We are the leading provider of consulting, education and software solutions, bringing efficient application, support, and streamlined implementation of Decision Quality principles under one umbrella to transform the way your organization makes decisions.
Decision Frameworks was founded on a desire to empower organizations to make efficient and high quality decisions. Our team is made up of industry-leading experts and world renowned software developers. We are dedicated to putting Decision Quality into the hands of our clients.
Our Mission
We are the transformative agent
that enables organizations
to improve performance
by bringing clarity to
decisions.
Our Vision
Better choices today.
A better world tomorrow.
Our
Mission
We are the transformative agent
that enables organizations to
improve performance by bringing
clarity to decisions.
Our
Vision
Better choices today.
A better world tomorrow.
Timeline
1999
Decision Frameworks is founded by
Ellen Coopersmith
2003
Kent Burkholder joins Decision Frameworks from Schlumberger
2005
Jan Schulze is onboarded to engineer Decision Frameworks’ software
DTrio XL is released
2006
Jeremy Walker joins the Decision Frameworks team as a key member
DTrio XL 2.0 ships and we begin to develop OWL
2008 - 2012
A big software development phase:
TreeTop and DTrio are both conceived and brought to market
Decision Frameworks incorporates its Canadian branch (2011)
2013 - Present
The team welcomes Luis, Ray, Ashley, Scott, Lee and Kris to the Decision Frameworks family
Decision Frameworks levels up its software suite with new features and redesigns, setting new industry standards.
Decision Frameworks Team
Ellen M. Coopersmith President
Ellen Coopersmith is the founder of Decision Frameworks and has been with the company since the very beginning in 1999.
She specializes in Decision Analysis consultation, facilitation, training, and implementation. Her passion for decision and risk analysis focuses on skill development, framing, uncertainty analysis and valuing information.
Prior to founding Decision Frameworks, she led one of the oil industry’s most successful implementations of Decision Analysis for Conoco. She holds a degree from the Colorado School of Mines. Ellen is an accomplished technical and managerial facilitator, as well as a published and invited speaker on both the implementation and the technical elements of Decision Analysis.
Kent Burkholder Vice President
Kent is a Vice President at Decision Frameworks. He joined the team in 2003.
Kent is an expert decision quality and probabilistic analysis advisor, instructor, and consultant. He is highly skilled in strategy framing, economic modeling / investment analysis, uncertainty assessment, and all levels of probabilistic analysis, including value of information analysis.
Kent has a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering with Honours, University of British Columbia
Fellow of the Society of Decision Professionals. He previously worked as a Reservoir Engineer at Petro-Canada, Managing Director of Merak Projects UK Ltd, and Manager Oil & Gas Business Consulting, Middle East and Asia at Schlumberger.
Kent lives by the extremely complex mathematical formula, N+1. How many bikes or skis should you own? N+1, where N is the number you own today.
Jan Schulze Vice President - Software
Jan is a Vice President at Decision Frameworks. He has been with the company since 2005.
Jan specializes in software engineering, software development, user interaction and user interface design, high performance computing, and decision analysis
He has a BSc Hons in Computer Science and Business from Warwick University and was Previously a Software Developer at Merak and Schlumberger, as well as a member of SDP and SPE.
Jan was bored in primary school. A teacher suggested an extracurricular activity to make sure Jan was mentally engaged. This led to Jan getting his first home computer – a CPC 464 – at the age of 6. He started programming at that age and never looked back.
Jeremy Walker Vice President of Business Development
Jeremy is Vice President of Business Development at Decision Frameworks. He has been with the company since 2005.
He has a background in business strategy development, petroleum economics, portfolio management systems, and asset acquisition and divestitures.
Mr. Walker is a 1986 graduate of the University of Toronto, with a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Economics. Prior to Decision Frameworks, he was the President of IndigoPool, a Schlumberger company that specialized in integrated acquisition and divestiture solutions and targeted transaction support services to companies and countries engaged in acquisitions, licensing rounds, and divestitures in the petroleum sector.
Jeremy has been on the Board of Directors of SDP since 2018. He is responsible for the SDP Chapter/Outreach Council and a member of the SDP Certification Council. He was a founding member of the SDP’s Houston chapter.
Luis Mendoza Principal Consultant
Luis Mendoza is a Principal Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He joined the team in 2013.
Luis enjoys the gamut of Decision Quality enablement with DF, from training to framing and evaluation to presentation. He specializes in probabilistic model development and strategy evaluation.
Since 2013, Luis has worked a wide variety of engagements with oil and gas companies, manufacturers, and technical government projects. He holds a bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and a master’s in systems engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Luis lives in Houston with his wife and three kids and enjoys being a family man.
Dr. Paul Papayoanou
Senior Advisor
Dr. Paul Papayoanou joined the Decision Frameworks team in 2021 as Senior Advisor and Game Theory Specialist.
As a leading expert in applied game theory, decision analysis, and decision quality with over 20 years experience as a decision practitioner, Dr. Papayoanou assists clients with framing and analysis using multiple proven and proprietary methods.
As a former Professor at the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard, a Fellow in the Society of Decision Professionals, and author of Game Theory for Business. Dr. Papayoanou is uniquely positioned to provide decision making support to Decision Frameworks’ clients.
Steve Galatis
Senior Advisor
Steve Galatis joined Decision Frameworks in 2024 as Senior Advisor and the lead of our biopharmaceutical practice. He is a leading expert in decision analysis, decision quality, and applied game theory.
Steve has over 30 years of experience as a practitioner of decision and risk analysis, focused on biopharmaceuticals and other life sciences. He was formerly the head of Bristol Myers Squibb’s decision analysis team. Prior to that, he was a partner at Strategic Decisions Group and at Strategic Gaming Group.
With his extensive experience in applying decision quality and extensive experience in building and maintaining decision quality capabilities, Steve is uniquely positioned to help clients both solve current dilemmas and build their decision-quality capabilities.
Kris Cejka
Senior Consultant
Kris Cejka is a Senior Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He has been with the company since 2020.
Kris is a subject matter expert in decision quality with expertise in coaching teams and facilitating and evaluating complex decisions. He has extensive experience in strategy development, decision framing, modelling, mergers & acquisitions, value of information, litigation strategy, and commercial negotiations.
Kris received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin and his MBA from the University of San Francisco. He joined Chevron USA as a senior global decision analyst and moved with Chevron to Australia in 2008 and to Singapore in 2015 where he led the decision and economic function for the Asia Pacific region.
Kris and his family (using Decision Quality principles of course), made the decision in 2017 to permanently relocate to Australia.
Scott Bartsch Senior Consultant
Scott Bartsch is a Principal Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He joined the team in 2020.
Scott has international industry experience spanning environmental sciences, new product development, infrastructure and energy. He is an expert in project and portfolio management; decision analysis; organizational Decision Quality; investment decision assurance; risk and uncertainty assessment; strategy development; project planning and execution; and executive education.
Scott led the global implementation of Decision Quality at Nexen Energy then CNOOC International. He stewarded the project planning and delivery framework, investment decision assurance process and the maturation of project management capability, and established the foundational principles of a new CNOOC Stage Gate Process.
Scott is based in Calgary with his wife, children, and energetic dogs Lola & Rico. He loves the outdoors and if he’s not enjoying the Canadian Rockies snowboarding, hiking and biking you’ll find him on a sunny patio - with a view.
Lee Dixon-Cave
Senior Consultant
Lee Dixon-Cave is a Senior Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He joined the team in 2020.
Lee specializes in decision framing, decision analysis, decision quality audits, project management practices, and project governance.
He has 26 years’ experience and has managed all phases of the asset life cycle, from appraisal, through development planning, execution, operations and maintenance, and field abandonment. He has lived and worked in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East and has championed decision quality for over 10 years.
He once told his kids he wanted to become a comedian. When they finally stopped laughing they said that was the funniest thing they ever heard. Crushed.
Adrian Sikorski
Senior Consultant
Adrian is a Senior Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He’s been actively involved since 2016.
An experienced decision practitioner, Adrian comes ready and well-equipped to apply economic analysis and portfolio management techniques to any number of projects.
He specialized in mechanical engineering during his undergraduate at Colorado School of Mines before going on to earn his Masters of Petroleum Business Management from the University of Adelaide.
He has lived on four continents and shares his life with four wonderful family members – his lovely wife, two amazing young boys, and an Australian shepherd.
Ray SpenceSenior Consultant
Ray Spence is a Senior Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He has been with the company since 2017.
Ray has supported numerous projects in the upstream and midstream oil and gas business as well as portfolio planning, manufacturing and country entry strategy. He is often a go-to for client software support and has extensive experience teaching DQ concepts and leading DQ and software uptake amongst clients.
Ray has a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Houston and is pursuing coursework in sustainability. He is the 2020 – 2021 President of the Houston Chapter of the Society of Decision Professionals.
Outside of Decision Quality and engineering, Ray has a strong interest in history, anthropology and cultural studies. He also has a B.A. in History.
Ashley CorsoSenior Consultant
Ashley Corso is a Senior Consultant at Decision Frameworks. She joined the team in 2019.
She instructs decision professionals, projects teams, and decision makers in the application and facilitation of Decision Quality. Her favorite courses to teach are Scenario Thinking for Strategy Development and Value of Information. Ashley is adept at supporting major capital projects ranging from technology commercialization, pharmaceutical drug development, subsidiary divestiture, exploration, appraisal, and development strategy for onshore and offshore assets.
Ashley holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Houston and is an executive committee member of the Society of Decision Professionals Houston Chapter.
When not working, Ashley enjoys spending time with her family and rooting for her favorite baseball, the Houston Astros.
Linda Li
Senior Accountant
Linda is the Senior Accountant at Decision Frameworks. She joined the team in 2022.
One of the principal responsibilities is to maintain the accuracy of financial accounts. She has been successful in performing diversified accounting operations such as monitoring accounts payable and receivable, generating financial reports, preparing tax returns, and processing payroll.
She holds a B.S. in accounting from Xinjiang University of Finance & Economics. She has 25+ years of accounting experience.
After work, she enjoys reading.
Sam Vardy
Consultant
Sam Vardy is a Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He joined the team in 2021.
Sam was immediately drawn to the Path to Net Zero portfolio of project work and case study examples. Through guidance & support from experienced team members, he also discovered a knack for financial modeling. Combining these aspects, he was part of the core team that developed a Carbon Policy dashboard to be used in Path to Net Zero modeling efforts.
He holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Southwestern University, an M.S. in Data Science & Statistics and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston.
Sam lives in Houston with his significant other of 10 years and her two cats. He’s still waiting on the cat allergies to settle down.
David Hoffman
Customer Success
David Hoffman works in Customer Success at Decision Frameworks and has been with the team since 2023.
David’s work with the company began with revitalizing the company’s extensive case library, and it was through this work that he learned about Decision Quality and its utility. Since then, he has been working to enhance the learning experience of current clients and is always looking to learn about new Decision Quality applications.
David holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from Trinity University and M.B.A. from the University of Houston.
When not at work, David can be found trying to make his friends, family and often strangers laugh by any means necessary.