The 35 most talented young consultants under 35

16 March 2015 Consultancy.uk

Consulting Magazine has released the 2015 edition of the ‘Rising Stars of the Profession’, an annual list of the 35 most promising consultants under 35. All recognised consultants work at different consulting firms, with 14 of the 35 award winners female.

The consulting profession is stocked with talent, and for consulting firms having the best talent on board is one of the most important differentiators in the marketplace. In consulting, the product in essence boils down to people, and as a result consultancies compete on the basis of the quality of their talent, among other key factors such as approach, operating model and way of working. It goes without saying that at the end of the line the consulting firms with the best talent win.

The 2015 Rising Stars

To recognise the leaders in the consulting industry – which employs more than 250,000 consultants in the United States alone – Consulting Magazine on an annual basis releases a list of the 35 most promising young consultants, with young defined as those aged under 35. The prestigious list contains advisors that have provided an extraordinary contribution to the profession, both in their work as well as in their accomplishments, setting them aside from the thousands of other brilliant minds that work with them. The elite 35 have for instance either launched firms, sold firms, or merged their own firms with much larger firms. Or saved clients hundreds of millions of dollars or generated more in revenue for their own firms. In some cases they have played a pivotal role in opening new offices or large-scale global expansion.

The 35 most promising consultants under 35 (name; age; consulting firm; recognition):

- Daniel Santiago (33), A.T. Kearney, Excellence in Public Sector
- Rob Wilson (33), L.E.K. Consulting, Excellence in Strategy Consulting
- Jessica Block (33), FTI Consulting, Excellence in Client Service
- Maryam Naderi (30), Alvarez & Marsal, Excellence in Client Service
- Anne Denny Cantey (29), OpenSymmetry, Excellence in Client Service

Daniel Santiago, Rob Wilson, Jessica Block, Maryam Naderi and Anne Denny Cantey

- Loe Larsson (33), Deloitte Consulting, Excellence in Client Service
- Sarah Rose Wright (32), EY, Excellence in Strategy Consulting
- Mohan Kommanaboina (34), KPMG, Excellence in Information Technology
- Emmanuel Legbeti (32), Strategy&, Excellence in Operations Management
- Carina Hira (34), PwC, Excellence in Financial Services

Loe Larsson, Sarah Rose Wright, Mohan Kommanaboina, Emmanuel Legbeti and Carina Hira

- Chris Birch (34), Aon Hewitt, Excellence in Client Service
- Aditya Udas (32), Capco, Excellence in Client Service
- Roy Lee (31), Accenture, Excellence in Leadership
- John Gerberich (34), IBM, Excellence in Human Resources
- Kelly Hamski (33), West Monroe Partners, Excellence in Leadership

Chris Birch, Aditya Udas, Roy Lee, John Gerberich and Kelly Hamski

- Daniel Hoang (34), Point B, Excellence in Strategy Consulting
- Randy Armknecht (30), Protiviti, Excellence in High Tech
- Rich Bajner (32), Navigant, Excellence in Healthcare
- Erin Bartley (34), Huron Consulting Group, Excellence in Healthcare
- Michelle Dennen (33), Slalom Consulting, Excellence in Retail

Daniel Hoang, Randy Armknecht, Rich Bajneer, Erin Bartley and Michelle Dennen

- Melaine Amendola (33), MorganFranklin, Excellence in Client Service
- Carolyn Arendacs (28), Decision Resources Group, Excellence in Client Service
- Adam Boggs (33), BTS, Excellence in Client Service
- James McDonald (29), Lyons Consulting Group, Excellence in Retail
- Courtney Ramey (34), Jabian, Excellence in Leadership

Melaine Amendola, Carolyn Arendacs, Adam Bogg, James McDonald and Courtney Ramey 
- Jeb Carlisle (33), Carlisle & Gallagher, Excellence in Client Service
- Katheryn DeVelvis (32), The Claro Group, Excellence in Financial Services
- Vincent D’Itri (33), Aspen Advisors, Excellence in Healthcare
- Ross Gilmore (30), CapTech, Excellence in Leadership
- Kevin Havel (25), TriVista, Excellence in Operations Management

Jeb Carlisle, Katheryn DeVelvis, Vincent Ditri, Ross Gilmore and Kevin Havel

- Jonathan Selter (33), Censeo Consulting, Excellence in Public Sector
- Brandon Sweet (33), Sapient, Excellence in Client Service
- Timothy Thoppil (33), P3 Group, Excellence in Strategy
- Chris Wetmore (33), McGladrey, Excellence in Information Technology
- Rachel Wixson (34), Cumberland Consulting Group, Excellence in Leadership

Jonathan Selter, Brandon Sweet, Timothy Thoppil, Chris Wetmore and Rachel Wixson

The youngest bright minds
An analysis of the 35 young consultants reveals that 21 are male, with an average age of 32, comparable to the female average. Kevin Havel from Trivista is the youngest award-winnner, testimony to his large contribution to successful engagements across a wide range of industries. Commenting on his award, Havel says he is “honoured and excited to be chosen out of a field of exception candidates”. James McDonald (29) from Lyons Consulting Group, Carolyn Arendacs (28) from Decision Resources Group and Anne Denny Cantey (29) from OpenSymmetry are only other advisors below the age of 30 to have made the list.

The ‘Rising Stars of the Profession’ is a list that focuses mainly on the US consulting market, as a result consultants operating in for instance Europe, Latin America and Asia have not been included.