clean layouts, clear typography, strong calls -to-action, and
purposeful visual elements—resulting in a site that’s not only visually appealing but also easy to
navigate and enjoyable to use. GHD knows that the website must express a unique sense of place while
showcasing all that you have to offer.
We understand that:
• The human brain can only process so much information, and it deals with complexity by breaking the
information into understandable, “bite-sized” chunks. Users can only digest a maximum of 5 to 7
calls to action on a page and 5 to 9 menu items, and we often suggest less for an improved and
effective user experience.
• Eye-catching and visually appealing designs help promote our clients’ missions. By incorporating a
client’s corporate branding, we use striking visuals to attract and maintain the user’s attention, all
while providing them with the meaningful and actionable information they are looking for.
• A strong search engine provides fast and relevant results.
• It’s important to get information to the user quickly and in multiple ways to make sure no one “falls
off” the course our team has set out for them in the navigational journey of your website; this is why
we use different pathways to ensure every user finds what they’re looking for, including “sitemap,”
“search,” and multiple menus, and primary calls to action throughout the site, keeping your users
focused and engaged.
Our Design Themes:
• Incorporate your organization’s branding
• Strive for consistency
• Enable frequent use of shortcuts to the information
• Offer the ability for the end-user to provide input
• Permit easy reversal of action (if users find themselves in the wrong place)
• Provide users with a sense of control
Content migration preserving all existing functionality of the current website
GHD will be migrating content from the existing site to the new website, and we have provided the
appropriate costs in our pricing proposal. Based on the requirements outlined in your proposal, we
understand that the City would like to have an updated, easy to navigate information architecture
(sitemap).
Creating a new sitemap involves more than rearranging existing content. It serves as a guide for
enhancing user experience and SEO by redesigning the entire website's content structure. Transferring
content without adapting it to fit the new architecture reduces the effectiveness and purpose of the
updated sitemap.
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To facilitate this transition from the old sitemap to the new, GHD will provide an excel sheet for the City to
fill in, mapping which pages on the current site should be migrated to which pages on the new site.
Content will be migrated as-is, based on the mapping provided. To make the migration process as efficient
and easy as possible, your team will map single pages, or multiple pages, from the current sitemap to a
single page in the new sitemap, as our content migration approach supports 1-to-1 page mapping.
Integration with the City’s archive portal (Laserfiche)
Using the proposed CMS, the City will have the ability to create an archive center and integrate your
Laserfiche feed in one of two ways.
iFrame - Using the embed code provided by Laserfiche, the City can embed Laserfiche directly into any
content page within the site. This includes the homepage and any interior page. The styling of the
content will be consistent with the styling provided by Laserfiche.
Link - The CMS will allow City staff to link out directly to the content on the Laserfiche site.
Mobile responsiveness
Govstack employs the latest front-end technologies to build fully responsive websites. Optimized for
desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones, our responsive designs take content from a single source
and automatically adjust it to the screen resolution and orientation on which it is being viewed, no matter
the device. Govstack provides content editors the ability to preview the page in all types of devices prior
to putting the page live. Touch and mouse-friendly, our responsive websites deliver a seamless, cross-
platform experience, improving usability and accessibility for users on any device. Our sites are tested
on modern desktop and mobile browsers.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
GHD designs our sites with SEO best practices in mind. We structure the page templates using CSS to
keep the HTML clean and simple providing search crawlers with the ability to parse the site quickly and
easily. Govstack allows content authors and editors to input metadata, which includes basic keywords
for Search Engine Optimization and other more advanced fields. The CMS allows for specific metadata
to be set for each individual webpage, rather than having a single set of metadata for the entire website.
This ensures that each page has an improved ranking for Search Engine Optimization and can be easily
found by searches.
Govstack's integrated Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) transforms how users navigate your
website, delivering a powerful and intelligent search experience. By leveraging these search
technologies, you ensure visitors can quickly and accurately find the ex act content they need.
Key Search Features
• Predictive Search Capabilities: As users type, our intelligent search suggests relevant results in
real-time, reducing search time and improving user experience.
• Comprehensive Content Indexing: The Google CSE provides deep, intelligent indexing of your
entire site's content, ensuring no valuable information remains hidden.
• Precise Result Matching: The search algorithm prioritizes content relevance, presenting the most
accurate and contextually appropriate results based on user queries.
• Seamless User Experience: Integrated smoothly within the site's design, the search function offers
a clean, intuitive interface that enhances overall site usability.
By implementing the Google Custom Search Engine, Govstack empowers websites with an intelligent
search solution that enhances how visitors interact with and discover content.
OPTIONAL - GHD has a partnership with Cludo, a third-party search solution that enhances your
visitors' experience through AI-powered search bars, category pages, and personalized features. Key
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 10
capabilities include autocomplete, instant suggestions, recent searches, search-as-you-type, voice
search, and tailored experiences for specific personas. Cludo also offers advanced tools like
categorized results pages and filtering options to showcase your best content and keep visitors
engaged. Comprehensive insights and analytics help you optimize search functionality by identifying
trends, ineffective searches, and user behaviors, ensuring an efficient and engaging search experience.
GHD can provide costs for Cludo if this is a desired search solution for the City.
Ongoing training
We offer a comprehensive training experience through our extensive video library, which can be
accessed at any time. Our training resources are designed to fit your needs, whether you're looking for a
deep dive into an entire module or a quick tutorial on a specific task.
Full Training Videos – Gain a complete understanding of entire modules with in-depth, structured
training sessions that walk you through every feature and function.
Task-Specific Videos – Need a refresher on a specific action? Our shorter, focused videos provide
quick, step-by-step guidance on individual tasks and functionalities, making it easy to find exactly what
you need, when you need it.
With this flexible approach, users can learn at their own pace, revisit topics as needed, and get up to
speed quickly—all with the convenience of on-demand video training. As part of the project scope.
The training will cover the following key areas:
• Introduction to Govstack: We will provide an overview of the CMS and its purpose, ensuring that
your team understands its functionalities and benefits.
• Key features and advantages: We will dive deeper into key features, highlighting their advantages
and how they can be leveraged to achieve your project goals.
• Login and user identity creation: We will guide your team through the process of logging in and
creating user identities, ensuring a smooth onboarding experience.
• Managing content: We will demonstrate how to effectively manage and organize content within
Govstack, enabling efficient collaboration and information management.
• Setting permissions and time-dependent postings: We will provide instructions on how to set
permissions and control access to specific content, as well as schedule time-dependent postings.
• Organizing resources: We will guide your team on how to effectively organize resources with
Govstack.
• Managing approvals and rejections: We will demonstrate how to manage the approval and rejection
process within Govstack, ensuring a streamlined workflow for content review and decision-making.
Live Q&A Office Hours – Before your site goes live, we offer dedicated office hours where you can
drop in for a live Q&A session with our trainers. This is a great opportunity to ask specific questions,
clarify functionality, and ensure you feel confident using the system. With this flexible approach, users
can learn at their own pace, revisit topics as needed and get real-time support—all with the convenience
of on-demand and live drop-in training options. The City will have access to our Learning and
Resource Center, an online hub with best practices, guides, and videos to maximize Govstack’s
potential. We are also including Writing for the Web and Accessibility Training as an on-demand video
for your content writing and editing teams, which focuses on writing content, readability, search engine
results, and accessibility.
Hosting
The solution leverages Microsoft Azure's cloud infrastructure, with primary and secondary servers
located in the United States. Our hosting solution guarantees 99.95% uptime, surpassing the industry
standard of 99.9%.
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Azure provides:
• Full backup power conditioning
• Comprehensive data backups
• Advanced security measures
• 24/7/365 monitoring
• High-speed fiber-based connectivity
eCommerce transactions are processed through our PCI DSS 3.0 compliant payment gateway,
ensuring no credit card numbers are stored on our systems.
GHD recognizes that cloud adoption hinges on trust. Microsoft Azure leads the industry in establishing
and meeting stringent security and privacy requirements. It complies with a wide array of international
and industry-specific standards, including:
• ISO 27001
• HIPAA
• FedRAMP
• SOC 1 and SOC 2
• Various country-specific standards
To complement Azure's robust security features, GHD maintains a comprehensive information security
program, encompassing:
• Documented security procedures and guidelines
• An ongoing security awareness program
• A proactive vulnerability management system
This multi-layered approach ensures the highest levels of data protection and service reliability for our
clients.
Maintenance
The Govstack CMS is updated regularly. These updates include enhancements to the system such as
minor new features as requested by our clients, and bug fixes. Major updates are communicated in our
user group meetings and eNewsletters. We also schedule regular demos to show the latest major
releases. Major releases occur approximately three times a year. GHD staff will complete any
maintenance that may affect the availability of the hosted applications outside of regular work hours as
per our standard maintenance schedule.
Support
Technical Support is included in your Annual Subscription Fee. This includes maintenance, software
updates, bug fixes, secure hosting in Microsoft Azure, emergency help (24/7/365* in the case of a
critical issue). You will also have 24/7 access to our online Learning Center, equipped with useful
information on how to accomplish common tasks in the CMS, including learning videos.
GHD Digital offers two support packages with flexible options to fit the needs of your organization. Our
Standard package is included with our annual hosting costs. Both support packages include access to
our online Learning Center; updates to products and modules are included in your Digital Service
Agreement (DSA).
Product Support includes questions about the systems, and issues or requests as outlined below. All
support calls or emails are managed in-house with a dedicated support team. For modifications of
design or the addition of modules/integrations, GHD would define the requirement and provide a cost for
approval prior to the work commencing.
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Support Packages
Standard – INCLUDED
• Named contacts
• Email and Online Portal – Access to our online support portal:
▪ Create and review your tickets
▪ View ticket priority
▪ Update ticket notes or status
▪ Close or re-open resolved tickets
▪ View tickets for your entire organization
• Online Learning Center – Access to product knowledge articles, news, and release notes
• Emergency Support – 24/7/365 after-hours priority phone support for severity 1 & 2 incidents
Advanced – OPTIONAL
• Includes Standard Package
• Named Contacts
• Phone Support – Speak live to the support agent during regular business hours
• Priority Incident Escalation – Receive priority escalation for Sev.1 and Sev.2 incidents and service
requests
• Custom Status Page – Service availability page for subscribed products with real-time service
alerts and updates
The firm must provide a content management system (CMS) that allows city staff to update and
manage content easily.
GHD proposes the Govstack platform for managing the City's online presence. Designed for
government organizations, Govstack allows non-technical employees to update website content easily.
It is customizable, scalable, and reliable. Govstack empowers residents, visitors, and business owners
to access city services and information, streamlining content management and service delivery.
For those who want to take things further, Govstack also has powerful tools to design more dynamic
and visually rich pages—perfect for special projects or specific department needs. Whether you’re
keeping it simple or getting creative, Govstack has you covered.
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Features and capabilities of the Govstack CMS include:
System Modules:
▪ Alerts: Create site-wide or page-specific pop-ups/banners.
▪ News Feeds: Easily post news items on various pages.
▪ News Subscriptions: Visitors can opt-in for email alerts based on interests.
▪ Contact Directory: Create and display contacts by department.
▪ Social Media Integration: Embed social media feeds and share content.
▪ Site Search: Robust search using Google Programmable Search.
▪ Secured Pages (add-on): Secure sections with username/password.
Content Management:
▪ Menu Management: Control all site navigation menus.
▪ Standard Formatting: Adjust font styles, formats, bullets, lists, etc.
▪ Design Library: Use pre-designed components for rapid page setup.
▪ Site Builder: No-code builder for feature-rich pages.
▪ Media Management: Upload/manage images, PDFs, SVGs, videos.
▪ Automatic Image Resizer: Generate multiple image sizes automatically.
▪ Page Banners: Add single, rotating, or video banners.
▪ Pattern Library: Use pre-configured components for design-rich pages.
▪ Photo Gallery: Create dynamic image/video galleries.
▪ Accordion/Tab: Organize content with accordion/tab layouts.
▪ Reusable Content: Manage shared content pieces centrally.
▪ Embed Tools: Embed third-party widgets/content.
▪ User Management: Manage user permissions and access.
▪ Audit Trail: Track page updates and publishing details.
▪ Templates: Create reusable templates for frequent layouts.
▪ Preview Mode: Preview content updates before publishing.
▪ CSS/Brand Control (add-on): Customize design elements site-wide.
Optimization and Analysis:
▪ SEO: Add meta information to pages.
▪ Redirects: Create redirects for campaigns/marketing.
▪ Google Analytics: Set up tracking tools easily.
Additional In Scope Items
Govstack Events
Govstack Events helps boost engagement by making it easy to share local events with residents,
visitors, and businesses. Users can view events on any device and submit their own for approval. The
platform is fully accessible (WCAG 2.1 AA) and mobile-friendly.
Key Features
• Flexible Calendars: Create multiple calendars (e.g., Community, Council, Tourism) and
combine them into one view
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 14
• Event Management: Add events with maps, documents, and contacts; set up recurring events;
manage submissions and approvals
• User Tools: Subscribe to event alerts, search and filter by category, download to personal
calendars, print-friendly views
• Social Sharing: Promote events via Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube
• Optional Registration Add-On: Custom registration types and questions, payment integration,
waitlists, reminders, and notifications
Govstack Forms
Govstack Forms makes it easy to bring forms online, giving residents 24/7 access to services from any
device. Create accessible, user-friendly forms for applications, permits, and payments. Built to WCAG
2.1 AA standards, forms include smart logic, payment integration, and location tools.
Key Features
• Form Management: Approvals, permissions, reusable questions, and conditional logic
• Payments: Secure PCI-compliant processing
• User-Friendly: Mobile-responsive, built-in validation, status updates, automated emails
• Admin Tools: Workflow automation, API access, real-time tracking, email logs, and optional
PDF generation
• Reporting: Audit logs, CSV exports, and financial reports
• Security: Microsoft Azure hosting and secure cloud storage
News Module
Keep your audience informed with Govstack’s built-in News Module. Share important updates, press
releases, and alerts, tailored to audience interests and delivered via Anti-Spam compliant email
notifications.
Key Features
• Content Publishing: Post news articles, alerts, images, and links with ease
• Audience Engagement: Let users register for updates, search by keyword, date, or category,
and share news via social media or email
• Admin Tools: Categorize content, manage permissions, and publish news across your site from
a central dashboard
• Subscriber Management: Track subscribers and customize email templates to match your
brand
Govstack helps ensure your news reaches the right people, at the right time, on any device.
Additionally, the website should incorporate security best practices and ensure compliance with
all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
Security Best Practices
The solution is hosted in the Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure with primary and secondary server
locations located in the USA. Azure implements basic DDoS protection and detects and handles
network based volumetric DDoS attacks such as UDP reflected attacks. Azure offers full backup power
conditioning, data backups, security, 24/7/365 monitoring, and fiber-based connectivity. eCommerce
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 15
payments are handled by our PCI 3.0 compliant payment gateway with no storage of credit card
numbers.
The solution will use SSL encryption to ensure that data in transit is secured. Azure data is encrypted on
the on-premises machine using AES256. The data is sent over a secure HTTPS link. The data
transmitted in cloud is protected by HTTPS link only between storage and recovery service. iSCSI
protocol secures the data transmitted between recovery service and user machine. Secure tunneling is
used to protect the iSCSI channel. GHD has an operational security policy that is distributed in whole or
in part to all staff that use, maintain or access information technology systems. We ensure we provide
guidance to all staff on identifying and classifying and organizing sensitive information such as
personally identifiable information.
At GHD Digital we value the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data. We seek to establish a
culture in which information security is front of mind and part of everyday business. Our information
security measures enable secure information access and maintain the trust of our clients.
We secure data through a robust Information Security program that includes:
- Security-focused software development lifecycle;
- Comprehensive logical security controls;
- Physical security controls;
- Threat management practice;
- Strong encryption technologies;
- Flexible identity management systems; and
- Continual improvement of the Information Security program and its practices.
Compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements
Azure meets a broad set of international and industry-specific compliance standards, such as ISO
27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 1 and SOC 2, as well as country-specific standards. GHD has an
operational security policy that is distributed in whole or in part to all staff that use, maintain or access
information technology systems. We ensure we provide guidance to all staff on identifying and
classifying and organizing sensitive information such as personally identifiable information.
The City maintains access to their data according to the role-based access controls inherent to the
services supplied. Strong authentication measures are implemented to only allow data access to those
who are actually authorized to access the data. In most cases, the City is responsible for managing user
access to data along with ensuring that user access is appropriate for the types of data.
When capturing client information using Govstack Forms:
• Cloud-Based Storage – stores all form data securely in the Microsoft Azure cloud, so it can be
accessed from anywhere and eliminating the need for physical storage space.
• Data Security – data is secured with PCI Compliant Data Fortress, ensuring that data and
payments are collected securely.
As form content is not within GHD’s control, it is the client's responsibility to ensure compliance with all
laws and regulations relevant to their use of GHD solutions. We stress the importance of maintaining
privacy protections, implementing robust security measures, and overseeing user access to data, as
highlighted in our terms and conditions.
Our aim is to provide a platform that is user-friendly and adaptable for various data collection needs.
Additionally, we are also continuously evaluating and exploring ways to enhance our services to better
accommodate diverse compliance needs.
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 16
The final deliverable must reflect the City’s brand identity and support its commitment to
transparency and community engagement.
GHD understands that the website is the City’s digital front door, and its fonts, imagery, colors, and logo
placement must reflect your brand identity. As part of our process, we will request any available
branding guidelines and documentation to ensure the final website aligns with your visual identity. Just
as importantly, the website will be designed to promote transparency and community engagement —
through clear navigation, accessible content, and intuitive pathways for residents to find information,
participate in civic life, and stay informed.
5. Staffing and Project Organization
In addition to the primary team members below, the project will be backed by our full team of 160+
permanent, full-time staff comprised of graphic designers, UI/UX developers, programmers, project
coordinators, project directors, quality assurance professionals, and implementation specialists. The
same agile and collaborative team members regularly participate in our projects and will have worked
with the references provided for similar websites.
Colleen Colbeck is a Digital Project Director with over 10 years of experience working with
stakeholders to understand their needs and goals, translate them into ideas and requirements, then
implement plans to achieve those goals and measure the outcomes. Over the past 6 years with GHD
Digital, Colleen has directed the delivery of many SaaS and consulting projects in the Products and
Platforms portfolio, providing mentorship, guidance, and support to Project Managers to ensure
successful delivery and delighted customers. As the Head of our Customer Success team, Colleen is
committed to ensuring our customers have a positive experience in every interaction they have with
GHD Digital.
Carly Simpson leads our professional services team to create user-focused, accessible websites for
our clients. She develops intuitive sitemaps, facilitates focus groups and UX testing, and provides
guidance and feedback on content strategy and writing techniques, incl uding how to create written
content that meets accessibility standards. From her previous experience in web content strategy, Carly
can provide consulting services through content audits, website governance, and remediation
processes, and will work with internal subject matter experts to ensure that your website is user friendly,
accessible, accurate and up to date.
In her role as Implementation Team Lead, Emilie Lew is a liaison between our clients and the GHD
programming and creative teams. Based in our Ottawa office, she is responsible for managing,
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 17
scheduling, documenting, and communicating project activities from the project Kickoff phase to the Go
Live date and beyond. She brings new ideas and reliable support to all projects and prides herself in
building exceptional relationships with each client.
Kaitlin Plue is an Implementation Specialist who helps maintain the project schedule and budget by
coordinating day-to-day activities. Kaitlin uses her passion for helping others and her excellent
communication skills to fulfill client-driven goals. After spending a year as the team lead on a website
development project with GHD, Kaitlin took this knowledge along with her passion for project
management to earn her Ontario College Graduate Certificate in Project Management, graduating first
in her class with Presidents Honours. With experience on the client side of a GHD project, Kaitlin
possesses a unique perspective along with a high level of understanding of GHD software and
processes. She has obtained her Project Management Professional (PMP) designation from the Project
Management Institute.
Jordan Arron is a Solution Architect with GHD with over 15 years of experience in software
development, 7 years in mobile app development, and 12 years in integrations. As a solution architect,
Jordan is responsible for designing, describing, and managing solution eng ineering in relation to specific
business problems. His focus is on the technical decisions being made regarding the solution and how
they impact the business outcomes.
Heathcliffe Hutchings has over ten years’ experience in technical training. After joining GHD in 2011,
Heath is the primary Technical Trainer and Training Developer covering the core line of offered web -
based products. He has a proven ability to learn complex materials, and repackage and present them in
complete, easy-to-follow directions for clients of varying technical experience. He is also responsible for
developing supporting materials, often unique to each client, before and after training sessions.
Subcontracting Services
Lindsey Vanparys is a trusted business leader at GHD with a longstanding relationship with the City of
La Quinta. While she will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the project, she will serve as a
valuable resource for the website team. Her extensive experience working with the City can be
leveraged to ensure the project's success.
GHD has a wealth of experience with managing varying services for public and private sector clients of
differentiating sizes and geographical locations, ranging from website design, development, and
implementation scopes of work. GHD confirms the ability to deliver the scope of this project without the
need for subcontractors.
6. Disclosures
Disclosure of any alleged significant prior or ongoing agreement failure, any civil or criminal
litigation or investigation pending, which involved the proposer or in which the proposer has
been judged guilty or liable within the last five (5) years. If there is no information to disclose,
proposer must affirmatively state there is no negative history.
GHD confirms no agreement failure, lawsuit, civil or criminal litigation or arbitration to report as part of
this proposal. We have no pending lawsuits, litigations, or arbitrations in the last five (5) years.
ATTACHMENT 2
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Must be executed by proposer and submitted with the proposal
I, ________________________________________ (name) hereby acknowledge and confirm that
__________________________________ (name of company) has reviewed
the City’s indemnification and minimum insurance requirements as listed in Exhibits E and
F of the City’s Agreement for Contract Services (Attachment 1); and declare that insurance
certificates and endorsements verifying compliance will be provided if an agreement is awarded.
I am _________________________________ of ______________________________,
(Title) (Company)
✔Commercial General Liability (at least as broad as ISO CG 0001)
$1,000,000 (per occurrence); $2,000,000 (general aggregate)
Must include the following endorsements:
✔ General Liability Additional Insured
✔ General Liability Primary and Noncontributory
✔Commercial Auto Liability (at least as broad as ISO CA 0001)
$1,000,000 (per accident)
Personal Auto Declaration Page (if applicable)
✔Cyber Liability
$1,000,000 (per occurrence)
$2,000,000 (general aggregate) ✔Worker’s Compensation (per statutory requirements)
Must include the following endorsement:
✔ Worker’s Compensation Waiver of Subrogation
Worker’s Compensation Declaration of Sole Proprietor (if applicable)
Page 9 of 11
Ali Carden
GHD Services Inc.
Vice President and Global Practice Director GHD Services Inc.
Page 10 of 11
ATTACHMENT 3
NON-COLLUSION AFFIDAVIT FORM
Must be executed by proposer and submitted with the proposal
I, ________________________________________ (name) hereby declare as follows:
I am _________________________________ of ______________________________,
(Title) (Company)
the party making the foregoing proposal, that the proposal is not made in the interest of, or on behalf
of, any undisclosed person, partnership, company, association, organization, or corporation; that the
proposal is genuine and not collusive or sham; that the proposer has not directly or indirectly induced
or solicited any other proposer to put in a false or sham proposal, and has not directly or indirectly
colluded, conspired, connived, or agreed with any proposer or anyone else to put in a sham proposal,
or that anyone shall refrain from proposing; that the proposer has not in any manner, directly or
indirectly, sought by agreement, communication, or conference with anyone to fix the proposal price of
the proposer or any other proposer, or to fix any overhead, profit, or cost element of the proposal price,
or of that of any other proposer, or to secure any advantage against the public body awarding the
agreement of anyone interested in the proposed agreement; that all statements contained in the
proposal are true; and, further, that the proposer has not, directly or indirectly, submitted his or her
proposal price or any breakdown thereof, or the contents thereof, or divulged information or data relative
hereto, or paid, and will not pay, any fee to any corporation, partnership, company, association,
organization, proposal depository, or to any member or agent thereof to effectuate a collusive or sham
proposal.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and
correct.
Proposer Signature: __________________________________________________
Proposer Name: __________________________________________________
Proposer Title: __________________________________________________
Company Name: __________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________
Ali Carden
VP and Global Practice Director GHD Services Inc.
Ali Carden
GHD Services Inc.
Vice President and Global Practice Director, Products & Platforms
2055 Niagara Falls Boulevard Suite 3, Niagara Falls, New York
Page 11 of 11
ATTACHMENT 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF ADDENDA
Must be executed by proposer and submitted with the proposal;
If no addenda has been issued, mark “N/A” under Addendum No. indicating
Not Applicable and sign
ADDENDUM NO. SIGNATURE INDICATING RECEIPT
N/A
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 21
Appendix
T +1 519 884 0510 | M +1 519 404 5657 | E ali.carden@ghd.com www.ghd.com
ALISON CARDEN PMP
Principal, Global Practice Director – DCE
Experience
15 years
Qualifications/Accreditations
– BrainStation Product Management, 2019
– Harvard Business School, Boston, Executive Leadership for Professional Consulting Firms, 2017
– Software Engineering Technician Diploma – Winner of the Faculty Award from the School of Engineering,
Conestoga College, 2006
Awards
– 2016 – Alumni of Distinction, Conestoga College
– 2016 – Award Winner for the Faculty Award from
the School of Engineering – This award is given “to
a student judged to have succeeded through their
hard work and persistence”
– 2016 – Alumni Award, given to the student who has
been the most helpful, most improved and dedicated
– 2006 – Nominated for Alumni Award, given to the
student who has been the most helpful, most
improved and dedicated
– 2006 – Award Winner for the Faculty Award from
the School of Engineering. This award is given “to a
student judged to have succeeded through their
hard work and persistence”
Memberships
– 2012, PMI Member, PMP
– 2008 – Current, Program Advisory Vice-Chair for the
Electronics Engineering Faculty (Conestoga
College)
– 2006 – Current, Member of Kitchener Waterloo
Software Quality Association (KWSQA)
– 2007 – Current, Targeting Quality – Conference
Committee Planning member for the Annual
Software Quality Conference
Relevant experience summary
Alison Carden is the Head of Products at GHD. She is also a Principal and Global Practice Director – Digital
Citizen Experience.
With more than 15 years of experience in the government technology sector (specializing in web, mobile,
product, cloud and database solutions). Alison possesses excellent project management and engagement
skills, as well as extensive knowledge of implementing government enterprise systems, UX, product
development lifecycle, public engagement strategies and focus group techniques.
Trained as a Software Engineer, Alison’s background in computer security and software design gives her a
strong understanding of software design methodologies from the perspective of business programming,
embedded programming, systems programming and administration. Alison also holds a PMP designation and a
recently completed her executive leadership course at Harvard University. Alison has completed numerous
courses and certificate programs in software product development and agile practices and methodologies. She
is also a certified product owner, a certified scrum master, certified project manager and a certified product
manager.
As GHD continues to develop leading edge software products and applications including enterprise web-based
initiatives, Alison dedicates her time to ensuring that client feedback helps to build and improve products in
order to provide the best user-experience possible.
In the government consulting world, Alison works closely with clients to evaluate their needs, understand the
problem that needs to be solved, develop effective action plans for achieving their goals and managing the
execution of those plans from the launch of a project to its completion. Her knowledge and expertise makes
Alison a go-to expert in the government sector, which has led to her be known as a trusted advisor to many. To
date, Alison has worked with over 150 public sector organization in Ontario.
A GHD Principal
T +1 519 884 0510 | M +1 519 404 5657 | E ali.carden@ghd.com www.ghd.com
Career history
2020 - present GHD, North American Practice
Director – Digital Citizen
Experience
2020 - Current GHD, Head of Product
2010 - Current GHD, Principal
2009 - 2020 eSolutionsGroup, Senior Project
Manager
2007 – 2009 eSolutionsGroup, Quality
Assurance Manager
2006 – 2007 eSolutionsGroup, Quality
Assurance Lead
T 519-340-4155 | M 519-340-4155 | E colleen.colbeck@ghd.com www.ghd.com
Colleen Colbeck PMP, BA LITERATURE AND RHETORIC
Project Director, Team Lead – Digital Citizen
Experience
Location
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Experience
10 years
Qualifications/Accreditations
– Honours Bachelor of Arts, Literature and Rhetoric, University of Waterloo, 2011
– PMP Certification, 2020
Key technical skills
– Project Planning and Execution
– Waterfall and Agile delivery
– Communication
Memberships
– PMI
Relevant experience summary
Digital Project Manager and Team Leader with over 10 years of experience working with clients to understand
their business goals, translate them into ideas and requirements, then implement plans to achieve those goals
and measure the outcomes.
For Digital projects and Public Sector clients, understanding a client’s business goals, needs, and pain points
means taking the time to understand the needs, goals, and pain points of their clients – the end user, resident,
citizen, member, patient, student, or parent. That context serves as a powerful input into all aspects of the
project and is one of the key values I bring to the table, along with strong organization and planning skills.
Project experience – Digital Platform
Design and Implementation
Multiple Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager |
City of Brantford | Brantford, Ontario, Canada |
$475,000 CAD | Date May 2018 – March 2019
After a stakeholder needs assessment, we designed
and implemented 3 new websites for the City,
Economic Development, and the Wayne Gretzky
Sports Centre.
– Conducted stakeholder interviews (one-on-one
and small groups) with City Staff, Council, and
members of the public to understand the City’s
operations, business goals, needs, and pain
points
– Led project status meetings, prepared status
update reports, and kept project tasks on track
with key schedule milestones
– Served as a subject matter expert, bridging the
City’s goals and ideas with available software to
meet their needs
Multiple Website Review, Design and
Implementation
Project Manager |
County of Lambton | Wyoming, Ontario, Canada |
$250,000 CAD | Date July 2019 – October 2020
Worked with the County, Art Gallery, Museum, and
Library to implement 4 new websites to provide
improved online services to residents and patrons,
including online payment services for Events,
applications, licences, and permits.
– Collaborated with the 4 business units to prioritize
their individual needs, and decide upon final
features for the new websites that would provide
the greatest benefit to all groups
– Designed and developed a custom solution to
automatically process Journal Entries into the
County’s back-end financial software (Vadim)
when an online payment is collected via the
website (Calendar and Form Builder)
A GHD Associate
Colleen Colbeck | Project Director, Team Lead – Digital Citizen Experience
T 519-340-4155 | M 519-340-4155 | E colleen.colbeck@ghd.com www.ghd.com
– Led project status meetings, prepared status
update reports, and kept project tasks on track
with key schedule milestones
Multiple Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager |
City of Belleville | Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
$150,000 CAD | Date July 2019 – September 2020
An internal needs assessment followed by the design,
development, and implementation of 4 new websites
for the City, Archives, Museum, and Recreation
Centre.
– Conducted stakeholder interviews (one-on-one
and small groups) with City Staff and Council to
determine feature and functionality needs for the
new website
– Completed a detailed review of existing online
services and applications to ensure no loss of
functionality and available services for the new
websites
– Served as a subject matter expert, bridging the
City’s goals and ideas with available software to
meet their needs
– Provided project leadership and technical
expertise for the client and assisted in getting
necessary buy-in from client senior leadership on
resource hours for the project.
Website Implementation
Project Manager |
Town of Gravenhurst | Gravenhurst, Ontario,
Canada |
$37,500 CAD | Date March 2018 – November 2018
After an internal stakeholder assessment, we engaged
in product and feature demos of available software to
address the Town’s business needs and introduce
efficiencies into their operations. From there, we
designed, developed, and implemented a new website
for the Town, featuring several new online tools for
residents.
– Conducted stakeholder interviews (one-on-one
and small groups) with City Staff and Council to
determine feature and functionality needs for the
new website
– Served as a subject matter expert, bridging the
Town’s goals and ideas with available software to
meet their needs
– Provided demos of available software to meet
identified needs and introduce efficiencies for the
Town
– Led project status meetings, prepared status
update reports, and kept project tasks on track
with key schedule milestones
Parking Ticket Application Design and
Implementation
Project/Product Manager |
Town of Huntsville, Town of Greater Napanee,
Township of Woolwich | Various, Ontario, Canada |
$40,000 CAD | Date May 2019 – January 2021
Co-created with three clients to design and implement
a web application for managing parking tickets based
on the policies of Ontario Provincial Offences Act.
– Conducted stakeholder interviews with each client
to understand their internal processes for issuing
and managing parking tickets, and ticket revenue
– Engaged in a deep dive of the parking ticket
regulations outlined in the Ontario POA
– Oversaw the creation of design mock-ups for the
new applications
– Defined requirements and wrote users stories for
application behaviour
– Completed product requirements testing on the
completed application
– Worked with our 3 clients to implement the
system and conduct User Acceptance Testing to
ensure their business needs were met
Project experience – Digital
Transformation
Evaluation of the York Immigration Portal
Project Manager |
Regional Municipality of York | Newmarket,
Ontario, Canada |
$62,450 | Date June 2018 – December 2018
Conduct an in-depth needs assessment of the York
Region Immigration Portal, including internal and
public stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and
surveys to produce a final report of recommendations
for an improved platform that provides key online
services for new residents to York Region.
– Conducted stakeholder interviews (one-on-one
and small groups) with City Staff and Council to
identify current technical environment, features,
and functionality
– Led stakeholder interviews and focus groups with
a variety of newcomers to York Region (attendees
had immigrated to York Region from all over the
world, some recently and some 10+ years prior)
to understand their struggles and pain points as
newcomers to the Region
– Conducted an online and paper-based survey of
newcomers to identify their most pressing needs
as a new resident in York Region
– Completed a SWATr analysis and jurisdictional
scan, as well as a deep dive into the Analytics of
the current portal
Colleen Colbeck | Project Director, Team Lead – Digital Citizen Experience
T 519-340-4155 | M 519-340-4155 | E colleen.colbeck@ghd.com www.ghd.com
– Provided subject-matter expertise in developing
the final findings and recommendations report
Referee
Maria Visocchi | Director, Communications and
Community Engagement
City of Brantford
T: (519) 759-4150 ext. 5754
E: mvisocchi@brantford.ca
Career history
2020 - present GHD, Project Director.
eSolutionsGroup (a GHD
Company) PMO Director
2018 – 2020 eSolutionsGroup - a GHD
Company, Project Manager
2016 - 2018 eSolutionsGroup – a GHD
Company, Project Coordinator
2011 - 2016 Lone Wolf Real Estate
Technologies, Product Triage –
Integration Specialist – Technical
Writer
T +1 519 884 0510 | M +1 226 749-3706 | E carly.simpson@ghd.com www.ghd.com
Carly Simpson MA, BA
Professional Services Team Lead
Location
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Experience
8 years
Qualifications/Accreditations
– Master of Arts (MA), 2009
– Honours Bachelor of Arts, 2008
Key technical skills
– Project management
– Web content strategy
– Information architecture and sitemapping
– Focus group and UX testing
– Digital content accessibility
– Content writing and editing
Relevant experience summary
Carly leads our professional services team to create user-focused, accessible websites for our clients. She
develops intuitive sitemaps, facilitates focus groups and UX testing, and provides guidance and feedback on
content strategy and writing techniques, including how to create written content that meets accessibility standards.
Carly is passionate about making the digital world more user friendly. Her previous experience in web content
writing and strategy content audits, web governance consulting, writing and remediation processes, and will work
with internal subject matter experts to ensure that your website is user friendly, accessible, accurate and up to date.
Project experience – Accessibility Services
Halton Region Accessibility Consulting
Accessibility and Content Specialist
Halton Region | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
March 2021 – September 2021
Carly worked with Halton Region to conduct a website
accessibility audit and web accessibility policy to ensure
that the website is compliant with accessibility
legislation. Carly also worked with the client to create a
document remediation strategy that provided
recommendations around what PDF documents should
be converted into web content and what documents
should be remediated for accessibility. This included a
prioritization plan that empowered the client to ensure
web accessibility compliance moving forward.
City of Kingston Research Report and Web
Content Accessibility Strategy
Accessibility and Content Specialist
City of Kingston| Kingston, Ontario, Canada|
December 2021 – February 2022
Carly worked with the City of Kingston to create a Web
Content Accessibility Strategy that included an
accessible document remediation and prioritization plan
that empowered the City of Kingston to manage PDF
documents on their website and ensure compliance with
the AODA and WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Equipped with a
detailed step-by-step plan that includes
recommendations around risk, the City can now
prioritize the remediation of PDF documents.
Carly Simpson | Professional Services Team Lead
T +1 519 884 0510 | M +1 226 749-3706 | E carly.simpson@ghd.com www.ghd.com
Project experience – Content Writing
City of St. Catharines Website Re-development
Content Services Team Lead
City of St. Catharines | St. Catharines, Ontario,
Canada | June 2021 – September 2021
Carly oversaw the content writing process which
included writing approximately 400 pages of web
content. She worked with the client to develop a writing
style guide and made sure that program and service
offerings were communicated in a clear, consistent and
effective way on the new website.
Municipality of Greenstone Website Refresh
Content Specialist
Municipality of Greenstone | Greenstone, Ontario,
Canada | December January 2021 – March 2021
Carly oversaw the content writing process for the new
Municipality of Greenstone website. Overseeing a team
of three content writers, Carly worked with the client’s
communications team and subject matter experts to
ensure that the content was accurate and followed web
writing best practices.
Invest WindsorEssex and Small Business &
Entrepreneurship Centre Website Refresh
Content Specialist
Invest WindsorEssex | Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
December 2020 – February 2021
Carly oversaw the content writing process for the new
Invest WindsorEssex website. She worked with the
client to develop accurate content that focuses on
connecting customers with business resources in the
community. She worked with the client on page layouts
that prioritized usability and navigation, giving the new
website a consistent feel across departments.
Town of Whitby Website Re-development
Content Specialist
Town of Whitby | Whitby, Ontario, Canada |
November 2020 – January 2021
The Town of Whitby website redesign focused on
creating an accessible, user-focused digital experience.
Carly led a team of writers and worked closely with the
client to write content that responded to community
needs. She also trained Town staff in writing for the web
best practices and how to keep their website content up
to date moving forward.
City of Kenora Website Re-development
Content Editor
City of Kenora | Kenora, Ontario, Canada |
August 2021
Carly worked with the City of Kenora’s communications
team to edit their website prior to go-live. Carly reviewed
select pages on the new website and edited to the
content to align with accessibility and web-writing best
practices.
Huron Perth Public Health Website Redesign
Content Specialist |
Huron Perth Public Health | Huron County, Ontario,
Canada| November 2019 – January 2020
Beginning with the sitemap and website navigation,
Carly worked closely with the client, to ensure that
information, services, and programs were easy for users
to find and access online. She also wrote website
content and oversaw the content writing and approval
process. This included implementing client edits and
feedback while prioritizing web-writing best practices.
Town of Milton Website Redesign
Content Writer
Town of Milton | Milton, Ontario, Canada |
June 2019 – August 2019
Carly oversaw the content writing process for the Town
of Milton and FirstOntario Arts Centre Milton websites. In
this role, Carly worked with the client to develop web-
content that followed writing for the web best practices.
This allows website visitors to easily access municipal
programs and services.
Career history
2018 - present GHD Digital, Professional Services
Team Lead
2016 - 2019 Conestoga College, Professor of
Liberal Studies
2015 - 2017 WikiHow, Content Contributor
2015 - 2016 York University, Professor of History
T +1 613 727 0510 | M - | E emilie.lew@ghd.com www.ghd.com
Emilie Lew
Implementation Team Lead / Project Director
Qualifications/Accreditations
– CAPM Certification, 2018
– Honours Bachelor of Arts, York University, 2009
– D.E.C in Media Arts, John Abbott College, 2005
Relevant experience summary
Emilie is a Digital Project Director and Govstack Implementation Team Lead with over 9 years of experience working with various
public and private sector stakeholders. In her years of experience at GHD Digital, she has used her excellence -driven skills to
understand clients’ needs and exceed expectations on deliverables. With a keen eye for detail and a disciplined approach to
execution, she excels at driving projects through completion based on requirements, milestones and exceptional communication.
She brings new ideas and reliable support to all projec ts and prides herself in building strong, lasting relationships with each client.
As the Govstack Implementation Team Lead, Emilie overseas and manages the team of Implementation Specialists, ensuring the
successful delivery of all implementation projects.
Prior to joining GHD, Emilie gained over 8 years of customer service experience in a wide range of industries..
Emilie is fluently bilingual, and with a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Professional Writing from York
University and a D.E.C. in Media Arts from John Abbot College, she brings additional strengths that complement
her background in project management and client-facing activities.
Prior to joining GHD, Emilie gained over 8 years of customer service experience in a wide range of indus tries.. Emilie is fluently
bilingual, and with a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Professional Writing from York University and a D.E.C. in Media
Arts from John Abbot College, she brings additional strengths that complement her background in project management and client-
facing activities.
Project experience – Website and Digital
Platform Implementation
Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager |
York Region Transit | North York, Ontario, Canada|
2018 – Present
• Implementation of 3 websites and several custom
developed tools since 2018
• Led project status meetings, maintained project
schedule, budget and scope and escalated any items
to internal teams as required
• Served as main contact between client and internal
teams to deliver a new updated website with a focus
on the end user experience
• Served as a subject matter expert, bridging YRT’s
goals and ideas with available and custom software to
meet their needs
Project experience – Website and Digital
Platform Implementation
Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager | Town of Parry Sound | Ontario, Canada|
2018 – Present
• Implementation of a main Town website
• Led project status meetings, maintained project
schedule, budget and scope and escalated any items
to internal teams as required
• Served as main contact between client and internal
teams to deliver a new updated website with a focus
on the end user experience
• Served as a subject matter expert, bridging the
Town’s goals and ideas with available and custom
software to meet their needs
Project experience – Website and Digital
Platform Implementation
Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager | Children’s Healthcare Canada | Ottawa,
Canada | 2021-2022
• Implementation of a fully bilingual website and
microsite
• Led project status meetings, maintained project
schedule, budget and scope and escalated any items
to internal teams as required
• Served as main contact between client and internal
teams to deliver a new updated website with a focus
on the end user experience
• Served as a subject matter expert, bridging the
organization’s goals and ideas with available and
custom software to meet their needs
Project experience – Website and Digital
Platform Implementation
Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager | City of Oshawa | Ontario, Canada | 2021-
2022
• Implementation of a main City site and OSCC55+ site
• Led project status meetings, maintained project
schedule, budget and scope and escalated any items
to internal teams as required
• Served as main contact between client and internal
teams to deliver a new updated websites with a focus
on the end user experience
Emilie Lew | Implementation Team Lead / Project Director
T +1 613 727 0510 | M - | E emilie.lew@ghd.com www.ghd.com
• Acted as Subject Matter Expert on CMS tools and
processes to ensure client had full understanding of
how their new websites will function
Project experience – Website and Digital
Platform Implementation
Website Design and Implementation
Project Manager | City of Burlington | Ontario, Canada |
2021-2022
• Implementation of a main City site and microsites
• Led project status meetings, maintained project
schedule, budget and scope and escalated any items
to internal teams as required
• Served as main contact between client and internal
teams to deliver a new updated website with a focus
on the end user experience
• Served as a subject matter expert, bridging the City’s
goals and ideas with available and custom software to
meet their needs
Career history
2023 - present
2022 - present
2018 - present
GHD Digital, Implementation Team lead
GHD Digital, Project Director
GHD Digital, Project Manager
2014 - 2018 GHD Digital, Project Coordinator
2011 - 2014 Canada Life Assurance Company,
Assistant Team Leader
2010 - 2011 Canada Life Assurance Company,
Bilingual Tele-Underwriter
T 1 519 340 2369 | E Kaitlin.plue@ghd.com www.ghd.com
Kaitlin Plue
Senior Implementation Specialist
Location
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Experience
4 years
Qualifications/Accreditations
– Honours Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry - Wilfrid Laurier University 2019
– Ontario College Graduate Certificate in Project Management - Conestoga College 2020
Relevant experience summary
Kaitlin is a Senior Implementation Specialist who helps maintain the project schedule and budget by
coordinating day-to-day activities. Kaitlin uses her passion for helping others and her excellent communication
skills to fulfil client-driven goals. After spending a year as the team lead on a website development project with
GHD Digital, Kaitlin took this knowledge along with her passion for project management to earn her Ontario
College Graduate Certificate in Project Management, graduating first in her class with Presidents Honours. She
is now using her educational background to pursue her Project Management Professional certification from the
Project Management Institute.
Current Responsibilities
▪ Facilitating planning and strategy focus groups to
define project requirements and build project
timeline based on stakeholder input, to ensure on-
time and on-budget project delivery
▪ Assisted in facilitating the largest internal
technological infrastructure project in company
history to successfully migrate all clients to Azure
cloud hosting, enhancing end user experience and
strengthening website framework
▪ Establishing efficient coordination of internal and
external stakeholders to improve communication
and successfully lead and fulfil client project
requirements
▪ Collaboration with technical and creative teams to
deliver complex integrations with clear and
responsive UI
▪ Effectively prioritize workflow across both
technology and creative teams while acting as the
liaison between teams to complete tasks through
concept development, testing, and launch phases
▪ Serving as the main point of contact for clients
while management project resources, leading
regular project meetings, and providing timely
updates on deliverables
Previous Responsibilities
▪ Independently designed and developed
website content using GHD Digital software
while thriving in a fast-paced environment with
multiple timelines and producing high-quality
deliverables
▪ Attended and contributed to weekly team
meetings, assisting in the identification of
potential risks, and proving ability to adhere to
project timelines and retain project details
▪ Demonstrated strong communication skills and
enjoyment in helping others understand
concepts through effectively training staff
members in GHD Digital software
▪ Conducted internal meetings to elicit
department web content requirements and
answer inquiries while following up with teams
to ensure task completion according to
schedule
Career history
2023-
Present
Senior Implementation Specialist, GHD
Digital, Waterloo Ontario
2022-2023 Senior Project Coordinator, GHD Digital,
Waterloo Ontario
2021-2022 Project Coordinator, GHD Digital,
Waterloo Ontario
2019-2020 Website Redevelopment Team Lead, The
Township of Alnwick/Haldimand, Grafton
Ontario
2017-2019 Note Taker, Wilfrid Laurier University
Teaching and Learning, Waterloo Ontario
www.ghd.com
Jordan Arron B.SC.
Solution Architect
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Experience
16 years
Qualifications/Accreditations
–McGill University
B.Sc., Mathematics & Statistics, 2002
Key technical skills
–Cloud Platforms
Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS
–Programming Languages
C#, VB.net, Java, TypeScript, JavaScript
–Databases
Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access
–Mobile Platforms
Android, iOS, Windows Phone
–Server-Side Development Frameworks
Microsoft .NET, Entity Framework, Web API,
ASP.NET Web Forms/MVC
Angular, Ionic, Vuejs
Relevant experience summary
Over 16 of software development experience in small and large projects on both web and mobile platofrms.
Extensive experience integrating with 3rd-party APIs and web services. Works closely with clients to understand
and prioritize requirements and designing an architectural solution to project goals.
Project experience – Mobile Application
York Region Mobile App
Technical Lead |
York Region | Ontario, Canada |
July 2021 – October 2021
Develop a mobile application to integrate with the
Region’s Salesforce installation and allow users to
submit Service Requests.
As part of this project and given the complexities of
working with Salesforce, considerable effort was
placed and feature requirements gathering and
documentation of both design and technical
architectures. During application was developed
public beta testing was coordinated with over 200
test participants.
N4 – CHEO – Member Site
Solution Architecture |
CHEO | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
November 2020 – November 2021
T 416-866-2344 | E jordan.arron@ghd.com
Develop a social meeting space for health care
professionals to assist new Canadian immigrants in
navigating the healthcare system.
The project required designing and implementing a
social networking environment that integrates with
various 3rd-party services from identity management to
training and learning data.
The application uses a complex system of roles and
groups to control what information users can access
and can send over 100 different notifications to users.
Career history
2021 - present GHD, Solution Architect
2017 - 2021 GHD, Technical Lead
2014 - 2017 GHD, Senior Mobile Developer
2002 – 2014 Independent Consultant
www.ghd.com T 519-340-4244 | M 519-242-6776 | E heathcliffe.hutchings@ghd.com
HEATHCLIFFE HUTCHINGS B.A. HONS.
Technical Trainer
Experience
10 years
Qualifications/Accreditations
–BA Honors Arts, Anthropology, University of Waterloo, 1998
–Digital Media Post Graduate Certificate, Conestoga College, 2000
Key technical skills
–Comfortable with various Windows platforms, their
operation and troubleshooting
–Proficient with MS Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint
–Skilled in web application design and development,
including HTML, XML, CSS and various media
types including graphics (PhotoShop) and video for
web
Core Competencies
–Training Development & Delivery
–Conflict Management
–Process & Policy Development
–Problem Analysis and Creative Solutions
–Design for Presentations & Marketing
–Client Needs Fulfillment
–Team Building and Ethical Motivations
–Visual Media Publishing
Relevant experience summary
Heath has over ten years’ experience in technical training. After joining eSolutionsGroup in 2011, he is the
primary Technical Trainer and Training Developer covering the core line of offered web-based products. He has
a proven ability to learn complex materials, and repackage and present them in complete, easy-to-follow
directions for clients of varying technical experience. He is also responsible for developing supporting materials,
often unique to each client, before and after training sessions. Heathcliffe’s objective has always been to get
clients comfortable and excited about using new software and technology. He strives to take the learning
experience beyond basic technical instruction and includes concept exploration and best practices in his
training sessions; encouraging a positive environment where new users can openly discuss both creative usage
and functional implementation.
Professional Experience
Materials
–Couse documentation and release publications
–Supplementary technical notes and best practices
–Training guides and Developmental Resources
–Testing material for Live and E-Learning
Environments
– E-Learning Course Development
Creative Support
–Layout design, editing and troubleshooting for
various clients and projects
–Training on software abilities, providing clients with
the ability to integrate multiple software packages to
achieve project success
Training Services
–Technical training package development and
delivery for a wide range of adult education
requirements
–Development of full range core curriculum for
various software packages
Career history
2011 - present GHD / eSolutionsGroup, Technical
Trainer
2001 - 2010 Conestoga College, Information
Technology Instructor
GHD | City of La Quinta | Website Design and Maintenance Services 22
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