GHA Team

Carl Griffin, Principal/CEO

Carl Griffin is the founding Principal of Griffin, Hill & Associates, LLC (“GHA”) and serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. He has 30 years of experience in the private and public sectors as a consultant and manager focused on accounting, auditing, finance, government contracting, human resources, business productivity improvement and project management.

One of Carl’s greatest strength is his ability help organizations streamline contracting, purchasing and accounting processes to achieve cost and maximum productivity improvements, while ensuring compliance with governmental contracting requirements. Carl is extremely skilled and knowledgeable about Federal, State and local contracting laws, rules and regulations, which help ensure compliance while increasing organizational efficiency.

His unique expertise includes overseeing business process improvement projects involving new computer technology to achieve completive advantage and customer satisfaction. He is accomplished in the art of properly aligning people, processes and technology to better manage complex, high risk government projects.

As a former King County and Seattle METRO employee, he served in several executive positions including Manager of Contract Cost and Price Analysis and Negotiation Support, Manager of Procurement Management Division, Assistant Controller, Supervising Internal Contracts Auditor, Senior Financial Analyst and Internal Auditor. Carl has performed and managed multi-mullion dollar pre award and post award audits and reviews for over 100 engineering, construction, equipment, property acquisition and relocation service contracts. He also developed, implemented and managed the contract cost and price analysis and contract negotiation support program for King County. During his time at Seattle METRO, Carl was a pivotal member of project teams for design and construction of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, West Point Treatment Plant and Renton Treatment Plant Enlargement.

Since 1998, Carl has served as Principal- In -Charge for various GHA projects and been responsible for overseeing consulting engagements with the City of Seattle, Sound Transit, King County, the Port of Seattle and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

Carl has a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from Eastern Illinois University.

Joann Francis, Principal/ President

Joann Francis joined GHA in 2006 as a Principal and President of the company. For more than 30 years, she has worked in various capacities, including legal counsel, public official and consultant, on major public works projects in the State of Washington and the Puget Sound region. She has been involved in all phases of capital projects, including planning, design, procurement, construction and operations and maintenance. Joann has in-depth knowledge of public policy, legal, financial and administrative issues and requirements that must be addressed to successfully complete such projects. Her public sector work includes serving as Sound Transit’s Chief Administrative Officer and directing the agency’s Administrative Services Department. In that capacity, she was responsible for overseeing six divisions, including contracts, real estate, facilities and security, safety and fleet, human resources and diversity programs for the entire agency’s three lines of business - commuter rail, light rail and regional express bus service. As part of Sound Transit’s executive leadership team, she was instrumental in obtaining the reinstatement of a 500 million dollar full funding grant agreement with the Federal Transportation Administration.

Prior to joining Sound Transit, Joann served as a political appointee in the Clinton-Gore Administration as the Northwest Regional Administrator for the Small Business Administration (“SBA”). She oversaw 5 district SBA offices in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and a portfolio of more than 2 Billion Dollars of SBA loans.

Joann’s legal experience includes serving as a member/partner at Foster Pepper & Shefelman, PLLC (“FPS”). At FPS, she was a member of the public finance group, representing the City of Seattle as bond counsel. She also chaired the FP&S employment and labor practice group and represented some of the largest employers in the region, including Boeing, Costco, Washington Mutual Bank, Jeld-Wen, and companies owned by Paul Allen.

Joann has achieved success as an entrepreneur. As the founder and operator of her own law office, Joann achieved recognition as one of top 10 bond counsel attorneys in the U.S. for volume and dollar amount of transactions and served as bond counsel or underwriter’s counsel for multiple billions of dollars worth of capital projects throughout the state of Washington. Joann co-founded and operated for 14 years, a successful management consulting company and grew the business in 5 years from start-up to one of 10 outstanding small businesses in Seattle recognized by former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice.

Joann holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Washington.

Griffin, Hill & Associates, LLC

Your Productivity Improvement Partners

Griffin Hill's Management Team

Website design by Ayanna Redmond- Gratton