Midwest Society of Professional Consultants

June 6^th, 2007

MSPC Consultants College

The "Consultants" College concept in professional society meetings (originally conceived by Dave Taylor in 2003) was reintroduced in May and June of 2006 with such success that we are offering the format again.

The Benefits and Challenges of External Consulting

Moderators

Ada Nielsen (BP America, Inc.) – Private Sector

Judith Roussel (Small Business Administration – SBA) 
– Public Sector

Joe McLennan (McLennan Partners) – Not For Profit Sector

Nearly 80% of business consultants are external to the client organizations they serve...whether they are part of a large firm, a boutique or out on their own. Today consultants have more opportunities than ever to explore big impact roles in either internal or external consulting organizations. During the session, panelists will discuss the benefits and challenges of external consulting - considerations for anyone who is contemplating a career in consulting or who may want to change their vantage point for serving their clients.

Before dinner, the panelists, representing perspectives of the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, will discuss the drivers that motivate organizations to use the services of external consultants, as opposed to internal ones or none at all.  After dinner, panelists and audience members will engage in a moderated discussion about the benefits and challenges of doing business with external consultants.

Ada Nielsen (BP America, Inc.) is Manager of Intellectual Asset Strategy and an advisor to exploration and production teams. Nielsen has a strong track record in identifying and extracting value from non-commercial inventions as well as developing new products and new businesses. She is a past president of the Commercial Development and Marketing Association (CDMA), and is chair of the Chicago Chapter. She is a member of the Board of the Intellectual Asset Finance Society, the American Chemical Society, Association for Corporate Growth, Association of University Technology Managers, Product Development and Marketing Association, Strategic Management Association, and Technology Managers Association of Chicago.  She earned an A.B. in chemistry from Wellesley College, and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago Business School.

 Judith Roussel (SBA) is Illinois District Director of the Small Business Administration. Roussel is responsible for  promoting and delivering U.S. government programs that provide Capital Access, Entrepreneurial Development, International Trade Development and Procurement Assistance to more than one million small businesses in Illinois.  For nearly a decade, Roussel served as Associate Administrator in business development and procurement policy-making positions at SBA’s Headquarters in Washington, DC.  Roussel served as the SBA Senior Procurement Executive and was the 1999-2000 Co-Chairman of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Board of Advisors and as the U.S. Government’s Representative to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Small Business Procurement Subcommittee and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) SME Procurement Summit in Taipei, Taiwan.  Roussel holds a MBA from the University of Maryland, and is a native of New Orleans, LA.

Joe McLennan (McLennan Partners) is a consultant in organization/individual change and development and leads his own management-consulting firm serving nonprofits in strategic planning, board/staff development, executive coaching and transition planning and implementation.  McLennan is an accomplished workshop facilitator and public speaker, presenting on strategic planning, board development and emerging leadership issues. His most recent work focuses on upgrading existing strategic plans, mediating Board level conflicts, and assisting nonprofits interested in exploring collaborations and/or developing new sources of revenue.  He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Marquette University and his graduate training in counseling, educational administration and organizational dynamics at Harvard and the University of Maryland.  McLennan is Vice Chair of the Board of the DuPage Federation for Human Services Reform and is on the business advisory board of DeVry-DuPage. He is a member of BoardSource, the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, and the Association Forum of Chicagoland.

Panelists and audience members will engage in a moderated discussion about the benefits and challenges  of doing business with external consultants.