The Advisory Alliance Network of more than 20 Executive Consultants offers access to executive-level expertise to support your company’s high-potential talent. Listed on the left is a sampling of the expertise we can provide to your organization.
David HarperDavid Harper is Managing Principal of The Advisory Alliance. A skilled business executive with a proven record in both domestic and international markets, he has more than 20 years’ consulting and leadership experience, with expertise in business and operations management, as well as leadership development and organizational change.
David has personally worked with clients on a variety of issues, including:
Prior to establishing The Advisory Alliance, David served as Senior Vice President with Partners International, a privately held management consulting firm in Manhattan, serving the Fortune 500. Before being recruited to Partners, he led teams of consultants and independent specialists for multi-stream consulting engagements with The Forum Corporation, a global leader in leadership and management development serving the Fortune 500.
Born in Montreal, Canada, David spent the first part of his career in private business, as COO for an international wholesaling and distribution corporation, serving a diversified international client base, including retailers such as Wal-Mart.
David has presented to various organizations including the American Association of Airport Executives, The Florida Retail Federation, ADP, and others. He has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, SuccessFactors’ Factors of Success, The South Magazine, and CBS TV affiliate WTOC. He is also contributing author to The Conference Board’s in-depth research report, The Changing Role of the COO, and authors The Advisory Alliance’s monthly 60-Second Read™.
David is a SHRM-SCP certified member of the Society for Human Resource Management, a certified consultant and facilitator from the Positive Deviance Initiative of Tufts University, a certified facilitator and administrator of the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), the Hogan Development Survey (HDS), and the Hogan Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI); the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), the Student Leadership Challenge, and the Student Leadership Practices Inventory. He is also a master global certification consultant for the Leadership Versatility Index®.
He is a Beta Gamma Sigma Medal recipient and graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Business (MBA, Finance and Management), and holds a Bachelors of Business Administration as well as a BA in Psychology from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Michael FeinerMichael Feiner, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, brings over 30 years of experience as a leadership and talent management expert. The former Chief People Officer of Pepsi-Cola Company, he is internationally recognized for his intellectual integrity, broad-gauge leadership skills and expertise on people and organizational issues. Mike advises a wide variety of organizations, including private equity firms, Fortune 500 companies and fast growing start-ups. He guides boards & c-suite executives on business-driven human capital strategy and leadership effectiveness. Mike also coaches a select number of high performance leaders each year, including CEOs and those who are enroute to the c-suite.
From 2010 through 2015 Mike was at Irving Place Capital as Senior Managing Director-Human Capital. While leading the firm’s efforts to maximize the performance of its portfolio companies across a wide variety of sectors from retail to healthcare, Mike became known as “The CEO whisperer” for his ability to influence operating executives to build, galvanize and energize their teams.
Prior to Irving Place Capital, Mike taught at Columbia Graduate School of Business for ten years as Professor of Management and Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Ethics Fellow. Mike’s High Performance Leadership class was consistently ranked by students as one of the schools most impactful and sought after courses. He was also the two-time winner of the Singhvi Prize, voted by students as “Best Teacher” for his dedication to teaching and ability to communicate knowledge and encourage students.
From 1975 to 1995, he worked for Pepsi-Cola Company. In 1989 he was named Senior Vice President & Chief People Officer for Pepsi’s beverage operations worldwide. Beyond building and leading an organization of 400 human resource professionals that gained a reputation as one of the most distinctive, innovative and prestigious in the world, he devoted much of his time to growing and developing high-potential leaders. At a time when Pepsi’s operations comprised 70,000 employees in 150 countries, he advised, coached and counseled executives on how to enhance their leadership effectiveness. He is credited with upgrading Pepsi’s performance standards and organizational excellence and is acknowledged as one of the key architects of Pepsi’s distinctive culture, known for its openness, results orientation and assertive, “David vs. Goliath” style.
In 1993, he went on to become Chief People Officer for PepsiCo Europe. Based in London, he was responsible for building the management and organizational capability of all of PepsiCo’s businesses across continental Europe.
Michael holds a B.S. degree from Boston University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He is the author of “The Feiner Points of Leadership: The 50 Basic Laws That Will Make People Want to Perform Better for You”, published by Warner Books.
Julie OlsenDr. Julie Olsen, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, has over 30 years of experience in business operations, human resources, training, coaching, and consulting. Her passion is helping others succeed by providing individual development, team effectiveness strategies, and organizational solutions.
Julie’s experience includes her work Memorial Health (now part of HCA Healthcare), where she held roles of Behavioral Services Administrator, Recruitment & Retention Administrator, Organizational Development Director, and Senior Organizational Development Consultant. Her experience lies in the areas of operations, culture, employee engagement, executive development, succession planning, and talent management. Currently, she consults with entrepreneurial, large, and global organizations helping them advance their mission through the effectiveness and impact of their people.
Julie’s areas of experience and expertise include:
The Great Place to Work Institute, which creates Fortune’s Top Companies to Work for in America list, has tapped into Julie’s enthusiasm and asked her to partner with them on numerous events, including being a keynote speaker at the Great Place to Work International Conference on Building Trust in Athens, Greece.
Julie is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and is certified in multiple assessment tools focusing in the areas of behavioral and emotional intelligence and has received Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) certifications. Her book, That Would Have Been Nice to Know. Advice from Those Who Made Successful Career Transitions, released as a best seller in several categories on Amazon in October 2021.
Julie earned a Bachelor of Science in Education Degree from the University of Georgia, a Master of Business Administration Degree from Georgia Southern University, and a doctorate in Public Administration from Valdosta State University, with a dissertation on leadership in the nonprofit and for-profit environments.
Jeff Bush, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, has over two decades of dynamic leadership and leadership development experience. Throughout his career, Jeff has steered multiple large organizations towards sustained multi-year growth, solidifying his reputation as a senior advisor and strategic partner for a variety of industry leaders.
Jeff has developed trusted and successful relationships with companies across multiple verticals. Specializing in strategy development, change management, leadership enhancement, and operational optimization, Jeff is committed to working with his clients to navigate complex challenges and seize opportunities for long-term success. With a keen understanding of business dynamics and a proven track record of delivering tangible results, Jeff brings invaluable insights and expertise to every engagement.
Jeff’s background includes a distinguished 7-year military career as a Staff Sergeant and Forward Observer in the U.S. Army, earning accolades such as the General Aubrey “Red” Newman Award for Leadership Excellence and FORSCOM NCO of the Year. He holds 14 decorations including 5 ARCOMs for combat achievement, 8 AAM’s, Combat Action Badge, and 2 Iraqi Campaign Medals with Campaign Star.
Transitioning to civilian life, Jeff excelled academically and professionally, graduating cum laude from Georgia Southern University with a B.A. in Economics. His entrepreneurial drive led to the founding and sale of multiple successful ventures while also contributing as an economics researcher.
Joining the Savannah-based Parker Companies in 2012, Jeff rose to President, leading the company to national recognition as a top convenience store chain and achieving remarkable profitability. Jeff joined Toronto based Parkland Corporation in 2021, where he served as VP of M&A and later VP of Retail for the United States. In his role at Parkland, Jeff led significant strategic transactions and retail network redevelopment.
Recognized for his achievements, Jeff has been named to the Georgia Southern University’s 40 under 40, Savannah’s GenerationNext Rising Stars under 40, Convenience Store Decisions 40 under 40, Savannah Magazine’s Savannah New Guard, and Convenience Store News Future Leader of Convenience. He resides in Savannah, GA, with his wife and three children.
Elaine BrownElaine Brown, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, draws on her corporate background in business and communications to help executives and their teams accelerate growth, make inclusive leadership a competitive edge, and develop and retain emerging talent.
Elaine brings an accomplished record of executive leadership across multiple industries, Fortune 500 companies, not-for-profit, public sectors and academia, including: Exxon Mobil, ESPN, Johnson & Johnson, Time Warner, Warner Bros, Ogilvy & Mather, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, DC, and National Organization for Women, Minority Council, among others.
Recent engagements include working with:
As Vice President at HBO, Elaine launched, branded and created original content for 5 distinctive digital channels that targeted specific demographics, enhancing HBO’s value proposition and increasing subscription-based revenue. Having built what became the Special Markets Unit, Elaine oversaw a multi-million dollar budget, and added HBO Latino and Cinemax to her leadership. With a record of firsts and breakthroughs in launches, campaigns, productions and promotions for niche markets, e.g., women, family, urban, millennial, Latino, African American and GLBT, she partnered with senior executives, department presidents, and CEOs to deliver results, including a content collaboration with the President of Syndication that led to multi-million licensing deals with cable networks for Sex and the City, The Sopranos, The Wire and Entourage. She has won over 40 industry awards, including 2 Emmys, one as executive producer for the Aids: Get Tested public service announcement, a partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation and The National Basketball Association.
Author of three books, including the Amazon best-seller The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women (in the 7th printing), she is sought-after as a keynote speaker and has been featured at the 2010 Congressional Black Caucus, on WNBC-TV, Fox-TV, Tavis Smiley, National Public Radio and WBAI radio shows, USA Today, NY Daily News, Amsterdam News, and Essence.
A graduate of Wheaton College, Elaine has also completed advanced leadership, executive management and marketing programs at Harvard Business School, Simmons School of Management, NYU, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, and Rutgers University.
William WaltonWilliam Walton, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, brings over 17 years of experience as sales trainer and sales strategy expert to his clients. He has worked extensively in the Manufacturing, Financial Services, Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Management Consulting industries. William has particular coaching and training expertise in Sales Effectiveness, Market Communications and Management Development.
Prior to founding his own practice, William was a Senior Vice President with Manchester Inc., a leader in Executive Coaching. At Manchester, he specialized in coaching senior-level executives to effectively assimilate into new organizations and assess the future leadership capability of their teams. Previously, he worked for the Forum Corporation, a leading sales training and consulting organization serving Fortune 500 companies. While with Forum, he specialized in such content areas as Strategic Prospecting, Global Relationship Management, and Client Retention.
William’s background also includes 10 years in the Consumer Products industry as a sales manager, market analyst and training specialist. As the Sales Promotion Manager for Tambrands, he trained the domestic and international sales forces of the world’s leading feminine hygiene brand. He also enjoyed several years at Nestle Foods where he was recognized for developing and leading high performing teams. As a Senior Corporate Account Manager, William also penetrated new verticals for AC Nielsen, a leader in syndicated market research and software.
William is a featured guest on CNNfn and is an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Continuing Education. He is a featured contributor to Human Resource Executive Magazine and an active member in The American Society for Training and Development, the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches, and Sales and Marketing Executives International. William also sits on the board of Sell-Masters, a sales performance acceleration forum designed for helping people who sell to achieve outstanding results.
William graduated magna cum laude from Connecticut State University with a degree in Business Administration and received a Masters in Human Resource Education from Fordham University.
Tricia VeldmanTricia Veldman, Executive Consultant with the The Advisory Alliance, is a bilingual speech-language pathologist trained across a variety of speech-language domains. Specific areas of focus include public speaking, voice, fluency, accent modification, and bilingual populations. She leads dynamic group workshops and seminars, in addition to one-on-one executive sessions.
Recognizing that learning styles vary on an individual basis, Tricia utilizes a client-specific, customized approach for heightened impact and sustained results. Her business clients include lawyers, consultants, entrepreneurs, health coaches, graphic designers, engineers, teachers, and employees and executives of companies such as: Conde Nast, Reddit, Equinox, the United Nations, Disney, and Gulfstream.
Her primary goal is to equip others with the confidence to feel comfortable as their authentic selves in any situation, any conversation, and any presentation. Her speech coaching focuses on the fundamental elements of delivery, to complement content through the use of voice, clarity, body language, and overall presence.
Tricia co-hosts The Lost Art of Communication podcast. Each episode analyzes the evolution of communication in a digital age, and includes actionable steps for listeners to implement in their day-to-day conversations.
Tricia holds a Master’s of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders Bilingual Extension in Italian from Teachers College, Columbia University, as well as a Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Florida. She completed the New York Speech Coaching Speech Teacher Training program under founder and head instructor, John West.
Darren OverfieldDarren Overfield, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, draws on a background in both business and psychology to help executives from a wide variety of industries enhance their leadership, change management, and decision making capabilities. He has worked with executives in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, boosting the effectiveness of these leaders, their teams, and their organizations.
In a corporate career, Darren worked as a Six Sigma Black Belt, and held management positions at General Electric (GE) and Genworth Financial. He has experience in marketing, global training, systems design, and project management. Complementing his business background, Darren has experience conducting psychological assessments and providing individual psychotherapy.
His recent executive leadership engagements include working with a:
Darren blends hands-on management experience tackling tough business problems with a practical way of applying psychology to the workplace. He brings a collaborative style and a pragmatic approach to working with executives — making changes that matter to their effectiveness as leaders.
Darren holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in business management from North Carolina State University. He is an avid distance runner, having completed two marathons and competed in a 200-mile relay race from Mount Hood to Seaside, Oregon. Darren is also an adjunct staff member at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL).
Sasha HarperSasha Harper, Project Manager with The Advisory Alliance, has over 10 years’ experience in management and marketing. Her experience includes directing, managing, and overseeing the online presence for 46 branch locations of a multi-state employment agency. She’s managed numerous client advertising campaigns, facilitated client engagement and sales efforts at conventions, and served as the primary point of contact for marketing initiatives during company acquisitions. While at a marketing agency for internationally recognized brands, she created and developed client materials for 14 national and regional brands, 2 international distribution and consumer brands, and was the head creative content writer for a regional restaurant chain with a social media audience of 1.3 million people.
Sasha has facilitated successful management processes for a variety of industries and settings:
Sasha received her bachelor’s degree in Business & Technical Communications. Born in Montreal, Canada and raised in Savannah, Georgia, she now lives outside of Cambridge, England.
Michele BoldenMichele Bolden, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, has more than 30 years of experience in management, HR and education. She has worked with companies such as as Roche Carolina, Pfizer, Fleet Financial Group, New England Mutual Life Insurance Company and INROADS on a variety of performance and process improvement, M&A integration and cost savings initiatives. Most recently, Michele was the Human Resources Site Leader at Roche Carolina, Inc. supporting a large- scale change and leadership development initiative for Roche’s only large molecule manufacturing plant in the United States. Prior to that she was the Vice President of HR for Corporate Groups at Pfizer, working with
C-suite executives and their teams on Organization Design, Organization Effectiveness, Change Management, and Talent & Succession Planning. She also held global senior HR positions at Pfizer’s Global Research and Development division where she was Vice President of HR for the Global Development organization and also led the HR team responsible for delivering services to finance, informatics, facilities and HR.
Michele has worked with internal clients on the following projects:
Michele held several positions at Fleet, including Vice President and Sr. Training Business Partner, responsible for all training and Organization Effectiveness programs for the CFO and the Finance organization, as well as Corporate Diversity Director where she was responsible for setting the Diversity strategy and diversity training for Fleet Financial Group following the merger of Fleet and Bank of Boston.
Michele also served as the Managing Director at INROADS, a national not-for-profit dedicated to development and placement of talented minority youth in business and industry, preparing them for corporate and community leadership. In that position, Michele led business operations in the Central New England affiliate, and co-chaired the national training committee, developing and facilitating training sessions for the professional staff.
Michele received her Master’s in Human Resources Management from Rutgers University, a Master in Education from Antioch College, and her BS in Education from Boston University. Michele is also a Fellow of the Life Management Institute, with a specialization in Administrative Management. Michele has participated in numerous professional development programs and was invited to participate in the first Advanced Management programs at New England Mutual Life
Insurance and Pfizer.
Jeffrey HarperJeffrey Harper, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, has over 20 years experience as a communications consultant and coach to C-level executives in both public and nonprofit corporations. His clients include IBM, TIME, Deloitte, the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Xerox, Staples, the Coca-Cola, Daiichi-Sankyo, Biogen Idec, The William J. Wrigley, Jr. Company, CSL Behring, Sony Television, Telemundo, GE Capital, BNY Melon, American Express, Diageo, Nuance, the Outdoor Channel, Scholastic, Ricoh, Hyperion, Lotus, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Southern Company, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, Iron Mountain, and others.
He is also a national prize-winning story-teller, whose plays and music have received productions and readings in New York, London and Los Angeles.
His work has included:
Mr. Harper received his undergraduate degree with honors from Harvard and his graduate degree from Hunter College in New York City. Raised in Montreal, Canada, he lives in New York City.
Jane Sommers-KellyJane Sommers-Kelly, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, has advised Fortune 100 corporate leaders globally on talent issues for over 17 years. Her extensive experience analyzing drivers of profitability in business operations underpins her ability to provide effective, seasoned counsel.
From her years as a Wall Street finance professional with JPMorgan, Jane understands the reality of business. Having won the mandate to issue the first-ever Slovak crown bond, and co-creating in 2001 the first mobile-enabled learning course, Jane knows the challenges of executing a first-to-market strategy. Having grown revenue in INSEAD’s Euro 30MM Custom business by 10% per year for three years running, Jane knows the myriad leadership skills that are necessary to run a business within a worldwide organization with diverse stakeholders.
Jane won and retained $3 MM/year of client business at Duke, with one client CEO’s noting he chose Duke because Jane’s “leadership, guidance and insight… would be there to personally shepherd us through.” Jane’s clients value her positive pragmatism and best-practice advice, so much so that her clients helped Duke CE win Financial Times’ #1 global ranking among all custom providers for 7 of her 9 years at the firm.
Jane succeeds in having her executive coaching clients address underlying issues at the intersection of their business and leadership challenges. Examples include:
Country General Managers new to their role and country: Managing large operations and budgets in excess of $100MM, the GMs worked with Jane to develop their strategic acumen to advance the existing top teams’ knowledge, while co-leading successful change management initiatives in their respective S. American and N. African countries.
High Potential global Head of Product for a software security firm: Business challenges included the integration of five newly acquired portfolio companies and their leadership into the Head’s decision making practices. Outcomes included “a much more productive way of communicating with them…which allowed me to focus on our 5-yr strategy.” The Head became an Executive Board Member as well.
With half her life spent outside the USA (France, Czech Republic), Jane has developed a global perspective on leadership, which benefits her clients. Jane is an INSEAD MBA graduate, and holds a summa-cum laude BA from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead Scholar.
Suzanne KirkSuzanne Kirk, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, brings over 15 years experience in Human Resources and Organizational Development strategies.
Suzanne has worked with clients such as American Express, Ann Taylor, AOL, AT&T, and Delta on a variety of performance improvement and other strategic initiatives. She has managed the design, development, facilitation, knowledge transfer, and measurement processes of traditional and nontraditional learning solutions across client businesses and audiences.
Notable projects include:
As Associate Director of Global Learning and Development for Digitas, a Boston-based marketing and technology professional services firm, Suzanne was responsible for the learning and development strategies for a global workforce of over 1200 employees. She drove the implementation of an organization-wide competency model and redesigned the performance management process in support of the initiative.
As Director of HR Services at Memorial University Medical Center, Suzanne led the OD, HR Business Consultant, and Recruiting teams with a customer-centric approach to healthcare HR.
Earlier in her career, Suzanne was an internal Performance Improvement Consultant with Atlanta Gas Light Company during the deregulation of Georgia’s natural gas industry, and in retail she served as New Store Training Coordinator with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., where she was responsible for hiring and training employees to staff the largest stores in the Southeast.
Suzanne received her Master of Science in Human Resources Management and Development summa cum laude from National Louis University, and her BBA in Business Management from Georgia State University. Suzanne is SPHR certified by the Human Resources Certification Institute, and is a qualified administrator of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. She brings her passion and expertise to the classroom as an adjunct faculty member at Savannah State University and St. Leo University.
Christine Fahnestock, Executive Consultant with The Advisory Alliance, has more than 25 years of corporate experience in senior-level succession planning, leadership development, and assessment. Major areas of focus include succession planning, high potential identification, coaching, executive development, and leadership assessment and selection systems. She has managed the succession planning activities for several Fortune 500 CEO’s, including CEO transitions.
Chris has consulted in a range of industries including pharmaceuticals, insurance/finance, aerospace and defense, telecommunications, utilities, and manufacturing. She has written several articles for industry publications on talent assessment and succession planning. Chris has facilitated talent identification, development, succession and selection processes in a wide variety of situations.
Examples include:
Chris holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Behavior and has presented at national and international conferences. She served for ten years on the assessment and feedback staff for The Center for Creative Leadership. She has presented at and led workshops focused on succession planning, selection, and development of leaders for the International Assessment Center Conference, the Society for Human Resources Management, and Linkage Inc. conferences.