Adam Echter is a Partner with Simon-Kucher and leads the Global Industrials Sector. Echter’s career is marked by a deep commitment to enhancing sales excellence, business model innovation, and strategic pricing across various industries. With a rich background in sales development—from grassroots outside sales to the comprehensive restructuring and empowerment of sales teams—his expertise has impacted industrial companies with revenues ranging from $100 million to several billion dollars. Such experience and success have led to recognition as one of “The Top 25 Strategy Consultants and Leaders of 2023” by the Consulting Report.

An author of note, Echter co-authored “Beating Inflation” alongside Dr. Hermann Simon, a best-selling author and co-founder of Simon-Kucher. This work underscores his thought leadership in the field of pricing during economically volatile times. Moreover, his contribution to the speaker circuit has delivered valuable insights through the Professional Pricing Society, Chief Executive Group, Private Equity International and various industry/academic forums.

Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University at Buffalo and an MBA in finance from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. Notably, his commitment to education and mentorship led him back to the Simon School of Business to help develop the first comprehensive pricing degree formally recognized by any MBA program.

Alejandro Martinez is a strategic leader with a proven track record of building and executing large-scale Data & Analytics programs for global and regional clients across various business areas. With a keen eye for innovation and a knack for challenging the status quo, he has led the creation and implementation of new strategies to optimize data analysis and maximize business value.

Alejandro's contributions have not gone unnoticed, and he has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Global Healthcare Consultants by The Consulting Report, as well as a Visionary Leader in the Data & Analytics field by Analytics Insight. He is also a member of the Forbes Business Council, an invitation-only organization for successful business leaders and entrepreneurs.

In addition, Alejandro shares his expertise and insights as a strategy management lecturer and speaker at industry events.

Eric Wick is a Managing Director and Senior Partner in the Chicago office of Boston Consulting Group. He has led BCG’s Corporate Finance and Strategy practice area in North America, and has worked with clients across industries on a range of strategic and operational initiatives aimed at achieving enterprise goals.

Prior to joining BCG, held line roles including Operations Director for the online grocery distributor and various positions as an officer in the United States Navy, where he specialized in deep sea diving and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD). Eric holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Kathleen P. Federico is the SVP, Chief People and Communications Officer at MITRE. She spearheads the development and implementation of scalable enterprise-wide programs and strategies to advance MITRE’s people and leaders. MITRE manages federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) supporting various U.S. government agencies in the aviation, defense, healthcare, homeland security, and cybersecurity fields, among others.

Prior to MITRE, she was the president and chief executive officer of The KDF Group, a boutique advisory firm that provided management and leadership consulting. Federico was also the chief human resources officer for Civitas Solutions, a provider of home-based health and human services. She also held the dual role of senior vice president of sales and HR at World Travel Holdings, the world’s largest cruise agency. Federico holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Merrimack College.

Laura Manson-Smith is the Global Leader of Organization Strategy Consulting at Korn Ferry, a leading global organizational consulting firm. Joining the company in 2017 as a Senior Client Partner, Manson-Smith plays a pivotal role in designing optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities for clients. Korn Ferry specializes in helping clients hire the right talent, advising on workforce motivation and rewards, and guiding professionals through career development. With a career spanning 20 years, she is a seasoned business transformation specialist, focusing on sustainable change with an emphasis on the people and cultural dimensions.

Manson-Smith’s consulting expertise aids clients in improving business performance by aligning people, processes, and organizations with strategic goals. Manson-Smith has worked across diverse industries, including energy, defense, government, and pharmaceuticals, and has a global perspective through engagements in Europe, the US, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She holds a BS in physics with honors, including a year in Europe, from Imperial College, London, and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Scott Rankin is a Principal at KPMG and serves as Strategy leader for its Deal Advisory & Strategy practice. Based in Boston, Rankin has spent significant time as a strategy and M&A consultant, as well as in senior executive roles at a Fortune 150 retailer and a mobile commerce start-up. Rankin has deep expertise in defining and implementing inorganic and organic strategic initiatives across numerous industries and sectors, and as a strategy and M&A consultant, works directly with C-suite executives and private equity leaders to develop M&A strategies, strategic growth plans and operational transformations.

Rankin brings deep industry expertise and leverages sophisticated analytics to identify markets, categories and channels for growth and areas for profit improvement. His areas of expertise include growth strategy, commercial diligence, operational diligence, operating model transformation, cost optimization and profit improvement. Rankin has an MBA in Business & Strategy from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management with a BBA in Finance.

Sean McDevitt is a leading decision-maker, advisor, and thought leader in the telecommunications industry with three decades of international management consulting and operations experience spanning several global markets.

Based in Boston, Sean is a Partner at global consultancy Arthur D. Little, where he leads their USA TMT Practice. Sean's clients - telecom operators, suppliers, private equity, infrastructure funds, and lenders – turn to his expertise for critical business decisions regarding investment due diligence, commercial / market assessments, business plan review, strategic growth initiatives, and portfolio value creation.

At ADL, he has been pivotal in driving ADL’s growth and re-emergence as one of the premier management consulting firms in the USA. Since its reentry into the USA market, ADL currently serves five of the top ten US telecom operators. Sean also leads the firm’s recruiting efforts and has had an instrumental role in building the ADL USA team and company culture.

Prior to joining ADL, Sean was a VP at Cartesian, where he led the North American Strategy and Management Consulting businesses. Previously, he held executive positions in Europe, serving as Président-Directeur Général of Le Numéro France (118218) and COO of 118118//Media in the UK.

In October 2023, United States Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo appointed Sean to serve on the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), the USA’s nationwide public safety broadband network that equips first responders to save lives and protect U.S. communities.

Sean is also a Level 4 Tenured (highest level) USA certified On-Ice Official for youth, high school, NCAA, and disabled ice hockey. Sean officiated both the 2023 and 2024 USA Hockey Sled/Para National Championships and is a regular league official for the NorthEast Sled Hockey League.

Sean earned his BA in Classics and Business Economics from Brown University and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Dr. Velislava Ivanova is a recognized sustainability expert with over twenty-five years of wide international experience in developing and delivering sustainability strategies and programs for multinational corporations from various sectors including energy, manufacturing, retail, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. She works successfully with senior executives in large and complex organizations to set sustainability ambition and goals, improve business performance and embed sustainability across their value chains and products.

In her role as the EY Americas Chief Sustainability Officer, Dr. Ivanova drives the advancement of EY’s Sustainability initiatives to increase the long-term value of the firm and its clients. She has recently been appointed the Global Strategy and Markets Leader for the EY Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) practice. In this new role, she is responsible for the strategic direction and growth for EY CCaSS globally including focus on solutions, sectors, go to market and brand efforts. She oversees the development of consistent delivery methodologies, digital enablement, and innovation of EY sustainability services and the engagement of EY with sustainability partners and Alliances. Dr. Ivanova regularly engages with the analyst community and EY has been recognized consistently as the leading provider of sustainability practice in professional services globally.

Dr. Ivanova is the EY Liaison Delegate at WBCSD. Throughout her career, she has worked with the leading Sustainability organizations including CDP, WEF, SBTi, and UNGC. She regularly speaks at Sustainability forums and has published thought leadership on various topics including Sustainability strategy, Sustainable supply chains, climate and natural capital, and sustainability reporting.

She holds a PhD and MSc from the University of Manchester, UK and MSc from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. She speaks five languages.

She was recognized among the Top 100 Women in Sustainability in 2022 and 2023 by the Sustainability Magazine, among the Top 100 CSO by the Sustainability Magazine in 2023, and among the Top 25 Sustainability Consultants and Leaders in 2022 and 2023 by the Consulting Report. In 2024, she was recognized among the Top 14 Inspiring Women Leading the Fight Against Climate Change by ESG News and among the Top 20 Chief Sustainability Officers by The Climate Insider.