West Monroe Announces Several Changes to Board of Directors as It Embarks on 2025 Growth Strategy

CHICAGO – West Monroe Partners, a national business and technology consultancy, today announced several changes to its board of directors as it embarks on a growth strategy designed to double its headcount and reach the $1 billion revenue mark by 2025. The firm named President and CEO Kevin McCarty to the role of board chairman. Dean Fischer, the firm’s co-founder and board leader since 2002, has retired from his role as chairman of the board. Additionally, the firm appointed Mazen Ghalayini, the firm’s Customer Experience practice leader, to the board and current board member Barbara Duganier to the role of lead independent director. All changes were effective on January 1, 2020.

McCarty, West Monroe’s co-founder, has served on the board since 2002, as president since 2012, and CEO since 2014. In addition to naming McCarty as chairman of the board, West Monroe established the new role of lead independent director. In this capacity, Duganier, a consulting industry veteran with more than 40 years of experience and a board member of West Monroe since 2018, will be a key liaison between management directors and outside directors and will lead the nominating and governance committee.

“This is a pivotal time for our organization. For the past several years, we have been executing a strategy that took us past the symbolic but important milestone of 1,000, approaching 1,500 people,” McCarty said. “Now, we are embarking on the next stage of growth, backed by a multi-year strategy that will involve a mix of acquisitions, increased hiring, innovation, and potentially new offices and practices. I am very excited about the vision that we have created together and honored to lead the board as well as our team during this next chapter.

Ghalayini is beginning a three-year term of serving on the board. He is a managing director, member of the Executive Team, and leader of the firm’s national Customer Experience practice. He has been with West Monroe for more than 15 years.

“It is a privilege to be able to serve West Monroe’s employee owners and clients as a member of the board of directors, especially as we set our sights on the future,” Ghalayini said. “I am excited to and honored to contribute at such a pivotal time for the firm.

Fischer served as West Monroe’s first president and CEO from 2002 until 2014. An accomplished consultant and entrepreneur, he is known even more as a recruiter, leader, teacher, motivator, and mentor. Fischer was a primary architect in establishing the firm’s 13 values and its mission of building the next generation of leaders, which still guide West Monroe’s strategic direction today. He will continue to advise the firm in key passion areas, such as philanthropy, and remains invested in the firm’s future.

“On behalf of the board and all members of West Monroe, I want to thank Dean Fischer for his immeasurable contributions toward making us the firm we are today,” McCarty said. “The one that stands out most is his resolve in creating and maintaining a people-first culture that is unique in our profession. Even as we grew rapidly, he made sure that people were at the heart of our strategy, stewarding our evolution with relentless focus on values and culture.

In addition to the changes above, Nathan Ulery, a managing director in the Technology practice, has reached the end of his term on West Monroe’s board having served for 10 years, and Charles Ketteman, an external director also having served as an advisor and as a board member for 10 years, has retired from the board.

“On behalf of the board and the firm, we thank Chuck and Nate for their stellar service and commitment during an amazing growth period for West Monroe,” McCarty said.

About West Monroe Partners
West Monroe is a national business and technology consulting firm that partners with dynamic organizations to reimagine, build, and operate their businesses at peak performance. Our team of more than 1,400 professionals is comprised of an uncommon blend of business consultants and deep technologists. This unique combination of expertise enables us to design, develop, implement, and run strategic business and technology solutions that yield a dramatic commercial impact on our clients’ profitability and performance. For more information, visit www.wmp.com. 

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