The Consulting Report is pleased to announce The Top 25 Women Leaders in Consulting for 2022. Through their various roles, these exceptional women have led their firms with insights and strategies across sectors from technology to healthcare, to financial services, as well as other sectors. They have earned their positions and place among the best in the industry by advancing the objectives of their clients and consistently driving outstanding results.
Kristen Soles of CohnReznick delivers strategic risk management and technology solutions that help organizations define their visions, solve critical business issues, and achieve positive outcomes during times of opportunity, transition, or crisis. Meanwhile, FTI Consulting’s Sophie Ross specializes in helping clients manage their overall e-discovery and review through predictable pricing models and by simplifying the multiple layers of discovery management. And Lan Guan of Accenture has led an array of analytics projects featuring customer segmentation and profiling, target marketing, predictive modeling, and business forecasting to enhance clients’ marketing efforts and improve the bottom line.
Amid a talented pool of nominees, these women set themselves apart based on their performance, their contributions to their particular area of expertise, and their reputation among their peers and the broader consulting industry. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 25 Women Leaders in Consulting for 2022.
1. Annette Rippert, Accenture
Title: Group Chief Executive – Strategy & Consulting
As Accenture’s Group Chief Executive for Strategy & Consulting, Annette Rippert is responsible for leading a team of more than 40,000 strategists and consultants, industry and function experts, data scientists, and human performance professionals. Accenture has expertise in more than 40 industries with offices and operations in 50 countries. Rippert works with C-suite executives and boards of the world’s leading organizations, helping them accelerate digital transformations, grow profitability, and deliver sustainable value.
Rippert is passionate about the opportunities she sees at the intersection of industry, technology, and human ingenuity, and her leadership has not gone unnoticed: Accenture was recently named a leader in digital business transformation services by Forrester, and Rippert was named by Business Insider as one of the most influential people transforming consulting. She’s also been recognized by the American Business Awards with Gold Stevie Award for Achievement in Management in Business & Professional Services. Rippert advises the MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology, and serves on the Board of Trustees for Northwestern University, where she earned both her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and her Masters of Management.
2. Martha Carter, Teneo
Title: Vice Chairman & Head of Governance Advisory
Dr. Martha L. Carter is Vice Chairman and Head of Governance Advisory with Teneo. She advises CEOs and boards on corporate governance, sustainability, activism defense, executive compensation, shareholder engagement, strategy, and other matters. Dr. Carter sits on the Advisory Council of the Harvard Corporate Governance Forum and previously sat on the Markets Advisory Council at the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). She has certifications in SASB and TCFD reporting frameworks. Previously, Dr. Carter was the Head of Global Research at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Chair and Founder of the ISS Global Policy Board. At ISS, Dr. Carter led Global Research’s team of governance analysts in 10 offices worldwide. Her team provided institutional investors with research and voting recommendations on more than 38,000 companies in 115 markets.
Dr. Carter has been quoted in media worldwide and has been a speaker at corporate governance events. She has also written articles for a number of publications, including: NYSE: Corporate Governance Guide; International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Benefits Magazine; ICGN Yearbook; and Financial Analysts Journal. Dr. Carter holds a PhD in Finance from George Washington University, an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and French from Purdue University.
3. Kristen Soles, CohnReznick
Title: Managing Partner, Advisory - Global Consulting Solutions and Government Contracting Industry Leader
As the leader of CohnReznick’s Global Consulting Solutions and Government Contracting Industry practices, Kristen Soles provides risk management, operational, and strategic consulting services to clients. Leading large teams of advisory and government contracting professionals, her services range from cybersecurity and data privacy to CFO advisory and government contractor FAR/CAS compliance. In leading the Global Consulting Solutions practice, Soles focuses on delivering strategic risk management and technology solutions that help organizations define their visions, solve critical business issues, and achieve positive outcomes during times of opportunity, transition, or crisis. These solutions include advisory services focused on data analytics and privacy, cybersecurity and other technology risks, and enterprise technology solutions.
Leveraging prior experience as a management-level contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Soles helps the government contracting industry by addressing DoD compliance, allocability and allowability issues, disclosure statement requirements, GSA schedules, and DCAA audits. Working with CohnReznick’s Construction and Not-for-Profit Industry practices, she also advises on numerous government contracting issues related to grants, A-133 audits, and U.S. Department of Energy 316 audits.
4. Linda Blair, Deloitte Consulting
Title: Managing Partner, Ontario, and Chief Experience Officer
Linda Blair is Deloitte Canada’s Chief Experience Officer and the Regional Managing Partner for the country’s largest region. Deloitte provides audit & assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With over 14,000 employees across the country, Deloitte Canada is the country’s largest professional services firm. Deloitte serves four out of five Fortune Global 500 companies through a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories bringing world-class capabilities, insights and service to address clients' most complex business challenges.
Over the course of her 25+ years in management consulting, Linda has helped clients across Canada and the United States navigate complex and needed change. She is well versed in all aspects of large-scale program execution. In her role of Chief Experience Officer, Linda is not only a member of Deloitte’s Executive Leadership team, but has been instrumental in navigating the firm through critical operational initiatives such as its nation-wide pandemic management; real estate optimization; and the rollout of Deloitte Canada’s market-leading “Next Normal” business model which reimagines hybrid work. As Regional Managing Partner for Ontario, Linda leads the marketplace agenda in one of North America’s largest and most sophisticated markets, exercising her strong belief in connection, service, and community to ensure the firm brings the best Deloitte can offer to its clients.
In 2018, Linda was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Linda holds a BSc in Nursing from Western University and an MBA from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto.
5. Sophie Ross, FTI Consulting
Title: Global Chief Executive Officer
Sophie Ross is the Global Chief Executive Officer of FTI Consulting’s Technology segment, a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk, and resolve disputes. She also leads the Technology Steering Committee and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Ross has more than 20 years of experience in company management and operations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, specializing in helping clients manage their overall e-discovery and review through predictable pricing models and by simplifying the multiple layers of discovery management. She additionally serves on the Global Steering Committee of FTI Consulting’s Women’s Initiative, a company-wide program meant to attract, retain, develop, and promote highly talented female professionals.
Prior to her current position, Ross led the Western Region for FTI Consulting as well as the Managed Document Review business globally. She initially joined FTI Consulting through its 2008 acquisition of Strategic Discovery, a leader in the litigation discovery industry, where she served as COO and was responsible for all operations including data processing, IT, client support, human resources and administration, finance, and accounting. Prior to Strategic Discovery, Ross was executive VP of Global Delivery & Operations at Freeborders, an application outsourcing and software firm. She has also held strategic and operational leadership roles at Revlon (MacAndrews & Forbes) and The Boston Consulting Group. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
6. Lan Guan, Accenture
Title: Senior Managing Director
Lan Guan, Senior Managing Director at Accenture, leads the Global Industry Applied Intelligence Network within Accenture’s Strategy Consulting domain. In this role she is responsible for working with clients to develop and implement data and AI strategies for their organizations. She has spent her last eighteen years at Accenture working with cross-industry Fortune 100 clients in North America and specializes in data integration, data mining, and statistical modeling. Guan is often asked to speak at analytics events on subjects such as managing advanced analytic applications, growing analytic resources, delivering more informed information, and making analytics a part of the corporate operation. She has published a number of industry white papers about the growing impact of analytics on corporate transformation, and in 2013 she co-authored a management handbook: Selling Through Someone Else: How to Use Agile Sales Networks and Partners to Sell More.
Guan has led an array of analytics projects featuring customer segmentation and profiling, target marketing, predictive modeling, and business forecasting to enhance clients’ marketing efforts and provide business/strategic decision support to improve the bottom line. Prior to joining Accenture, Guan was an Analytics Manager at Quantum, a start-up custom analytic company specializing in the areas of predictive modeling, sales force optimization, automotive primary research, and database management. She received her MBA in Applied Statistical Engineering from the University of Michigan and her PhD (ABD) in Quantitative Economics from Wayne State University.
7. Amanda Adler, Bain & Company
Title: Partner, New York
Amanda Adler is a Partner in the Healthcare practice of Bain & Company, one of the world’s largest global management consultancy firms providing services to public, private, and non-profit organizations around the world. The company is driven by over 10,500 professionals across 61 offices in 38 countries and boasts an annual revenue in excess of $4 billion. Adler has worked at Bain for over 15 years, and in her time with the firm, she has developed expertise across a range of healthcare sectors including medtech, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, payers, and providers. Adler is also the leader of social impact initiatives at the firm’s New York offices. Recently, she has been focused on driving business strategy, customer experience, operating model, and complexity reduction.
Adler began her career with Bain in 2006 as an Associate Consultant, serving in that role until being made Partner in 2020. In 2010, she was a Summer Fellow for Education Pioneers as part of Boston Public Schools’ Capital and Strategic Planning. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Indiana Kelley School of Business and an MBA from Harvard University.
8. Nive Bhagat, Capgemini
Title: Global Chief Executive Officer, Cloud & Infrastructure Services
Nive Bhagat is the Global Chief Executive Officer for Cloud & Infrastructure Services and a member of the Group Executive Committee for Capgemini, a multinational information technology services and consulting company headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1967, Capgemini is a global leader in partnering with companies to transform and manage their business by harnessing the power of technology. The company is a responsible and diverse organization of over 300,000 team members in nearly 50 countries and boasts a market cap in excess of $37 billion. In her role, Bhagat focuses on empowering the digital and business transformations of the firm’s clients.
Bhagat is an experienced leader with an established track record for turning around businesses by creating strategic visions for growth. She joined Capgemini in 2010 as an Executive Vice President and held other leadership roles across many diverse sectors. Prior to joining the firm, she spent more than 10 years with Infosys Technologies in leadership roles in the company’s European operations. She began her career as a Corporate Finance Consultant at KPMG. Bhagat holds an ACA from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
9. Claudine Cohen, CohnReznick
Title: Managing Principal, Transactions & Turnaround Advisory
Claudine Cohen is a Managing Principal and leader of CohnReznick’s Transactions & Turnaround Advisory practice. In this role, she oversees an integrated team of transaction, valuation, restructuring, project finance, and dispute resolution professionals serving clients throughout the lifecycles of their businesses. With specific expertise in managing opportunities and roadblocks that can impact a business moving forward, Cohen and her team help clients achieve optimal outcomes in protecting and growing stakeholder value.
With more than 25 years of business experience, Cohen serves as an adviser to public and private companies, both domestically and internationally. Her clients comprise the full gamut of financial sponsors including private equity investors, independent sponsors, family offices, alternative investment funds, lenders, and strategic investors. Her areas of knowledge include strategic advisory, quality of earnings analyses, identifying revenue sources and profitability drivers, examining operating cost structure and sustainability factors, investigating business models including cash flow and financial projections, reviewing quality and realization of assets and liabilities, identifying working capital requirements and negotiating positions, post-close working capital verification, and adjustment mechanisms.
Cohen is a member of CohnReznick’s Executive Board and co-leads the firm’s Financial Sponsors practice. She was named to Mergers and Acquisitions’ 2019 list of the most influential women in mid-market M&A, and Crain’s NY 2018 most notable women in consulting. She has authored several articles focused on buy and sell-side due diligence, working capital, and purchase price allocation. She attended the Harvard Business School General Management Program (GMP) and earned her MBA in Finance and Marketing from Bond University (Australia) and her Bachelor of Commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa).
10. Srimathi Shivashankar, HCL Technologies
Title: Corporate Vice President and Program Director, New Vista
Srimathi is a Corporate Vice President and the Program Director for New Vistas at HCL Technologies. With an extensive experience of more than two decades in Business and Human Capital strategy, Shivashankar has headed and primed global transformation initiatives at HCL. Currently, she is responsible for strategizing and operationalizing new HCL delivery centers through the New Vistas program. She was also the key architect of the HCL Foundation and HCL Grant initiatives. Shivashankar is widely admired among her peers for her unique leadership coaching abilities. She is dexterous in bringing together multiple stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to collaborate and deliver business results with unflinching integrity and values.
Shivashankar has been a key speaker at various international forums such as the U.N., WBCSD, World Investment Forum, WEF, NASSCOM, and CII, with a focus on leadership, human capital management through diversity and inclusion, and sustainability. She has published many papers and mentors research scholars. Shivashankar holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, which is one of the top 10 engineering colleges in India and which has recognized her accomplishments through the Distinguished Alumna Award. She also received an MBA in International Business Management from Ohio University. Shivashankar recently won the prestigious WeQual 2021 award for Business Turnaround Category. The awards, in partnership with the Wall Street Journal, were evaluated by eminent jury members from Fortune 100 companies. Shivashankar lives in Chennai and is a modern-art enthusiast. She loves biking, traveling, and spending quality time with family and friends.
11. Teresa Espírito Santo, Boston Consulting Group
Title: Managing Director and Partner, Global Chief of Staff
Teresa Espírito Santo is Managing Director and Partner, Global Chief of Staff for Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the “Big 3” American management consultancy firms. Founded in 1963, BCG is a pioneer in business strategy, including innovating the growth-share matrix portfolio management framework. The global consulting firm enables organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact. Empowered by a workforce of more than 21,000 professionals and experts, BCG boasts an annual revenue of over $8.5 billion. In her roles, Espírito Santo is a core member of the Energy, Financial Institutions, and People & Organization practices at BCG.
Espírito Santo’s work with clients includes the conceptualization and implementation of revenue-growth strategies and the establishment of global sourcing units for prominent businesses in Portugal and beyond. She began her career with BCG in 2004 as a consultant before working her way up to Project Leader and then Senior Director (Global Executive Team). Espírito Santo received her MBA from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
12. Karen Dahut, Booz Allen Hamilton
Title: Executive Vice President, Global Defense Group
As Executive Vice President of the Global Defense Group, Karen Dahut leads Booz Allen Hamilton’s defense and commercial business, reporting directly to the CEO and serving on the firm’s Leadership Team. Dahut oversees the firm’s strategic, technology, cyber, and analytics solutions to commercial clients, the department of defense, military services, and leading defense agencies. Booz Allen is an American management and information technology consulting firm based in the Greater Washington, D.C. area with more than 29,000 employees, providing consulting, analysis, and engineering services to public and private sector organizations as well as nonprofits.
Dahut has held several leadership roles for Booz Allen, including as its Chief Innovation Officer and the lead of the firm’s $2 billion civil and commercial business. Previously, she was an Independent Director for Dexcom and Tech Data, as well as a Program Director for AMI and a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Dahut is currently a board member for the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum and the Northern Virginia Technology Council. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Mount St. Mary’s University and a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.
13. Michelle Seale, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Title: Cloud and Digital Strategy Partner/Principal
The Cloud and Digital Strategy Partner/Principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Michelle Seale is a transformation leader with 25 years of experience in the energy sector and a focus on oil and gas, power and utilities, and mining. Her primary area of expertise is mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with emphasis on strategy, operating model and organizational design, day-one functional and operational readiness, communications, and employee/customer experience-related activities. Seale also has a depth of expertise in leading large scale transformational programs focused on strategy/operating model implementations, process optimization, and technology enablement. Her industry and consulting experience, combined with an innovative approach to transformation, enables her to deliver great value to clients.
Prior to PwC, Seale was the Global Managing Partner of Energy, Natural Resources, and Utilities at Tata Consultancy Services. She had previously been a Principal for both EY and Deloitte; at the latter, she began as a Manager. She started her career serving in several positions for Entergy, culminating in her appointment as Chief of Staff to the CEO. Seale has a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Marquette University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business.
14. Marie Sylla-Dixon, Raytheon Technologies
Title: Chief Diversity Officer
Marie Sylla-Dixon is the Chief Diversity Officer for Raytheon Technologies, an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military, and government customers worldwide. With 195,000 employees, the company is pushing the boundaries of avionics, cybersecurity, directed energy, electric propulsion, hypersonics, quantum physics, and more. As Chief Diversity Officer, Sylla-Dixon is transforming diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies to propel global community influence and economic impact; integrating calculated policies and initiatives across the four pillars of talent management, community engagement, public policy, and supplier diversity; and cultivating dynamic partnerships and driving company representation and appeal to diverse communities for increased longevity and success.
Sylla-Dixon was appointed to serve on the Federal Communications Commission’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. She is currently a board member of the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee and City Year Washington D.C., and she sits on the National Urban League’s Policy Solutions Council. Sylla-Dixon has been awarded the two highest honors in her company, the T-Mobilizer and the Peak Awards, for her role in overcoming a major regulatory barrier, which resulted in a market becoming the top in the country.
Prior to joining Raytheon, Sylla-Dixon was VP of Federal Government and External Affairs at T-Mobile and VP of Federal Government Relations for Verizon. She also worked as Corporate Counsel for T-Mobile. Sylla-Dixon received her JD from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hampton University. She also took part in the Temple University International and Comparative Law Summer Program in Rome.
16. Beth Howen, Atos
Title: Executive Vice President, Global Head of Public Sector & Defense
With more than 25 years of information technology experience in a number of sectors, Beth Howen is Executive Vice President and Head of Public Sector & Defense for Atos. Founded in 2000, Atos is a French multinational information technology service and consulting company with over 110,000 professionals across 224 global offices. The firm specializes in high-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data, and cybersecurity, as well as driving sustainability in technology. As Global Head of Public Sector & Defense at Atos, Howen uses her proven leadership skills to drive digital transformation for the firm’s clients. Additionally, Howen serves on the company’s leadership team and general management committee.
Howen joined Atos in 2016 as a VP, Account Executive, after which she became the Head of Public Sector and Defense, North America. Previously, she was the Chief Information Officer of the Indianapolis/Marion County Information Services Agency, and held other executive leadership positions in other government, non-profit, and private sector organizations. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Purdue University.
17. Victoria Cerami, Cerami
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Victoria Cerami operates Cerami & Associates, the largest women-led acoustic design and technology consulting firm in the world. Cerami & Associates has grown exponentially each of the three decades that she has headed the firm founded by her late father, Vito V. Cerami. With a team of more than 100 engineers, designers, technologists, acousticians, and VR experts, the company boasts clients including world-class developers, top architects and engineers, and Fortune 100 companies. As CEO, Cerami has built Cerami & Associates into the largest woman-owned firm working on building design projects globally, bridging acoustic engineering with technology consulting (AV, IT, and Security) in the built environment.
Cerami has led Cerami & Associates since 1987, serving as an active executive with continued growth in mind, while also impressing the importance of mentorship. Under her leadership, the company has established an annual sponsorship of women entering college to study mechanical engineering. She sits on the board of ACE (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering), which mentors inner city high school students. She is also a board member for the New York Building Congress, past member of the University of Hartford’s Board of Regents, Co-Chairwoman of the Council of Industry Women, and past Chairwoman of the University of Hartford’s Institute of Science and Technology. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in acoustics from the University of Hartford and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Business.
19. Amy Gilliland, General Dynamics Information Technology
Title: President
Amy Gilliland is President of General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a business unit of General Dynamics Corporation. GDIT is a global technology enterprise with operations in 30 countries and 30,000 technologists and services professionals delivering critical mission capabilities across defense, civilian, and intelligence agencies. Gilliland has more than 25 years of public sector experience, including service in the U.S. Navy and nearly two decades in leadership positions at General Dynamics. Under Gilliland’s leadership, GDIT has embarked on a growth strategy focused on in-demand technology market areas such as artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. As president, she has built an employee-focused culture that delivers mission critical solutions with speed and accountability. Gilliland has been recognized as one of Virginia Business Magazine’s 50 Most Influential Virginians and is now a four-time Wash100 award winner with her most recent award in 2021.
Prior to her current role as President, Gilliland served as Deputy for Operations at GDIT. She has also held a variety of leadership roles at General Dynamics including Senior VP of Human Resources and Administration, Chief of Staff for the CEO, Staff VP of Strategic Planning, and Staff VP of Investor Relations. Before joining General Dynamics, Gilliland served in the U.S. Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer, Congressional Affairs Liaison Officer, and Public Affairs Officer. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Master of Philosophy from Cambridge University, and an MBA from Georgetown University.
20. Jacqueline Akerblom, Grant Thornton LLP
Title: National Managing Partner of Global Client Services
Jacqueline Akerblom is National Managing Partner of Global Client Services for Grant Thornton LLP, which is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL), one of the world’s leading independent audit, tax, and advisory firms. Akerblom is responsible for driving the firm’s global initiatives and strategy, and is a member of its Executive Leadership Team. She works with other GTIL member firms around the world to align and improve client service strategies and capabilities. Akerblom also serves on the Governance Committee and Member Firm Matters Committee of GTIL’s Board of Governors.
Prior to becoming the national managing partner of Global Client Services, she served as the west region Managing Partner for eight years and was responsible for the firm’s 14 offices in the western U.S. She has also served as Managing Partner for the firm’s Southern California practice and as a Technology Audit Partner and International Business Center Director for the firm’s Silicon Valley office. Akerblom was the National Managing Partner of Gender Diversity for four years, during which time the firm saw the number of women partners more than double. She spent nearly four years in Grant Thornton’s London office, serving as an advisor to U.S. and European companies on cross-border transactions. A past elected member of the firm’s Partnership Board, Akerblom has also served as an appointed member of the GTIL Board of Governors. She also currently serves as the Chair of the University of San Diego School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board, is a member of the board of directors of the Forum for Corporate Directors, a member of the CEO Roundtable at the University of California, Irvine, and a member of C200. Akerblom received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of San Diego.
21. Anne O'Donnell, Procorre
Title: Chief Executive Officer and Founding Director
Anne O’Donnell leads Procorre as its Chief Executive Officer as well as Founding Director to ensure the delivery of innovative projects to the global marketplace. As an internationally well-known management consultancy, Procorre is challenging the status quo and bringing first class consultancy from industry experts who leave behind long-lasting results and a legacy of excellence for its clients. With a 70-strong team based in six offices and over 1,000 consultants across the globe, O’Donnell focuses on ensuring the growth and success of Procorre. Procorre specializes in the renewable energy, information technology, medical devices, financial services, and cyber security sectors and collaborates with global multinationals, manufacturers, and leading brands.
Before becoming CEO of Procorre, O’Donnell was the company’s Group Sales and Marketing Director. She came to the company after being a Group Sales Director for the Von Essen Group, a Director at RMF Recruitment, and an Office Lead for Hanover Search and Selection as well as ManpowerGroup. O’Donnell started her career at Prudential, working initially in HR and then sales, eventually being appointed Field Sales Manager. She studied Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration at Liverpool John Moores University.
22. Hilary Thomas, PA Consulting
Title: Partner in Healthcare and Life Sciences and Applied Sciences Capability
Hilary Thomas is a Partner in the Healthcare and Life Sciences and Applied Sciences capability of PA Consulting, which specializes in strategy, technology, and innovation. Thomas leverages her extensive medical experience to support PA’s clients at all stages of the Life Sciences value chain. Her expertise helps shape thinking across a number of areas of digital health, decentralized trials, and product innovation. She joined PA from KPMG, where she was Chief Medical Adviser and worked globally in the Life Sciences team. Thomas worked first in KPMG’s Healthcare practice before transitioning to the Life Sciences practice as a partner in 2013, having identified the opportunity to build strategy capability in this market.
She started her career as a Senior Lecturer at Hammersmith Hospital before becoming Professor of Oncology at the University of Surrey and then Medical Director of The Royal Surrey County Hospital. Thomas earned a Master of Arts in Medical Sciences from the University of Cambridge, a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of London, and a PhD in Biology of Breast Cancer from University College London.
23. Janel Firestein, Clarkston Consulting
Title: Partner, Life Sciences Industry Lead
With over 20 years of company experience, Janel Firestein is a Partner and the Life Sciences Industry Lead for Clarkston Consulting. Prior to being named Life Sciences Industry Lead, Janel was responsible for the firm’s Regulatory and Compliance services practice. Founded in 1991, Clarkston Consulting provides management, operations, and implementation consulting services for life sciences, consumer products, and retail companies. Clarkston has achieved a 21-year average client satisfaction rate of 97% by continuously pushing for success for both clients and staff. With over 300 dedicated professionals and industry experts, the company operates in five offices across the United States, including its headquarters in Durham, North Carolina.
During her tenure with Clarkston Consulting, Firestein has been helping senior executives in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, and cell therapy industries to address their business challenges. She is a frequent speaker and has become a recognized expert delivering business results in the areas of supply chain, quality, and regulation. Janel also advises her clients in operational strategy, quality systems, and business process improvement while supporting IT and change management. She is an active member of her community, with a passion for Feed the Bay and GP2C charities. She is also a member of several industry organizations including Life Sciences Pennsylvania (LSPA). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems Technology from Purdue University.
24. Cathy Arnett, TRC Companies, Inc.
Title: Managing Principal
Cathy Arnett is the Managing Principal of TRC Companies, Inc., an engineering, consulting, and construction management firm that provides integrated services to the energy, environmental, and infrastructure markets. TRC’s roughly 6,000 professionals serve a broad range of clients in government and industry, implementing complex projects from initial concept to delivery and operation. The firm is ranked #20 on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms in the United States.
Arnett became a part of TRC Companies through its 2013 acquisition of Georgia-based professional engineering company Utility Support Systems, which she founded and served as President of for over 35 years. At the time of acquisition, she had led USS and its approximately 280 employees to become one of the top providers of distribution engineering services and storm response in the southeast and southwest markets. Arnett studied physics at Emory University.
25. Toya Asbury, Alvarez & Marsal
Title: Managing Director, Private Equity Performance Improvement
Toya Asbury is the Managing Director of the Private Equity Performance Improvement practice at Alvarez & Marsal, a New York-based global professional services firm. For nearly 40 years, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has been seamlessly linking operations, performance improvement, and value creation to best help companies turn areas of stagnation into growth to achieve sustainable results. The firm is notable for its work in turnaround management and performance improvement of a number of large, high-profile businesses both in the U.S. and abroad, such as Lehman Brothers, Tribune Company, Darden Restaurants, and Arthur Andersen.
In her role, Asbury specializes in driving operational process improvement, cost reduction, and value creation for private equity funds and their portfolio companies. She has also led general and administrative (G&A) optimization and organizational redesign initiatives, driving tangible improvement opportunities through redundant activity elimination, operational process redesign, and third-party expense reduction. Prior to joining the firm, Asbury served as a manager for Accenture in its supply chain and strategic sourcing practice and led operational initiatives at Ford Motor Company. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Duke University and an MBA from Penn State University.
