Careers

I thought I wanted to be an economist, until I interviewed the President of the Council of Eastern Caribbean Manufacturers for my senior thesis. She told me that the Caribbean probably didn't need more economists, but that it certainly needed people to figure out how to build a business that could create jobs. That's why I joined McKinsey; I figured I'd learn how the private sector works, and then I could go back and do a much better job as an economist.

Making a Contribution

The decision to accept leadership of McKinsey's Social Sector Office was an easy one, and I'm excited about how it's developing. We've built the SSO around a few fundamental concepts that are pure McKinsey: global teams serving the sector's leading institutions, a strong emphasis on people development, and joint ventures with other practices to tap distinctive expertise. By having people with strong industry and functional practice programs who also are committed to solving societal problems, McKinsey can make a truly distinctive contribution. What McKinsey is doing in the social sector is an important contribution to the world, and it will help develop people since business leaders need to understand these issues.

The BCSS Community

The Black Client Support Services community has been a fundamental part of my McKinsey experience from the very beginning. Before I even started at McKinsey, after I'd accepted my offer, my first event was a BCSS conference; in fact, it was the very first BCSS conference. And I was just blown away by the caliber of the colleagues there. I discovered that this was a serious effort by a really fantastic group of people to expand the community. The kind of initiative they took and the values-driven approach that I saw from day one at McKinsey through the BCSS made a big impression on me.

Some of my most satisfying moments at McKinsey have been when BCSS and other colleagues have been elected partners. Seeing colleagues you care about, colleagues with whom you’ve worked, whom you’ve mentored, seeing them become successful and seeing the impact they have is extremely satisfying. In SSO, I've seen colleagues elected partner who are focused on transforming education systems or focused on raising the incomes of poor people on a huge scale through transformation of agricultural systems, for example. It’s really inspiring.

BCSS is a great network, in a firm of networks. People really care about each other, really help each other, care about building our firm. One of the greatest things about the BCSS network is how you see business analysts and first- and second-year associates really playing firm-builder roles. You see them being very entrepreneurial and very committed to building the firm through recruiting and mentoring.

Leading by Example

McKinsey is an incredible leadership factory. By having more black people enter that leadership factory, whether they stay or whether they go on to accomplish great things in other institutions, we’re contributing a great deal to the world. Having black leaders here in the United States, in Africa, the Caribbean, the U.K., and elsewhere who have that McKinsey training, it’s just fantastic. For example, the way we are incubating outstanding African talent as Africa gets ready to make its big move in the world is wonderful.

What I do in my free time / my hobbies

I spend most of my free time with my family. I have two teenage boys and a 12-year-old girl, so we spend a lot of time at track meets, horse riding competitions, and soccer games. And my wife and I like to entertain; we see friends a lot and have people visiting all the time. That was true when we lived in Los Angeles, and it's true now that we're in D.C.

Offices

Education