Who We Are

Tooke and Smith is a group of seasoned business development professionals with experience in proposal management, corporate marketing, and business development.

Ken Tooke (Senior Partner) has over 24 years of experience in strategic planning, marketing, business development, capture planning, and proposal/presentation development. Since founding Tooke and Smith Consultants (formerly Tooke Consulting) with Kevin Smith in 2003, Ken has successfully won major Federal contracts for large, small and 8(a) companies and has strategically built companies' infrastructure to enhance their competitive positions. Some of Ken's accomplishments include:

Won 100+ major proposals over the past 10 years totaling over $4B for multiple Federal agencies, including DoD (Air Force, USACE, Army, Navy), EPA, DOE, FAA, NGB, and DOT, as well as commercial and municipal customers.

Helped companies achieve up to 300% growth by enhancing strategic focus and direction, improving business processes/systems, increasing organizational efficiencies, and implementing best proposal management practices.

Earned more than 100 commendations from clients recognizing industry knowledge, strategic capabilities, and capture/proposal effectiveness.

Recognized nationally for capture planning and proposal management; spoke at two USACE Small Business Conferences and NAD Regional SAME Conferences.

Effectively supported clients ranging from large, Fortune 50 companies to small, 10-20 person 8(a) firms on proposals ranging from $3M to $5B.

Routinely worked with Executive Management to enhance strategic planning and identify growth opportunities best aligned to core competencies.

Kevin Smith (Partner) received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (Nuclear Engineering Option) from the University of Notre Dame in 1975. During the past 33 years, Kevin’s career has encompassed marketing, strategic planning, business development, capture planning, and proposal/presentation development in both the Federal Government and private sector markets. Since 2003, Kevin has managed the Fluor Corporation account for Tooke & Smith Consultants, participating in strategy sessions and leading the proposal development activities on their most important opportunities, including the $50B Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP IV). Key wins include LOGCAP IV for the Army, the CENTCOM Contingency (I and II) and Iraq New Power Generation contracts for USACE, and the HERC and AFCAP III contracts for the U.S. Air Force. Kevin was formerly a Senior Vice President at The IT Group, where he managed business development activities for the $1.4 billion company. His Federal Government experience includes Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of State, NASA and USAID.

Ben Kosek (Partner) has over 31 years of experience in the engineering, construction and environmental industries. He brings an in-depth knowledge of project development and project execution in both the domestic and international markets. Ben was formerly Vice President of Field Operations for Underground Solutions Inc., a water/wastewater technology company, and Vice President of IT Corporation, where he managed estimating, project development and project management personnel. While at IT, Ben developed estimating and proposal development procedures used to capture in excess of $1 billion of Federal government business. The procedures complied with all government procurement requirements and successfully passed Government (DCAA) audits. Ben also participated in the estimating, pricing and negotiating of commercial contracts, as well as the company’s growth strategy through mergers and acquisitions. In this role, he performed comprehensive due diligence of potential acquisitions, reviewing ongoing projects, key personnel, and cost structures.

Heather Orr (Senior Associate) has an expertise managing and writing federal government proposals gained over 15 years winning 150+ contracts valued at over $1.2B for federal government contractors and engineering firms. Provides strategic planning for proposal development to large and small businesses for major federal government contracts with an emphasis on DoD agencies (Air Force, USACE, Army, Navy) and DOE for ID/IQ contracts and Brooks Act Procurements (SF330s). Played key roles preparing winning proposals (management sections, resumes, project descriptions) for base operations, O&M, security, engineering, construction, and environmental services. Managed $500M-$1B management consulting and IT implementation proposals for PWC and IBM. Strategically supported 8(a) company through award of three DoD ID/IQ contracts within one year which successfully launched the firm into Federal market. Improved $1.8B government contractor's win rate by developing proposal infrastructure including proposal process integration; development of templates, source material, qualification write-ups; and staff training.

Simone Shields (Senior Associate) has 20 years experience including civil engineering planning, design, construction and operations. She began her career as an engineering intern with the Corps of Engineers, New England District where she spent 11 years performing civil works and remediation design as well the technical lead for over 50 DERP-FUDS, BRAC and Superfund projects. Prior to joining Tooke and Smith in 2007, Simone was a Senior Project Manager for Weston Solutions, Inc. (Weston) managing Corps of Engineers and AFCEE projects including a $40M Superfund Site for EPA Region 1 and a $4M SRM project in the Azores. As part of Weston’s Air Force Mentor-Protégé program, Simone performed operations management for a native-Hawaiian owned 8(a) company located in Honolulu and improved management of their operations and Pacific Rim Navy projects. In 2002, Simone was chosen for a temporary assignment to Weston’s headquarters office where she worked with the executive management group to develop an internal Project Management on-line training curriculum.

Simone has a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Norwich University. She is a member of SAME and recently completed her tenure as the New England Regional Vice President.

Karina Quintans (Associate) has 19 years experience working with both domestic and international operations of businesses and non-profits. Her core competencies include project planning and implementation, organizational development, proposal writing and production, process improvement and problem solving, research, business writing and communications. Karina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Babson College, and Master’s degree in International Affairs from Ohio University.

Diane Scott Adams (Senior Associate) is an award winning writer with 21 years of experience developing and implementing integrated communications, corporate branding, advertising, public relations and strategic marketing programs. She has worked for both international organizations, including Serco North America and Tropicana Products, and mid-sized construction firms as the Director of Marketing. As a leader in marketing communications, she has successfully launched dozens of customized marketing campaigns for private sector businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Her experience includes the development of direct mail campaigns, corporate newsletters, Web sites, marketing brochures, employee communications, case studies and white papers, media exposure, and press conferences. In addition to her marketing communications expertise, Diane has contributed to the development of commercial and Federal construction and facilities management proposals, winning over $1 billion in new contracts for which she wrote the management plans, small business utilization plans, contract-specific resumes and project descriptions.

Diane is an Executive Officer and Board Member for the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of CoreNet Global, a world-wide commercial real estate association. She chairs the Chapter's Communications Committee, is an Executive Committee Member and Chair for CoreNet Global's Eastern Regional Symposium. She also chaired the Public Relations Committee and was a member of the Steering Committee for CoreNet Global's 2006 Global Summit in Philadelphia. Diane was inducted into Cambridge Who's Who of Executives and Professionals and Cambridge Who's Who of Professional Women. She is a member of the Philadelphia American Institute of Architects Communications Committee and was the interim editor and a contributing writer for "The Philadelphia Architect." She is a former Press Member of the National Writer's Association as well as a former member of the Society of Marketing Professional Services and the Association for Business Communications.

Diane has a Bachelor of Arts from Rowan University, one of the nation's top communications schools, and completed graduate course work in Strategic and Change Management at Thomas Jefferson University.

Crystal J. Dow (Associate) has 9 years of experience in all aspects of proposal development and management. She is proficient in developing and featuring proposal win themes; analyzing proposal requirements; designing the proposal/text layout; developing and managing the proposal schedule; training proposal authors; and quality assurance of the final product. Her other areas of expertise include proposal writing; graphic development; proposal editing for consistency, clarity, style, and theme emphasis; presentation development; and formal coaching.

As a former Proposal Manager for Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON), Crystal provided guidance and leadership to business teams bidding on competitive proposals, ensuring discriminators, win themes, and strategies created the greatest probability of capture. For WESTON, she led winning proposals totaling more than $650M for federal agencies such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, and Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

Crystal takes a leadership role in developing competitive proposals that provide solutions to customer needs. She has a proven ability to work independently and cooperatively as part of a multi-integrated team under strict deadlines. She is skilled in establishing and maintaining team relationships through high level integrity, sound communication, and development of innovative solutions. Crystal holds a B.S. in Marine Science from Kutztown University, Pennsylvania.

Alicia Rogers (Senior Associate) has over 20 years of experience in the engineering, technology, and construction management industry providing strategic planning, marketing support, and proposal development/management. As the Director of Marketing for Earth Tech for over ten years, she managed marketing communications and proposal services for the environmental, facilities, transportation, and water/wastewater practices. She led multi-million dollar Federal proposal efforts, which led to over $700 million in new contract awards. Alicia also led federal proposal efforts for state and local agencies, as well as commercial clients. Her proposal experience includes bid/no bid decisions, capture planning, proposal strategy development, proposal team management, writing and technical editing, proposal layout and graphic design, RFP compliance, proposal reviews and revisions, production of high-quality documents, as well as development and coaching for oral presentations.

Most recently, as Director of Marketing for a wastewater treatment and renewable energy technology start-up in Rochester, NY, Alicia played a key role in the exponential growth of the company -- leading to its recognition as one of the fastest growing companies on the Inc. 500 and the subsequent sale of the company. Alicia has a B.S. in Geology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.