COUNCIL ADVISORS - Key Persons
Daniel has been an advisor to CEOs and their companies for over 15 years. He has coached CEOs on critical decisions, trained dozens of senior leaders on positioning their business, and drafted hundreds of high-stakes speeches, articles, and white papers on behalf of clients. He has led discussions with more than 100 CEOs, including Jack Welch, Henry Kravis, Barry Diller, A.G. Lafley, Ken Griffin, and Salman Khan.
Job Titles:
- President of SSA & Company
David is President of SSA & Company and Council Advisors. Previously, David was a partner at Castling Group and Manager of GESD/Castling Investors-a $30 million venture fund-a Management Consultant with Booz, Allen & Hamilton, and Head of Business Development for BMG Direct Marketing, a $1 billion division of Bertelsmann AG. He holds an MBA with distinction from Columbia Business School, and a BA from the University of Virginia. David is the Chairman of the advisory board of the Deming Center for Quality and Competitiveness at Columbia Business School.
Deb is a member of the Council Advisors executive leadership team and spearheads SSA & Company's Digital Transformation practice. As Global President of e-business at Procter & Gamble, Deb spent seven consecutive years on Fortune's US and international rankings of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. Deb serves on the Board of Directors at Corning Inc., Meritage Homes Corporation, and privately held S.C. Johnson. Deb had a State Department appointment to and served as Chair of the Business Council of Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC). Deb has also previously served on the Board of Directors of Staples, Sprint, and the Singapore Economic Development Board.
Douglas (Doug) Haynes, President of The Council, is an advisor to top executives of private and public enterprises.
Most recently, Doug served as President of the Point72 Asset Management, one of the premier equity hedge funds in the United States. Prior to joining Point72, Doug was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company where he led the Northeast Region of the US and the global Operations practice. Doug was one of the leaders for McKinsey's High-Tech industry practice and co-founded the Firm's practice in technology-based services. Before attending graduate business school, Doug worked as an engineer for GE's Plastics Business Group and a software developer for the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Dr. Ronald D. Sugar is the former Chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman. Prior, he held senior operating, technical, and financial positions at TRW Inc. and Litton Industries. He serves on the boards of Apple Inc., Chevron Corporation, Amgen Inc., Air Lease Corporation and as senior advisor to Ares Management LLC, Bain & Co., and Singapore ‘s Temasek sovereign wealth fund. He is a trustee of USC, a member of UCLA Anderson School of Management board of advisors, director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, director of Alliance for College- Ready Public Schools, and national trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He received his BS, MS, and PhD from UCLA.
Drew Holzapfel brings a deep foundation in healthcare strategy to High Lantern Group and itsclients. Over the course of his career, Drew has held positions in the federal government and with pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, and consulting firms, including Pfizer, The White House, and US Department of Health and Human Services. As a partner at High Lantern Group, he has led the firm's work with top biopharmaceutical companies to drive market readiness, position key policy issues, build partnerships and gain third-party organization support. He also has helped many nonprofit organizations and coalitions develop their positioning strategies and strengthen their influence and impact.
Drew has unique expertise in Alzheimer's disease, mental health, and neuroscience and has been recognized for his work with policymakers, advocacy organizations, corporations, international organizations, and governments. He is a Founding Board Member of The Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation, the Executive Director of The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease, Founding Board Member of Commit2Kind, a non-profit focused on anti-bullying, and served as Acting President and Board Member of UsAgainstAlzheimer's. Drew earned his Bachelor's degree from Emory University and a Master's of Business Administration from The University of Maryland.
Harry McMahon has been an Investment Banker for substantially all of his career, providing strategic solutions, financial advice, and transaction execution for corporations and institutions worldwide. He has served in many leadership roles during his 32 years at Merrill Lynch, including Executive Vice Chairman of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He currently serves on the Boards of California Resources Corp., Cottage Health System, and as a Trustee of Claremont McKenna College. He holds a BA and an Honorary Doctorate from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from University of Chicago.
John guides day-to-day operations at SSA & Company, sets and steers their business strategy, and oversees the Financial Services, Insurance, EMEA, and Healthcare practices. John also serves as an Executive Coach for C-Suite leaders of multiple financial services firms. Previously, John held roles as Director of Lean Six Sigma for Ford Motor Company-Marketing, Sales, and Service Group and Master Black Belt at GE Capital. He has significant financial services operating and management experience with Aetna Life & Casualty and Cigna and has multiple insurance-related designations, including CPCU, RPLU, ARM, and AIS.
Job Titles:
- Chairman and CEO of Sarr Group
Les is Chairman and CEO of Sarr Group. Previously, he was a Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations of CCMP Capital Advisors. Les also founded Hamilton Lane, the world's leading Private Equity advisory and management firm. He is currently Chairman of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. and CDK Global, Inc., and Lead Director of Merck & Co., Inc. He serves on the Board of Corning Incorporated, NXT Capital, and is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Formerly, he was Chair of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. and Chair and board member of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Matt is part of the executive leadership team at SSA & Company, where he sets and steers the business strategy, and guides go-to-market approaches. Matt also leads SSA & Company's Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods and Private Equity practices. He has more than 25 years of global management and advisory experience ranging from strategic planning and top-line growth initiatives to operational enhancement, organizational development, restructuring, acquisition activity, and merger integration. He has worked with many of the world's iconic names in retail and consumer products and is deeply experienced in working with public and private institutions, entrepreneurial owners, and financial sponsors in all phases of corporate lifecycles. Previously, Matt founded AGORA Advisors, a boutique advisory firm, was a Partner and Practice Leader at Boston Consulting Group, a Managing Director and Global Practice Leader at AlixPartners, and a Partner and Practice Leader at Kurt Salmon. Prior to consulting Matt held management roles at Macy's.
Michael Hodin is CEO of Global Coalition on Aging, Managing Partner at High Lantern Group, and fellow at Oxford University's Harris Manchester College. Mike features on Huffington Post and Fiscal Times' Age and Reason Blog.
Mike was a Legislative Assistant with Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in his first term. He was honored as a Visiting Scholar at Brookings Institution, on U.S. Foreign Economic Policy. He was senior executive at Pfizer, where he created and led International Public Affairs and Public Policy operations.
Mike is Member of Council on Foreign Relations and was Adjunct Senior Fellow on population aging. He's on the Boards of Foreign Policy Association, Business Council for International Understanding, American Skin Association, American Federation on Aging Research, and Emigrant Savings Bank, where he serves the Risk and Audit Committee. Mike is on the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Aging.
Mike holds B.A., cum laude, Cornell University, M.S. in International Relations from London School of Economics and Political Science, and M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.
As General Counsel, Mitzi oversees all legal matters for Council Advisors. Her responsibilities include review and negotiation of all contracts, including client engagement agreements, independent contractor agreements, and confidentiality agreements. In addition, she advises on employment and real estate matters as well as company policies and procedures.
Prior to joining Council Advisors, Mitzi served as Counsel for IBM's Software Group where she partnered with various groups including Strategy and Technology; Product Development; Marketing/Social Media; Software Standards Organizations; and Mergers and Acquisitions. She engaged in various projects in addition to drafting and review of outbound software licensing agreements, drafting and negotiation of intellectual property policies, and review and drafting of governance documents. Prior to IBM, Mitzi was a corporate associate at Davis and Gilbert LLP where her main responsibilities included drafting and reviewing SEC filings for domestic and foreign private issuers.
Scott is the former CEO of both Hyatt Hotels Corporation and United Infrastructure Company. Scott currently sits on the board of Snap Inc. and has served on the boards of publicly traded AXA Financial, Inc. as well as several private companies, and serves as a special adviser to General Atlantic Partners. Scott is also a member of the boards of the Aspen Community Foundation and The Kravis Leadership Institute.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
Sonal Randeria serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer for Council Advisors. Ms. Randeria has a General Management and Corporate Finance background from her 10+ years with Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company (COAC), the Operating Team that turns around Cerberus Capital Management portfolio companies and investments; 9+ years with GE Capital; and 7+ years with IBM Corp. With Cerberus, she served as the Chief Strategy Officer of COAC, the Chair and CEO of a financial services portfolio company, the Audit Chair of a reinsurance portfolio company, a member of the Cerberus Capital Management Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee, and as the lead on growth, governance and monetization initiatives with portfolio company management teams. One of Sonal's most memorable contributions is turning a company valued at $3 million into $66 million after-tax cash to investors, and fully liquidating the company 10 years early. With GE Capital, Sonal's roles included serving as a CFO, as a Global Treasurer. and as the Finance Executive on M&A transactions. With IBM, she served as part of Corporate Internal Audit, and with FP&A and Pricing & Investment Analysis teams.
Stephen was previously a Vice Chairman at Heidrick & Struggles and ran Leadership Advisory Services. With 20+ years of experience in assessment, executive coaching, top-level succession planning, organizational effectiveness, and strategy consulting, Stephen specializes in CEO succession and has partnered with numerous boards of global Fortune 500 companies to ensure that successful leadership selection and transition occurs. He has also led many Chairman successions and board effectiveness reviews, partnering with boards of directors to help them with their overall, committee, and individual director effectiveness.
Taylor Griffin works with CEOs, senior executives, and boards of directors across a broad range of company size and stage - from the largest Fortune 50 global corporations to private-equity portfolio companies and emergent VC-backed firms. She works with leaders to continuously attain higher levels of performance, grow successfully into new roles or new organizations, and build their viability as succession candidates for the C-suite or the CEO role itself. With boards and management, she draws from her deep experience working on top talent development and succession projects to help fortify organizations in their talent needs for the future. As COO of The Miles Group (TMG), she is responsible for the overall operations and management of the firm.
Prior to helping establish TMG, she was with Heidrick & Struggles' Leadership Consulting Practice. Before joining Heidrick & Struggles, Taylor was an attorney specializing in commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters in state and federal court. Taylor holds a bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and with honors, from the University of Arizona, and a juris doctorate from Emory University School of Law. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Human Resources
Tricia Madden is Vice President of Human Resources for Council Advisors. Tricia partners with leadership across the businesses-SSA & Company, The Miles Group, High Lantern Group, -guiding and managing talent programs and the HR team to support the overall strategic direction of Council Advisors' growing businesses both domestically and internationally.