Kelly Sears Consulting Group was founded by Michael Kelly and Garry Sears in 2001, who were longtime partners with KPMG in Ottawa.

Kelly Sears Consulting Group (“Kelly Sears”) was federally incorporated in December 2001. In the first few years, the firm specialized in “management diagnostics”. This stemmed from the experience of Michael Kelly who, in the late 1990s while with KPMG, developed the “Capacity Check” diagnostic methodology in partnership with Treasury Board Secretariat. This tool enabled organizations to assess their capabilities in each of some 33 management practices (e.g., leadership, planning, performance measurement, risk management, information management, external reporting). The tool was subsequently used in over 90 federal departments and agencies under the Modern Management/Modern Comptrollership initiative, which evolved into the Management Accountability Framework (MAF). In subsequent years Kelly Sears supported many federal organizations in carrying out their MAF assessments and developing the resulting action plans.

Kelly Sears also specializes in the conduct of service delivery reviews, evaluation studies, strategic/business planning, and the development of performance measurement frameworks. The company has undertaken numerous assignments to help departments to become more efficient and to pursue innovative delivery models. This work is conducted using a proven capacity assessment methodology and expenditure review checklist. Driven by a consultative approach that provides for extensive employee input, we prepare baseline assessments for specific functional areas based on benchmark information and conduct an in-depth assessment of opportunities.

Kelly Sears also continues to be active with the small agency community in facilitating their strategic and business planning, and supporting their performance measurement and reporting.

Finally, program evaluation remains a core business of Kelly Sears. Major clients in recent years include the Department of Canadian Heritage, Department of Justice, Canada Border Services Agency, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the Canadian Space Agency and Health Canada/Public Health Agency of Canada.