US Administration posts for BCG & Scowcroft consultants
The US President Obama recently appointed two professionals of consulting firms to key administration posts. Michèle A. Flournoy, Senior Advisor to BCG, and Kevin Nealer, Principal and Partner at The Scowcroft Group, have both been named Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
On several occasions during the year, President Obama appoints individuals with different backgrounds* to fulfil positions for the US Administration. These so-called key Administration posts include positions on Advisory Boards, Boards of Governors or Trustees, and on several Councils.
Recently, President Obama unveiled several new appointments, including two professionals of consulting firms. Michèle A. Flournoy, Senior Advisor to The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Kevin Nealer from the Scowcroft Group will both take on the role of Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB). The PIAB acts as an advisor to the Executive Office of the US President and provides independent advice on the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence activities.
Michèle A. Flournoy is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) since 2007 and acts as a Senior Advisor to the Public Sector Practice of The Boston Consulting Group since 2012. Flournoy fulfilled several posts for the Department of Defense (DOD) of the US government between 1995 and 2012, including the post of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Co-Lead for President Obama’s DOD transition team, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy. She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Aspen Strategy Group, and serves on several boards. Flournoy earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Harvard University, and a Master’s degree in International Relations from Balliol College, Oxford University.
Kevin Neale is a Principal and Partner at the Scowcroft Group, a company he joined in 1993. Prior to this, Neale acted as a Fulbright professor in the People’s Republic of China, a lecturer, program moderator, and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, and a staff member of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Between 2011 and 2013, Neale served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and a member of OPIC’s Audit and Governance Committees. Neale is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the American Board of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. Neale earned a Bachelor degree from the University of Michigan, and a JD degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Commenting on the appointments, President Obama says: “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
Other consultant appointments
Last month, President Obama also appointed two consultants to US Administration posts; Orlan Boston, a Principal at EY, was named Member of the Board of Governors of the United Service Organizations and Reginald Van Lee, Executive Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
* People that are appointed come from, among others, commercial businesses, consulting firms, non-profit organisations and the media sector.
