Women We Admire is pleased to announce The Top 50 Women Leaders in Business Consulting and Services of 2024. As businesses must continuously adapt and innovate to stay competitive, these women exemplify the expertise and leadership necessary for sustained success. Their contributions span diverse sectors, providing essential guidance and services that drive growth and prosperity.
Consulting, a cornerstone of business services, encompasses a variety of critical functions. Leaders in this field provide strategic planning, operational improvement, financial management, marketing, public relations, sales strategies, technology and IT solutions, human resources management, and risk management. These services empower corporations and organizations to navigate complex challenges, adapt to changing markets, and achieve financial and organizational goals.
Maria Demeke, a Partner and Principal in Deloitte’s Government and Public Service Practice, stands out with over 20 years of experience advising clients across Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Western Europe. Her extensive international experience exemplifies the global expertise that leaders in business consulting and services bring to their clients.
Hua Fang, a Managing Director of advisory and planning with Black & Veatch Management, stands out for her specialization in energy market projections. A PhD economist with over 20 years of experience, Fang oversees Black & Veatch’s Energy Market Perspective (EMP), a comprehensive long-term projection of the energy market outlook, incorporating the latest developments in renewable and storage technology trends.
Finally, we recognize Natalia Montilla, a Salesforce Delivery Principal at Slalom, a purpose-driven global business and technology consulting company. As a Salesforce Solution Architect, Montilla partners with clients to help them maximize the power of the Salesforce platform, specializing in delivering tailored software solutions.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 50 Women Leaders in Business Consulting and Services of 2024.
1. Jian Wei
Principal / Partner, Deloitte Consulting
Jian Wei is a Principal with Deloitte Consulting, driving energy transition in the energy, resources, and industrial industries. Deloitte Consulting LLP prides itself on making an impact that matters, providing insight and counsel that help clients make decisions and shape their future with confidence.
For nearly 28 years, Wei has led transformation engagements from strategy through execution in asset-intensive sectors across North America, Europe, and Asia. She moves easily from the field to the corner office, effectively building relationships across all levels of the enterprise, and thrives at the intersection of innovation, disruptive technologies, operations, and organizational evolution. She's a client leader overseeing some of the largest and fastest-growing accounts in the power, utilities, and renewables sectors. Wei leads ecosystems and alliances for the energy, resource, and industrial industry in the US and globally, extending Deloitte's capabilities by integrating leading technology partners' expertise to solve Heart of the Business challenges and deliver business outcomes.
Wei holds an MBA from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia and a joint BS degree in Engineering and Business Management from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She has extensive experience in digital transformation, AI and generative AI, operations improvement, energy transition strategy through execution, ecosystem orchestration, partnership and alliance strategy, and key account and portfolio management.
2. Jacquelin Broadwater Norell
Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting
Jackie Norell is the Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting. With 23 years of professional experience in financial management, Jackie has served in a variety of leadership and technical roles throughout her career. She operates across all government sectors where she provides strategic business transformation and financial management solutions. Her areas of focus include finance strategy, financial operations, tech adoption and modernization, service delivery model implementation, strategic planning, performance measurement, and business process improvement.
Jackie also has a depth of experience as a financial analyst where she delivered cost accounting, forensic costing, and customer relationship management solutions. She holds a BA in chemistry and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Virginia Tech. She is a Certified Government Financial Manager and Program Management Professional.
4. Wendy Carr
Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting
Wendy Carr is a Managing Director with Deloitte US Consulting, one of the world’s leading firms for business strategy, operations, technology, and human resource planning, with a government and public Sector (GPS) practice of over 25,000 professionals. Carr serves as the lead client service partner for the District of Columbia, overseeing Deloitte’s Consulting and Advisory services, client relationships, and partnerships with government, non-profit and higher education institutions, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Carr has over 30 years of experience leading business and technology transformations in the US and abroad, including the District, USAID, DoS, HUD, and Foreign Ministries in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, and South Sudan. She is a Certified Performance Technologist and a Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, and she has spoken at numerous conferences internationally and authored white papers on capacity development, talent management, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Carr is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a certificate in Executive Leadership from the Yale School of Management. She is a proud, native Washingtonian and has been with her high school sweetheart for 16 years. They live in Bethesda, MD, with their son and enjoy traveling to AAU basketball tournaments.
6. Shuba Balasubramanian
Principal & Partner in the Risk Advisory practice, Deloitte Consulting
Shuba Balasubramanian is a Partner in the Risk Advisory practice of Deloitte Consulting and a National DEI leader. Shuba serves as a Digital transformation advisor for her clients through her extensive experience in helping them manage Enterprise Risks in the Digital era. Key areas of focus include leveraging advanced analytics and Digital technologies to help transformation risk management functions such as Compliance, Internal audit, ESG(Environmental, Social, Governance), and Legal, functions to become tech-enabled organizations. Enabling Compliance frameworks, Continuous monitoring, Regulatory compliance testing, Business process optimization, EHS implementations, and Internal Audit support are among her experiences.
She is known for her client service excellence and is often seen as a role model for young practitioners and Next GEN leaders. Her passion for talent development can be seen in the high-performing teams she builds across the practice. Shuba serves on the Advisory Council Board of the University of Texas, McCombs School of Business MSBA (Masters of Science in Business Analytics). She has also served as a Diversity & Inclusion Sponsor for the North Texas Asian Allies community at Deloitte and is the Co-President for Ascend(Pan- Asian professional leadership non-profit org) North Texas Chapter. She is also a Partner sponsor and a sounding board for Women in Technology at Deloitte grooming female practitioners in the technology-oriented services to progress in becoming future leaders in the organization. Helping working women balance their careers is an area of interest for her.
7. Jacqui Winters
Principal, Deloitte Consulting
Jacqui Winters is a Principal in Deloitte Consulting’s Government and Public Services Human Capital Practice. She has more than 20 years in management consulting, during which she has assisted government leaders in executing their most complex priorities.
Winters focuses on modernization from the core of government, including programs that enable the agencies to re-imagine their delivery of critical functions, such as HR, IT, and acquisitions. She was instrumental in working with Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights in the research and development of Deloitte’s offerings, such as Human Centered Change, Future of Work, and Trust in Government. Winters serves as the National Leader for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for People with Disabilities and their allies at Deloitte, supporting a large global workforce to create the best possible talent experience for everyone. As a leader in Deloitte’s Human Capital practice, she designs agile organizations, empowers leaders, and develops teams to be prepared for the constant disruptions of today’s digital age.
Winters is a founding board member for Our Stomping Ground, a not-for-profit that creates inclusive, affordable communities for people with disabilities. She lives in Falls Church, VA, with her husband and their two teenage boys. She graduated with a BA in English from Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, NC, and earned her MBA at The College of William and Mary.
9. Cathy Light
Founder & CEO, Liderança Group, Inc.
Cathy's mission extends beyond metrics and software. She is a visionary leader who helps clients navigate complex organizational transformations. Her work emphasizes the importance of developing people, improving workplaces, and aligning teams to achieve sustainable growth. Through Liderança Group, Cathy and her team provide actionable strategies that ignite change, helping organizations remain competitive in an ever-evolving business landscape. Her approach to success is rooted in building long-term client relationships and understanding their unique cultures and processes.
As the founder and CEO of Liderança Group, Cathy Light has built a multifaceted organization that is deeply committed to driving meaningful and substantive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. Her innovative approach, characterized by the creation of the DEInamics® software platform, enables organizations to measure and enhance their DEI health, fostering more inclusive and equitable work environments.
What sets Cathy apart is her profound appreciation for collaboration and learning. In 2019, while developing a software tool, she was invited to participate in the Women in Cloud (WIC) Microsoft Accelerator Program. The support from the Microsoft community has been instrumental in her SaaS product development journey. Cathy understands the power of working together and has always surrounded herself with brilliant minds, leveraging their expertise to overcome challenges and bring innovative products to market. Her commitment to supporting women in all industries and advocating for increased funding for women-led ventures underscores her dedication to creating economic access and gender parity.
Cathy Light's 20-year entrepreneurial journey is marked by her ability to inspire and engage. She believes in the power of open, honest communication and the importance of viewing organizations as communities first. By fostering inclusive cultures and engaging employees at all levels, Cathy has helped countless clients around the globe achieve measurable business and people results. Her work is not just about driving change but making the world a brighter and fairer place to live and work, embodying a vision that resonates deeply with those she serves. Contact her directly at [email protected] or visit www.CathyLight.com
10. Christine Medina
Principal, Deloitte Consulting
Christine Medina is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting, where she leads their Application Modernization & Innovation Healthcare sector practice. In her practice leadership role, Medina is responsible for driving Deloitte’s go-to-market strategy in the sector, as well as helping clients realize business value through AI, modernization, and the cloud.
Medina also works with some of the largest healthcare organizations in the country, helping them with their most strategic and complex transformations. She leads large-scale global technology programs that have resulted in first-in-industry solutions and serve as the foundation for improving the quality of care and health equity while creating efficiencies.
As a partner in a $60 billion global firm, Medina is proud of the diversity she brings to the leadership team and is passionate about driving change not only in the business world but in our communities as well. She currently serves as the head of the board for Philadelphia StepUp, an initiative at Deloitte focused on delivering pro bono skills-based programs to support local non-profits. She has pioneered and currently leads several other initiatives at Deloitte focused on improving racial, gender, and other inequities.
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11. Rachel Bienemann
Managing Director, Huron Consulting Group
As a leader in Huron’s Healthcare Performance Improvement team, Rachel brings more than two decades of experience partnering with providers to achieve significant financial and operational improvements. She works closely with healthcare leaders to transform financial and operational performance by reimagining strategies, processes, and technology. Rachel has led engagements with multi-disciplinary physician practice groups, large multi-state and multi-facility organizations, children’s hospitals, nationally recognized academic medical centers, and post-acute facilities. Additionally, she has deep expertise in helping organizations improve patient access and patient-centered processes; navigating acquisition operations and scalability; assessing and implementing insourcing/outsourcing models; adopting and improving shared services; creating and tracking performance improvement KPIs; assessing and implementing managed services; supporting and leading system conversions and optimization; and improving and establishing revenue cycle business offices and support structures from the ground up.
Over the course of her career, Rachel has led financial improvement initiatives that have generated more than $76 million in first-year client benefits and 25% increases in productivity. She has managed cross-functional teams through multiyear efforts to identify cost savings opportunities, improve revenue cycle performance, optimize technology, and create system strategies and roadmaps for ongoing improvements. Rachel has also worked for several prominent healthcare organizations as vice president of revenue cycle and as a managed services revenue cycle executive.
Prior to joining Huron, Rachel was a consultant with Stockamp & Associates, Inc. focused on healthcare performance improvement within revenue cycle operations.
12. Sasha Dudis
Managing Director, Client Relationship Executive, Deloitte
Sasha Dudis is a Managing Director at Deloitte, serving as the Client Relationship Executive (CRE) for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the US Department of Education, and the Executive Management Offices portfolio. In this capacity, she serves as a chief strategy advisor bringing innovative solutions to the most complex client problems. Dudis is responsible for assisting her clients with creating, communicating, and successfully executing strategic initiatives and for bringing the full power of the firm to include all operating portfolios and solutions in anticipation of her clients’ needs. She has full knowledge of her clients who look to her as a trusted advisor in critical times of need.
Dudis has over 15 years of experience in federal public sector organizational management, transformation, and policy. She has leveraged that experience to bring her clients strategic solutions, including IT transformation, government program reform, strategic planning, capital investment, and operational excellence. Before joining Deloitte, Dudis served as a presidential appointee and senior advisor to a cabinet secretary. In that role, she was the chief policy liaison, creating and implementing strategic initiatives throughout the agency on behalf of the HUD secretary and the White House. In 2005, she served as the secretary’s liaison to the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, launching the Disaster Housing Assistance Program that would go on to house over 50,000 displaced Americans. She routinely briefs the White House, Congress, and the industry on housing policy, including disaster relief, housing finance, community development, public housing, and housing choice vouchers.
Dudis has also served in numerous roles on presidential campaigns, presidential inaugural committees, and transition teams. She is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and their two sons.
13. Shikha Jain
Partner, Head of Boston Office, Simon-Kucher
Shikha Jain is lead Partner for Consumer Retail in North America and Head of the Boston office at Simon-Kucher, a global consultancy with more than 2,000 employees in 30 countries.
Her diverse experiences have fueled her drive for the consumer retail industry. She has transformed the pricing and growth strategies of over 100 market leaders, empowering them to achieve sustainable success. Her robust knowledge of the economy and industry dynamics has made her a sought-after voice on CNBC and other prominent news outlets. Beyond her impressive professional achievements, Jain is defined by her profound passion and dedication to the consumer retail industry and her clients. Watching them reach and surpass their growth goals is a deeply rewarding mission.
Jain’s journey at Simon-Kucher began after an MBA from Booth School of Business in Chicago. Having lived and worked in 10 different countries and traveled to over 60 countries, she has gathered a wealth of experience and insights that have shaped her into an industry leader. Her story is a testament to the power of passion, global experience, and a relentless drive to make a difference.
14. Maria Demeke
Partner & Principal, Deloitte, Government & Public Service Practice
Maria Demeke is a Partner and Principal in Deloitte’s Government and Public Service Practice. She designs workforce solutions for organizations striving to end global poverty. Growing up Ethiopian American, she saw immense disparities both in the US and globally. Now, she dedicates her career to designing and implementing new strategies, to support organizations focused on the eradication of poverty, injustice, and inequality.
As we face unprecedented global challenges, Demeke helps organizations transform their impacts by optimizing the workforce, accelerating operations with digital and AI solutions, as well as promoting policies, cultures, and incentives that further advance inclusion and equity. Demeke is driven by the philosophy that consulting and service professionals have a responsibility to use the wealth of resources, tools, experiences, and connections to improve society.
Demeke has over 20 years of experience advising US private, nonprofit, and public sector agencies, as well as international clients in Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Western Europe. She holds a Master of International Trade and Finance from Harvard University and a BA in Psychology and Africana Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. As a wife and proud mother of three young children, she is an advocate for health equity and specifically innovative treatments and policies for rare diseases in the US and abroad.
15. Madison Hess
Principal, Heidrick & Struggles
Madison Hess is a Principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Houston Office and a member of the global Industrial, CEO & Board of Directors, and Human Resources Officers practices. She partners with both publicly traded and private equity-backed companies in the industrial services sector to recruit CEOs, COOs, CCOs, CHROs, and other senior P&L leaders.
Before joining Heidrick & Struggles in 2018, Madison was with a boutique executive search firm in Boston, MA, working with leading private equity firms on portfolio company C-level and operating partner leadership succession. She began her career in venture capital at an Austin, TX-based incubation program for early-stage startups.
Madison earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and her Master of Business Administration from Rice University.
16. Nicole Gibson
Partner, Guidehouse
Nicole Gibson is a Partner with Guidehouse in the Defense and Security segment. She has over 23 years of experience providing management-consulting service to the federal government, providing clients with insight and guidance as they seek to transform their organizations, increase transparency, better serve their customers, and increase operational effectiveness.
Gibson leads teams that provide change management, strategic planning, business process improvement, and customer relationship management services to the Intelligence Community (IC), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) clients. Under her leadership, her teams of consultants have successfully assisted clients in developing strategies to help guide their programs in changing environments; enhance their critical policies and processes; and improve engagement with their customers, increasing the value of the intelligence products for end users.
Gibson serves on the Advisory Committee (ADCOM) for the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), the WashingtonExec Intelligence Community Council, the College of William & Mary (W&M) Washington Center Advisory Board, and the Executive Steering Committee for the Society of 1918 at W&M. Gibson holds an undergraduate degree in European studies from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, and an MBA in Public Administration from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
17. Anne Kwan
Principal, Deloitte Consulting
Anne Kwan is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP and serves as their industry convergence lead. In this role, she works with the US Industry and Client Leadership team to shape future-focused solutions, anticipate the next wave of cross-industry innovation, and drive new business value. Most recently, she served as the US lead for Transformation Strategy and Design (TS&D) services and as the creator of Deloitte’s Chief Transformation Officer (CTrO) program, which delivers immersive experiences and relevant insights to clients.
During her 20+ years of client service and technology industry experience, Kwan has helped executives respond to market and technological disruptions by transforming their strategy and operations. She drives profitable growth and competitive advantage by working with teams to conceptualize, design, and execute enterprise transformation programs.
Kwan is a thought leader and frequent author on the topics of strategy and transformation. Her research and perspectives offer pragmatic advice and leading practices. Topics include defining growth via new business models, product innovation with ecosystem partners, building new capabilities, and designing more effective enterprise operating models.
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18. Julie Meehan
Principal, Deloitte Consulting
Julie Meehan is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting, one of the world’s leading firms providing business strategy, technology, operations, and human capital professional services, with a government and public sector practice of over 25,000 professionals. She has worked in professional services for over 25 years leading transformational programs for delivery and logistics, manufacturing, life sciences, financial services, and government clients.
Julie applies her knowledge and experience from 20+ years serving the global private sector to help public sector leaders navigate and solve today’s challenges. Her delivery expertise centers around helping organizations develop and launch innovative offerings that their customers and constituents value. This includes Go-To-Market strategy development, Customer Strategy / Customer Experience, Strategic Pricing, and Marketing. She has helped companies across all verticals create and commercialize value, develop and operationalize new strategies, and conduct in-depth data analytics to identify and remedy poorly performing offerings. She is passionate about the recruitment, development, and advancement of Talent, and building an inclusive workplace where our people can thrive. Julie applies her strategy consulting skills to help identify social, policy, and funding trends that shape the market for our services, and the talent and capability investments needed to serve current and future market needs.
While she has a passion for international travel and exploring other cultures and languages, her home base is currently Falls Church, VA, where she lives with her husband and twin sons. Learning to play pickleball is her newest weekend hobby!
19. Natalia Montilla
Principal, Salesforce Delivery, Slalom
Natalia Montilla is a Salesforce Delivery Principal at Slalom, a purpose-led global business and technology consulting company, where she serves as a Salesforce Solution Architect.
Montilla partners with clients to help them maximize the power of the Salesforce platform, focusing on the user experience. With over 10 years of experience in the ecosystem, she is passionate about designing end-to-end scalable solutions on the Salesforce platform, leveraging the low-code/no-code approach. Problem solver at heart, she enjoys finding solutions to complex problems, automating business processes, troubleshooting, and improving user experience.
Montilla believes in the power of enabling people and using Salesforce to deliver meaningful work. Before starting her technology consulting career, she spent five years as a civil engineer designer in Maryland. She holds an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, and she has 10 Salesforce certifications.
20. Missy Herbert
Audit Partner, Warren Averett LLC
Missy Herbert is a member of the firm’s Audit Division and has more than 26 years of employee benefit plan audit and consulting experience. Missy offers public and private companies plan audit knowledge combined with a strong ERISA and plan operations background. During her career, Missy has performed plan audits and consulting for over 850 different plans with plan bases ranging from 120 - 50,000 participants and assets from $500 thousand to $15 billion. She has extensive experience auditing plans that are required to file an annual 11-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Missy is a thought leader and speaker including engagements at the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Annual Conference, Georgia Society Employee Benefit Plan Annual Conference, and several regional state society employee benefit plan conferences. She graduated with an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of New Orleans.
21. Kate Graeff
VP, Enterprise Trust, Deloitte Consulting
Kate Graeff is a Vice President of Enterprise Trust within Deloitte's Risk and Financial Advisory business. In this role, she advises C-suite executives on opportunities to grow their business, drive loyalty and engagement, and protect their brand by )building and re-building trust with their stakeholders, whether they are consumers, employees, business partners, regulators, or community members.
Graeff’s background is in innovation, digital strategy, and entrepreneurship. She has experience defining organizational strategy, shaping new offerings, and designing, developing, and scaling technology solutions for global adoption. She loves envisioning and shaping the future in response to social, economic, and technological trends.
Having worked in over 20 countries around the world, Graeff takes a global point of view on the world's biggest challenges and opportunities. She holds degrees from the Fletcher School at Tufts and Occidental College.
22. Hua Fang
Managing Director, Black & Veatch
Hua Fang is a Managing Director of advisory and planning with Black & Veatch Management, in her role. Fang oversees Black & Veatch’s Energy Market Perspective (EMP), a comprehensive long-term projection of the energy market outlook, incorporating the latest developments in renewable and storage technology trends, resource costs, environmental policy, federal and state energy initiatives, as well as all aspects of the natural gas and other fuels market trends, utilizing sophisticated software tools, such as PLEXOS and GPCM.
Fang is a PhD economist with over 20 years of experience in integrated energy market modeling and forecasting, asset valuation, and commercial strategy. She co-leads Black & Veatch’s strategy and planning practice and technical and commercial due diligence practice. She has led several recent projects advising utility clients on economic assessment, investment strategies, and customer impacts to meet their decarbonization objectives. She also leads Black & Veatch’s economic and market assessments for emerging zero-carbon technologies, such as clean hydrogen and green ammonia.
Fang is an expert in stochastic simulations, derivative asset pricing, financial and economic modeling, and benefits analysis and has developed sophisticated tools to simulate price, weather, and market uncertainties, quantify risks, and evaluate real options and hedging strategies.
23. Nancy Zielke
Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Nancy Zielke is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, public sector services in Kansas City. With more than 35 years of experience, Zielke is a known public finance leader providing innovative operating solutions and strategies to improve financial and operating results. She is an experienced expert witness having testified in state and federal courts serving as an expert witness on financial management and municipal utility matters.
Before joining A&M, Zielke served in CFO and executive budget positions for various state and local governments, higher education, and public utilities in Kansas and Missouri. She successfully led major financial transformation, process and internal control improvements, shared service business models, budget redesign initiatives, and fiscal accountability plans.
Zielke earned a BBA from Adrian College and an MPA from the University of Kansas. She holds an Emergency Manager Certification from Michigan State University. She is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), serving as the national president of GFOA, and continues to serve as an advisor to GFOA’s Standing Committees. She is a member of Women in Public Finance and various State GFOA Chapters.
24. Tiffany Kim
Managing Director, Office for the Future, Deloitte
Tiffany is a strategic advisor, change agent, and empowering leader with over 20 years of excellence and experience in professional services. She is passionate about driving and delivering meaningful impact for her clients, Deloitte, and the world through expert strategic insights, guidance, and a human approach that empowers and embraces each person and group’s unique strengths and experiences.
Tiffany co-founded the Office for the Future, a team dedicated to helping “future-proof” Deloitte by creatively and rigorously preparing for its long-term future. The team focuses on co-creating Deloitte’s perspectives on the future in partnership with key leaders across the firm, catalyzing momentum for change and action. Tiffany advises and shapes Deloitte’s 10-year vision through “Future Of” initiatives for select critical industries. She additionally partners with Deloitte senior leaders to build and scale foresight capabilities across the firm, including designing a new “market making” ideation and innovation system, to enable Deloitte’s emerging future businesses. Tiffany views diversity of perspectives as a key driver of innovation and is an advocate and champion for diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
Prior to Office for the Future, Tiffany was a senior leader in US Strategy, orchestrating strategic programs for senior leaders at Deloitte. Tiffany also previously served clients as a leader in the Monitor Deloitte Strategy practice, advising Consumer and Technology, Media, and Telecommunications clients through challenging strategic transformations.
Tiffany graduated with honors from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the undergraduate UC Berkeley Haas School of Business program. She currently lives in Foothill Ranch, CA with her husband and two children. Tiffany enjoys practicing Lagree, qigong, yoga, plein-air painting, and beach camping with her family.
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26. Sheila Fitzpatrick
President & Founder, FitzPatrick & Associates
Sheila FitzPatrick is President and Founder of FitzPatrick & Associates, a strategic global data privacy and protection compliance consulting firm. She has over 39 years of experience in global data privacy, data protection, and sovereignty compliance. FitzPatrick is an award-winning data privacy professional, considered one of the world’s leading experts in data privacy laws in over 160 countries, and works closely with the US Government, Council of the European Union, European Data Protection Board (EDPB), country-specific data protection authorities in Europe, Asia/Pacific, and The Americas. She provides expertise and hands-on experience in the areas of global data protection compliance, data sovereignty, cybersecurity regulations and obligations, issues associated with cloud computing, big data, AI, and new technologies, data breach compliance and management, and records management.
FitzPatrick has been recognized by Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) around the world for her depth of comprehension and commitment to data protection laws. She speaks regularly at global conferences and panel discussions and publishes many articles focused on data privacy, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. She was identified as one of the 2019 Data Economy 50 Most Powerful Women in the World and one of the 2018 EMEA 50 recipients, an honor bestowed on the 50 most influential people in EMEA. She was also honored as one of Silicon Valley’s Women of Influence 2017.
FitzPatrick works with numerous multinational companies, including Fortune 500 companies, universities, and government agencies, providing an extensive array of data privacy and sovereignty services, including acting as their outside global data governance expert and chief privacy officer/data protection officer and/or as their data privacy compliance project manager. She is responsible for developing, managing, and implementing worldwide data privacy compliance programs. She sits on many customer internal corporate councils and committees, including data privacy advisory boards. FitzPatrick also works with corporate legal, finance, IT, and HR departments, as well as sales, marketing, and product development teams, to help position data privacy compliance as a competitive advantage. She holds a BA from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA, and a law degree (LLM) from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
27. Amanda List
Principal, Alist Consulting
Amanda List is a Principal with Alist Consulting. AList Consulting demystifies the legislative and regulatory process, establishes effective issue campaigns, and mobilizes support to achieve wins from Austin, TX, to Washington DC.
Whether in the US Congress, the Texas Legislature, or at state and federal agencies, List builds meaningful relationships and skillfully connects her clients, policymakers, and key stakeholders. Respected by both political parties, she has deep ties to Texas House and Senate members, the Texas delegation in Congress, and Texas state agencies, where she earns impactful results through hard work, honest communication, and effective planning. List is a fifth-generation Texan and the daughter of a veteran public school teacher and school administrator. Her strong work ethic comes from running a small business for seven years, and she honed her government affairs skills as the vice president of advocacy for a start-up state trade association.
List is dedicated to giving back to the community and proudly serves on the Central Texas Leadership Board for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and as the vice-chair of public policy awareness for Autism Lifeline Links, a non-profit helping Bexar County families with much-needed autism services. List enjoys tennis, hiking, and cycling, and in her free time, traveling is a must.
28. Stephanie Mansfield
Partner, Heidrick & Struggles
Stephanie Mansfield is a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles and a member of the firm’s Global Technology Practice and Financial Officers Practice. This includes working with public, private equity-backed, and venture capital-backed companies across the spectrum of high-growth global enterprise technology and consumer technology companies in the software, SaaS, e-commerce, FinTech, marketplace, tech-enabled services, and cloud sectors. Heidrick & Struggles is the premier provider of executive search, corporate culture, and leadership consulting services. They work for more than 70% of Fortune 1000 companies in virtually every sector and industry around the world.
Mansfield works closely with the CEOs, founders, board of directors, and financial sponsors on finding talent for companies going through high-growth, turnaround, or transactions. She is particularly knowledgeable on CFO talent and finance leadership. With search experience spanning North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, Mansfield brings a global perspective to clients’ needs. Mansfield previously spent time working in the firm’s San Francisco office to advise Bay Area technology clients. She initially joined Heidrick & Struggles in the Singapore office, where she worked with both US-headquartered and local Asia Pacific technology clients on CEO, general manager, and regional divisional president searches.
Before joining Heidrick & Struggles, Mansfield worked for two boutique executive search firms in London and Asia, where she conducted C-level and senior management assignments for a variety of clients, including financial institutions. She started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a scholar in the Audit and Assurance division in London.
29. Jennifer Patterson
Principal, DoorTwo
Jennifer Patterson is a Principal Consultant at DoorTwo, where she walks alongside executives and leaders who are choosing extraordinary impact. Previously she was CEO and founder of Agility Leadership Group, which she founded and ran for 13 years, she sold the company to DoorTwo in 2024 and joined the firm to launch Elevating Capacity, a program that helps leaders expand their capacity in this ever-demanding world.
Patterson has a passion for fast-growing companies, having worked with T-Mobile USA to help them grow from 700 to over 42,000 employees. She served in several roles there, leading in sales, national training and development, employee engagement, and strategy and insights. She is a trusted advisor serving on advisory boards to help companies grow. She is passionate about helping leaders and companies reach the outcomes that matter most. She has walked alongside clients to help them lead transformation and achieve 3x sales growth, successful turnarounds, going from worst to first in employee satisfaction, initial IPO on Nasdaq, and winning J.D. Power Awards.
Patterson has been assessing, coaching, and developing leaders in public and private companies for the last 20 years. She received her MS in Organization Development with an International focus from the George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. She has a BA in Business Administration. Patterson’s interests include traveling, farm-to-table, photography, human potential, conscious leadership, hiking (particularly with her young teen), learning, reading, and accelerating women in business.
30. Rebecca Evans
Principal, Roland Berger
Rebecca Evans, based in New York, is a Principal at the management consulting firm, Roland Berger. Evans is part of the industrial platform at Roland Berger, focusing on automotive suppliers and OEMs and specializing in operational strategy, large-scale transformation, and performance improvement.
Evans is the co-head of Women@RolandBerger Americas, where she guides the Women Leaders in the industry speaker series, as well as various internal initiatives focusing on recruiting, retaining, and developing women in consulting. Outside of Roland Berger, she is the author of the non-fiction book, Made to Change: How to Positively Disrupt Your Life.
Evans holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. She is a runner, reader, and wildlife lover, with a hobby of traveling to global locations to trek and photograph wildlife.
31. Elizabeth Zessman
Partner, Heidrick & Struggles
Elizabeth Zessman is a Partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ New York and Stamford offices and a member of the global legal, risk, compliance, government affairs, financial services, and CEO and board practices. Heidrick & Struggles is the premier provider of executive search, corporate culture, and leadership consulting services. For all of the services they offer, they employ data-driven methodologies honed through decades of relationships and engagements with the world's largest organizations.
Zessman’s early experience at another global executive search firm focused on legal, compliance, and audit functions. Before her career in executive search, she practiced law and was admitted to the New York and Connecticut state bars. Originally from Minnesota, she earned a BA in International Studies with an emphasis in Global Economy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. As part of her undergraduate program, she spent a semester at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.
Zessman earned a JD with concentrations in Corporate and Tax Law from the Cardozo School of Law. While in law school, Zessman was co-president of the Cardozo Chapter of the Unemployment Action Center and vice president of Cardozo’s Business Law Society. She also earned a Master's Certificate in Human Resources from Cornell University.
32. Andrea Steinbrenner
CEO, Exit Consulting Group
Andrea Steinbrenner is the Chief Executive Officer at Exit Consulting Group, Inc. (ECG). An experienced, versatile executive who has worked across a multitude of industries throughout her career, Steinbrenner’s objective is to leave businesses better than she finds them and work hard to provide her clients and companies with their best possible outcome.
Steinbrenner began her career in the Midwest, working her way up the managerial ladder in the retail industry. After marrying a naval officer, she attended San Diego State University and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. She then worked for TGG Accounting, a mid-sized, outsourced accounting firm, and quickly rose through the ranks to become a fractional CFO working in several industries, including construction, manufacturing, retail, professional services, financial services, cannabis, hospitality, franchises, and e-commerce sectors, among others. Deciding to take her career in a slightly different direction, Steinbrenner became the VP of operations and grew the company from less than 100 clients to over 250. After receiving an EMBA, she left her position and started Canopy Consulting, a business consulting firm. She was referred to Exit Consulting Group (ECG) as a consultant in 2019 and became COO in July 2020, and in October 2022, she transitioned to CEO.
Steinbrenner emphasizes the importance of clear communication and demonstrates this skill by listening to the wants, needs, goals, and priorities of each client before collaborating to find the starting point in the client’s journey. She brings the same skills to working with staff, searching to find solutions that best fit the situation and move people towards their goals while maintaining the company’s culture and values.
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33. Nicole Deveau
Partner, Grant Thornton LLP
Nicole Deveau is a Partner for Grant Thornton LLP, a consulting practice. As the national practice leader and an advisory partner based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Deveau leads a team of talented and community-devoted consulting professionals offering exceptional client service.
For nearly 20 years, Nicole Deveau has been making a difference in her client’s businesses by enabling them to accomplish goals they otherwise couldn’t. In her career, she has provided strategic consulting services to public and private sector clients, as well as First Nations organizations throughout Atlantic Canada, and across the country. Before joining Grant Thornton in 2008, she led a variety of small- and large-scale transformation initiatives within the Nova Scotia public sector and was also a partner in a leading national talent management firm.
Deveau holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration. Passionate about the community, she is currently the national president of the Canadian Progress Club and a member of the local chapter, Canadian Progress Club Halifax Citadel, a dynamic fellowship of charitable-minded Canadians committed to strengthening Canadian communities through hands-on service and fundraising. Deveau recently finished a seven-year term on the board of directors for Phoenix Youth Programs, which delivers much-needed programming and support for at-risk children and youth in the Halifax community and works tirelessly to help local families in their journey to thrive.
34. Emilie Johnson
Principal, Heidrick & Struggles
Emilie Johnson is a Principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Calgary office and a member of the Global Industrial, Energy, Supply Chain, and Operations Officers Practices. She also leads the North American Energy vertical for the firm’s Engineering, Construction, and Infrastructure Services Practice.
Johnson has over 15 years of executive search experience in the oil and gas, power, chemicals, EPC, and industrial services sectors, both in Canada and the United States. Her practice has increasingly become focused on renewables and clean technology, including solar, wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture. In addition to board and chief executive officer searches, she focuses on executive leadership assignments across engineering, construction, and operations.
Johnson joined Heidrick & Struggles from a national search firm where she was a principal in the oil and gas practice. She is active in the Calgary community, most recently serving on the board of Distress Centre Calgary where she chaired the Governance, Nominating, Human Resources, and Compensation Committees. She holds a BA in Honors Business Administration from Western University’s Richard Ivey School of Business.
35. Jill Ratliff
Senior Client Partner, Kinavic Leadership Acceleration
Jill Ratliff is the Senior Client Partner at Kinavic, a leadership acceleration and advisory firm. Ratliff specializes in leadership, executive coaching, and business and personal transformation. Working with Fortune 500 and professional services firms to develop their current executives and rising leaders.
Ratliff has more than 25 years of Fortune 500 human capital management experience, serving in key senior positions, such as EVP at Assurant Specialty Property, a $2 billion financial services organization. She also served prior as EVP leading HR for ING North America. Ratliff understands the intricacies of leading successful organizations and developing leaders. She has the innate ability to make the complex simple and provide thought leadership and execution of people and culture initiatives that align with and help drive exceptional business results.
In the community, Ratliff serves on the Executive Committee for the Board of Junior Achievement of Georgia and also has been a mentor for 15 years with Pathbuilders, an organization that helps high-performing women leaders accelerate their careers. She was a past co-president for EMERGE, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women by advancing their education. Ratliff graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in management.
36. Dr. Kathryn Ritchie
CEO & Founder, Ignition Institute
“Brilliant beyond anything you have ever imagined", is how successful entrepreneur, education leader and philanthropist, Kevin Baird, describes Dr. Kathryn Ritchie, Founder and CEO of Ignition Institute, formerly KR Strategy, an international strategy development and execution firm. A world-renowned leader in strategy, execution, culture change and transformation, Dr. Ritchie brings a unique method to her many clients, from across the globe, including North America., Australia, Asia. They laud her for her ability to “ignite” management teams, develop leaders, and quickly move strategy into execution and increase growth.
“Ignition understands that in order to change a business you have to the change the hearts and minds of the individuals in the business,” explains Baird. “Ignition isn’t about doing the work for you. Ignition is about enabling you to do that work, and to do that work quickly. When growth had stalled for General Assembly, a rapid growth startup, Scott Kirkpatrick, then COO, brought in Dr. Ritchie. He praises her for her unique ability to bring together management teams. What Ignition does really well he adds “is to turn strategy into a deep operating plan.”
“We quickly got the growth engine going.”
“Other consultants,” explains Kathryn “come in with analytics and present options for solutions. We come in as the facilitator, the educator, and pull that out. The solution comes from them. We probe, test, challenge, teach and ignite.” Dr. Ritchie understands that the solution must come from the leaders and their teams. Only if they own it, she emphasizes, they will do it. As Baird describes Kathryn and her team-- “their ability to ask the right questions and to connect with people, that emotional resonance linked with the intellectual resonance I have never found before. When you consider the moniker, “Ignition Institute,” that is exactly what it is.” Barbara Harrison, CHRO, GUD Holdings, praises Ritchie and her team for their interview method and their bias toward action. “They get to the heart of what is really going on.”
Substance and speed mark Dr. Ritchie’s work. “We work with the whole system. We interview rapidly.” Reading patterns, she helps her clients achieve the three hallmarks of her approach: CLARITY, COHESION, DISCIPLINE. And this leads to inhouse leader capability and understanding in terms of application. Whether a company is chasing growth, milestones, culture change, responding to disruptive market forces, or facing internal turmoil, Dr. Ritchie, and her team, get to the root cause, unleash untapped capacity, enhance performance, anchor execution and eliminate waste. For her work in the facilitation of strategy execution in organizations of all types, Dr. Ritchie was awarded an honorary doctorate from the City University of LA-CULA. She holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management. The school also awarded her the Chairman’s Prize for Excellence and Leadership. She held management roles at the international investment bank, Macquarie Bank. She has served on the board of the Foundation Board for University NSW (Australia), was a member of the Women’s President Organization, in New York, and is a current member of the CEO Connection. She chairs Nabu.org, a social entrepreneurial organization driving literacy in developing countries. Womens Leader Magazine hailed Dr. Ritchie as one of the most Inspiring Women Leaders of 2022. Kathryn has been awarded Businesswoman of 2023 in NYC.
37. Dee Ann Turner
Founder, CEO, Dee Ann Turner & Associates
As Founder and CEO, Dee Ann Turner leads her organization, Dee Ann Turner & Associates, LLC, writing books, speaking to over 50 audiences per year, and consulting and coaching leaders globally. She is the author of the best sellers, It’s My Pleasure: The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and a Compelling Culture (2015), Bet on Talent: How to Create a Remarkable Culture and Win the Hearts of Customers (2019), and Crush Your Career: Ace the Interview, Land the Job and Launch Your Future (2021).
Turner is a 33-year veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Before retirement, she was vice president of talent and vice president of sustainability for Chick-fil-A, Inc. Selected as the company’s first female officer in 2001, she was instrumental in building and growing Chick-fil-A’s well-known culture and talent systems. During her long career, she worked closely with Chick-fil-A’s founder and other key leaders as an architect of their organizational culture. Turner was responsible for thousands of selections of Chick-fil-A franchisees and corporate staff members. Additionally, she led talent management, staff learning and development, diversity and inclusion, and culture and engagement. Before her retirement, she launched and led Chick-fil-A’s Sustainability and Social Responsibility function.
Turner also hosts the Crush Your Career Podcast and is the talent expert in residence at High Point University. In 2023, Turner was named to the Georgia Titan 100. The married mother of three grown sons and one daughter-in-love, she serves various nonprofit boards and can often be found on her standup paddleboard on Lake Hartwell. Turner is an avid reader and writer and loves bike riding, watersports, and traveling.
38. Nina Lynch
Managing Director, Accenture
Nina Lynch is a Managing Director at Accenture, an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A Fortune Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022.
With over 20 years of experience in the space, Lynch is focused on digital customer experience innovation. She works with C-suite leaders of Global 500 companies to create comprehensive digital strategies and transformation, launch innovative new products, and reimagine their customer's experience. Her work largely focuses on developing strategies for and leading large-scale digital transformation initiatives.
Lynch’s industry experience includes life sciences, technology, media, communications, automotive, CPG, and publishing. She holds a BS, cum laude, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Babson College.
39. Farrah Andersen
Principal, The Cadmus Group
Farrah Andersen is a Principal at The Cadmus Group, a strategic and technical consultancy, where she leads the Sustainability and Energy team.
Andersen directs projects on behalf of government, nonprofit, and business clients to address climate change and social inequity, including renewable energy, climate mitigation, and resilience. As a trained facilitator and certified mediator, she brings these skills to all her client engagements. She also has expertise in sustainable finance and social equity.
Previously, Andersen served as the chief of staff for corporate social responsibility at Bank of the West, BNP Paribas. She holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BA from the University of California Berkeley in Political Economy.
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40. Claudia Thompson
Managing Director of Risk Management & Quality, Accenture
Claudia Thompson is the Managing Director of Risk Management and Quality at Accenture. She is an action-oriented leader with more than 33 years of consulting experience. She is actively driving quality programs across all Accenture client services and industries while monitoring and managing the risk profile for the Canadian business as a member of Accenture’s Canadian Executive Committee. Her experience stems from leading some of Accenture Canada’s most complex client engagements.
Outside of Accenture, Thompson is a passionate advocate for a workplace culture that values diversity and inclusion because she believes it’s imperative for growth. She is an active member of the International Women’s Forum, Women United, and a Founding Visionary of the Prosperity Project.
Thompson is an active board director for Christie Gardens, empowering elders to live well, and she represents the ICT industry on the TechNation Executive Committee. She is an alumnus of the C.D. Howe Institute, Human Capital Policy Council.
41. Jennifer Stancil
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Hello Studios
Jen Stancil is the Founder and CEO of The Hello Studios which creates spaces, places, and stories that spark vast opportunity and impact. The Hello Studios builds the capacity of individuals, organizations, and systems to share, influence, collaborate, and transform the world. Stancil has more than 25 years of leadership experience in informal learning, notably at Carnegie Science Center, Glazer Children’s Museum, McWane Science Center, and PBS. Her commitment to education in the K-12 sphere is matched by a passion for equity, belonging, and justice for all in STEM careers. A staunch advocate and actor in the Girls and STEM movement, she is the immediate past Board Chair of the National Girls Collaborative, Board Member and development co-chair for the National Association for Gifted Children, and a former Obama White House Advisor to his Administration’s Women and Girls Council. In her career, she has raised tens of millions of dollars to sustain mission-driven non-profits through relationships across government, individual, foundation, and corporate social innovation funds. And, as an Emmy ® Award Winner, her production of media from the curriculum of IMAX films and an American Masters documentary, numerous animated series, games, web experiences and a talk show captivates parents, educators, and youth across diverse topics such as math, science, technology, literacy, equity, and educational innovation.
The Hello Studios past and current client list includes WGBH-Boston, Florida State University, National Math and Science Initiative, ASSET Inc., Twin Cities Public Television, and a variety of science museums.
Jen is based in North Carolina, and cherishes her husband and child, kitty, gardening, watching all the sports, and looking up at the stars.
42. De'Andrea Matthews
VP of Diversity & Community Engagement, Detroit Zoological Society
An international speaker and award-winning author, De’Andrea Matthews is a National Diversity Council Certified Diversity Professional, which she uses to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility locally, regionally, and around the globe. She is the Vice President of Diversity and Community Engagement for the Detroit Zoological Society.
Matthews is one of the 2022 Michigan Chronicle Women of Excellence, the recipient of the 2021 Top 100 Leaders in Education award from the Global Forum for Education & Learning, the 2020 Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for Ethics, and the 2020 Corp! Magazine Diversity Business Leader award. She is a member of the National Diversity Council, a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Diversity Committee, and a board member of the Association of Midwest Museums.
Matthews' areas of expertise include diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in both the education and nonprofit industries for over 25 years. She is committed to breaking down barriers and building bridges to create opportunities for others to grow and thrive. Matthews is a lifelong learner who enjoys reading and traveling the world.
43. Lindsay Massengill
Managing Director, Accenture
Lindsay Massengill is a Managing Director at Accenture, specializing in supply chain management, procurement, and business process services. With nearly 20 years of experience, Massengill serves as account leader for select energy clients where she partners with client leadership to identify and achieve transformational goals.
With her prior experience working in a variety of roles for BP, Massengill brings a deep working knowledge of the oil and gas industry with a key focus on driving business impact. She is known for her collaborative, values-based leadership style, bringing diverse global teams together to drive connected value from strategy through execution. Passionate about the industry, Massengill brings curiosity and collaboration to her teams and is an early adopter of new trends in technology, such as generative AI.
As the co-lead of Accenture’s Houston Mental Wellness Employee Resource Group and a mental health ally at Accenture, she advocates for mental wellness at work, in the community, and at home. Most recently, she launched an Accenture podcast, The MindHub, where she is joined by co-hosts to tackle a variety of mental health topics and practices. Massengill has her MBA from Arizona State University and an undergraduate degree with a dual specialization in supply chain management and operations management from Bowling Green State University. She is a proud mom to two kids, enjoys hiking with her husband, and loves to make jewelry in her free time.
44. Umran Beba
Partner, August Leadership
Umran Beba is an experienced senior business executive with a general management, talent, diversity, and consulting background. She has been a Partner at August Leadership since June 2020 and leads diversity practice, as well as conducts executive search and leadership advisory projects.
Before August Leadership, Beba had 35 years of experience in the consumer goods industry where 25 years was with PepsiCo in four different locations namely Istanbul, Hong Kong, Dubai, and New York. She was the Asia Pacific president of PepsiCo, following president and general management roles in Southeast Europe, East Mediterranean/Middle East, and Turkey. She has been in chief HR officer and chief diversity officer roles in her career. Beba joined the Bakkavor Group PLC Board of Directors as an independent non-executive board director in September 2020. She also has been an independent non-executive board director for five years with the Japan Calbee Snacks public company in Tokyo and is currently on the board of the International Youth Foundation as a co-vice chair of the board. She has been a trustee of the Purchase College Foundation board and has a board of overseers role at Columbia University School of Professional Studies.
Beba is a native of Turkey and earned her MBA and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Bogaziçi University in Istanbul. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, with her family.
45. Pam Lopez
Managing Partner, Customer-Focused Strategies
Pam Lopez is currently the Managing Partner at Customer Focused Strategies (CFS), an Atlanta-based, women-owned management consulting and business solutions firm founded in 1999. Lopez is an award-winning consultant and accomplished industry veteran whose cross-functional career transverses several sectors, including telecom, technology, utilities, cable, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics. It was this experience that propelled her to envision and realize a more comprehensive consulting approach, one that is distinctly customer-centric.
An exceptional solutionist, Lopez’s ability to get to the heart of each challenge and unlock innovative solutions is a distinctive force in her approach to solving complex business challenges. Having held senior leadership roles in business strategy, direct and indirect sales, marketing, and customer service, Lopez delivers a uniquely comprehensive perspective to the consulting projects she leads. Regardless of the area in which a challenge is rooted, she works with her team to bring solutions that consider all aspects of the organization. Her work spans everything from innovative product development, customer-centric service programs, impactful go-to-market solutions, and highly customized, learner-centric training programs.
Before co-founding CFS in 1999, Lopez held cross-functional leadership roles at the Xerox Corporation, Contel Cellular, and GTE Mobilnet. She is a highly active partner at CFS, known for her ability to gain an intimate understanding of her client’s businesses, and the unique way she drives partnerships with the customer to achieve results. In her free time, Lopez enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.
46. Rebecca Chalson
CEO & Business Development Strategist, Create Your Potential
Rebecca Chalson is the CEO and a Business Development Strategist for Create Your Potential LLC. She is a trailblazing business development consultant with over a decade of experience. She leads her team in offering digital marketing services and conducts group training workshops and one-on-one coaching regarding effective networking and marketing strategies. Harnessing her experience in corporate leadership and sales training, Chalson teaches the transformative impact of personal branding on professional growth. Her inspiring journey, chronicled in her bestselling co-authored book Women Who Rise, reveals how she turned obstacles into opportunities by leveraging her unique strengths and fostering meaningful connections.
Chalson’s effective approach to forming professional relationships has earned her the reputation of a 'community connector' in networking circles. She has been recognized on the prestigious 40 Under 40 list, and acknowledged in Forbes for teaching effective networking strategies in the digital age. As a sought-after public speaker, she regularly shares her expertise at colleges, conferences, and virtual events. Chalson’s Speak Up & Stand Out training program is especially popular, which empowers professionals to enhance their influence and generate additional income through public speaking. In 2023, she launched the website FindMyGuestSpeaker.com, a platform dedicated to helping coaches, authors, and industry experts strengthen their brand presence and expand their impact as sought-after speakers nationwide.
Chalson’s life philosophy revolves around the belief that our only limitations are the ones we impose on ourselves. She champions the idea that we have the power to create our own potential.
47. Samantha Toler
Senior Director, Client Relations & Business Development, Sands Capital Management
Samantha Toler is the Senior Director, Client Relations and Business Development of Sands Capital Management, an active, long-term investor in leading innovative growth businesses, globally. Their approach combines analytical rigor and creative thinking to identify high-quality growth businesses that are creating the future.
Toler joined Sands Capital Management in 2006 as the director of client relations and was promoted to her current senior leadership role in 2015. Previously, she was at Goldman Sachs, serving for six years as vice president of the Equities Division.
Toler graduated from NYU Stern School of Business with an MBA in finance and from Brown University with an undergraduate degree.
48. Christian Wallace
Chief Expansion Officer, CanZell Realty
Christian Wallace is the Chief Expansion Officer for CanZell Realty, where she is responsible for spearheading the company’s growth and expansion initiatives. Wallace is a dynamic and visionary leader with a proven record of success and an unwavering commitment to excellence, driving significant impact in the business world.
Her journey as a sales and growth leader began early, swiftly establishing herself as a standout. Passionate about fostering company growth and adept at connecting with people, Wallace has forged an impressive path. She believes that leadership and business strategy are about nurturing relationships, building communities, and transforming the lives of clients and team members alike. Wallace has held executive positions at prominent firms, including pivotal roles at Better Mortgage and Rocket, where she led substantial growth initiatives. As chief of integrated services at Real Brokerage, she significantly enhanced operational efficiency and customer experience. She is dedicated to driving growth and innovation in the real estate sector, championing excellence and pioneering client service to revolutionize the homeownership experience.
Beyond her professional achievements, Wallace is deeply involved in community service and serves on multiple nonprofit boards. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology, reflecting her dedication to continuous learning and leadership.
49. Tracey Pratt
Partner, Guidehouse
Tracey Pratt is a Partner at Guidehouse based in Washington DC. Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting.
Pratt is a sub-account leader on the National Security Sector team focused on delivering strategic planning and facilitation, change management, and business transformation solutions to the federal government. She has over 20 years of experience and is a subject matter specialist in strategic planning, business performance improvement, transformation, and change management. She has also led various engagements focused on data strategy, data analytics, communications and outreach, training design, and corporate governance with public sector clients.
Pratt has continually served clients at the senior levels on strategic planning and execution, change management, and business transformation initiatives. She has a BA in Political Science and History from the University of New Hampshire.
View the complete list of awardees.