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“This knowledge gained from the Illinois Business Consulting experience can be transferred into careers in the consulting industry as well as corporate careers working with external consultants. ”
- Jim Lynch, MBA ’99, Partner, The Tokarz Group Advisers, LLC


Illinois Business Consulting Student Leadership Team


Illinois Business Consulting is student led and student driven. Students apply for the leadership positions and are selected based on their prior IBC experience, work experience, project management skills, leadership capabilities and interpersonal communication skills.

The Student Leadership Team is responsible for running the consulting operation, staffing the projects and performing key marketing, operations and training activities. Student Senior Managers are responsible for ensuring the successful execution of the client projects under their supervision.

Caroline Johnston – Student Director
Caroline received her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois in 2006 and is a 2010 Illinois MBA candidate. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, Caroline worked as a healthcare consultant with Huron Consulting Group, specializing in strategic and business planning, financial modeling and operational analysis. Last summer, Caroline interned with Allstate as an Internal Consultant in Technology Strategy. Here, she led a competitive intelligence initiative focused on current and emerging consumer-focused technologies. Caroline joined IBC during the fall of 2008 as a consultant and worked on a higher education initiative to improve operational efficiencies and offer cost-savings. Caroline was then promoted to Project Manager and led a competitive analysis engagement for a Fortune 500 insurance company.

Karthik Chandran – Senior Manager
Karthik graduated from the University of Mysore in 2000 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical & Electronics. He went on to work for the IT services sector for two years before joining Novellus Systems, a semiconductor equipment manufacturing company, where he worked for more than six years. Before joining the Illinois MBA program, he led a Control Systems team catering to world’s leading IC chip manufacturers. He is pursuing his MBA in General Management. As a part of IBC, he has finished two projects in the last year. He interned with the University of Illinois’ Office of Corporate Relations during the summer.

Jay Dave – Senior Manager
Jay graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy in May 2009.  He is pursuing a master of Accounting Science and a graduate minor in Finance this year and will graduate in May 2010.  Jay joined IBC in Spring 2008 and completed three projects, two of which as Project Manager.  One project helped a major insurance company implement internal knowledge management.  In addition, Jay led a project advising a UK-based outsourcing firm seeking to enter the Midwest market.  Jay spent the summer of 2008 as an audit intern at Grant Thornton LLP.  During the summer of 2009, Jay furthered his experience in consulting as a process intern at Protiviti.

David Farber – Senior Manager
David J. Farber graduated from the University of Illinois in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy and a concentration in Finance.  David is currently pursuing his Master’s in Accountancy, and is planning on sitting for the CPA in Spring 2010.  He has held multiple internships in the fields of accounting and financial management, most recently interning with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Assurance practice, specializing in the Software and Internet market sector. David has been with IBC for over a year, working as a consultant and project manager on engagements including long-term investment analyses and financial model synthesis. He has studied abroad in both Austria and China and volunteers for International Illini. In addition, David worked for over a year as a business tutor for student athletes.

Anne Hammond – Senior Manager
Anne graduated from Cornell University in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in Biology. She is currently pursuing her MBA in marketing and finance. During her undergraduate years and before joining the IMBA program, Anne completed various microbiological research projects for Cornell, University of Oxford, Dow Chemical, Kraft Foods, and Washington University in St. Louis. Since May 2008, she has worked for the university's intellectual property office as a commercialization analyst. Anne joined IBC in the fall of 2008 and completed two projects for a west coast steel manufacturer as a Consultant and then Project Manager. She joins the leadership team as the Allstate Senior Manager.

Paul Katsen – Senior Manager
Paul is an undergraduate senior in the College of Business earning a dual degree in Finance and General Engineering. He has a variety of consulting experience, having worked with startups, universities, and large businesses. His projects have primarily dealt with introducing new company offerings into dynamic market environments, allowing full use of his broad perspective and diverse education. Over the past 3 years, Paul has remained active on campus serving on the executive boards of a few prestigious engineering honors societies, and has even performed with a number of university music ensembles.

Avinash Kopparthi – Senior Manager
Avinash graduated from the University of Illinois in May of 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication. He is currently pursuing a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations through the School of Labor and Employment Relations. Last year, Avinash served as a Senior Manager with IBC where he led four distinct project teams working on initiatives such as process improvement, change management, business plan development and financial and operational feasibility assessments for a diverse group of clients including a large public academic institution, a local green technology start-up and a Fortune 50 insurance corporation. During this past summer, Avinash worked as a human resources intern for Life Technologies where he developed the foundational assessment for a company-wide frontline leader developmental plan and conducted employee relations site assessments at all major domestic manufacturing facilities within the company’s molecular biology systems division.

Scott Madison – Senior Manager
Scott graduated from the University of Illinois in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in Economics. He is currently pursuing an MBA in Marketing and Operations. Prior to joining the Illinois MBA program, he worked as the Sales and Marketing Director for a custom door manufacturer in the Chicago area where he was responsible for an average of 16% revenue increases for four consecutive years.  This past summer Scott was a merchant intern at Sears Holdings Corporation.  Scott’s previous IBC experience has included a consulting role for a luxury fashion startup and a project management position for a fortune 100 corporation. 

Mark Paik – Senior Manager
Mark Paik is a senior undergraduate student in the College of Business majoring in Finance and Accounting with a May 2010 expected graduation date.  He has interned for KPMG in their Transaction Services Advisory group, performing financial due diligence services of private equity investments and corporate M&A's, and due diligence for lenders both globally and domestically.  Mark has served as the president of the University of Illinois Varsity Men's Glee Club and is the co-creator and former president of the international, student organization Entrepreneurs Without Borders.  Mark has been involved with IBC for over a year working on three IBC engagements, leading one as a project manager.

Parmesh Venkateswaran – Senior Manager
Parmesh has a background in Mechanical Engineering. He completed his undergraduate degree in Bangalore, India and his master's degree at University of Missouri in Columbia. Prior to joining the Illinois MBA program, he worked at Caterpillar in Peoria, IL for over three years as a project engineer. He was mainly involved in product development and strategic analysis of new technology. In his first year at IBC, he worked for two fortune 500 clients in the area of marketing strategy. Currently, he is working as a Marketing Intern at The Libman Company and is involved with defining promotional campaigns and identifying innovative marketing methods for the company

Kendra M. Younker – Senior Manager
Kendra graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. She is currently in her final year of her MBA, focusing on Finance and General Management. Before completing her undergraduate education she owned and operated a construction business which she started in early 2001 and sustained until the end of 2004. As an undergraduate, she worked as an intern for M & K Chemical Engineering Consultants, where she was first exposed to consulting by assisting in the design and implementation of new and refurbished chemical manufacturing units for several large clients. Kendra has also won recognition for her undergraduate, research work in Tissue Engineering applications and continues to pursue business interests in the field of biomimetics and related fields as a graduate student. She joined IBC in the fall of 2008 where she worked on a strategy engagement focused on multicultural web design. In the spring of 2009, she was promoted to Project Manager where she managed a team of consultants to deliver a financial model for the introduction of a new product into the renewable energy market. This past summer she worked on Competitive Intelligence initiatives as an internal consultant for Allstate Insurance in Northbrook, Illinois.

 



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