BRIAN WAHLGREN
Accenture
Manager, Human Performance
Age: 28

Brian Wahlgren doesn’t just have goals for himself—he has goals for the world. After being accepted to Accenture’s nonprofit program, Accenture Development Partnerships, he discovered a passion for making a difference in Africa. Through the Accenture program, he stayed in South Africa for three months at the beginning of 2007 and spent his days teaching farmers the same project management tools he had used to teach those in the retail and consumer product goods sectors in the United States. “It was quite a drastic change, but the thing is I had to learn quickly because I was there such a short time,” he says, adding the skill the farmers need most in Africa is simply confidence in themselves to succeed.

The experience, he says, is something that inspires him every day while working with his Fortune 100 clients. “It just changed my perception about coming back to the typical retail project,” he says. He dreams of a day where more programs like ADP exists—and he wants to be one of the catalysts of that by instilling in his clients the importance of corporate social responsibility.

In the meantime, colleagues can find the Accenture manager training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for the Regional AIDS Initiative of Southern Africa—that is when he isn’t catching up with his favorite Boston-based sports teams or e-mailing family and friends while on the road. “I think my family and friends would tell you that I’m over the top when it comes to keeping in touch,” he says. And that’s apparently a lot of e-mail, since, according to nominator and Accenture senior executive Sean E. Spillane, “Brian is a good person, who is well liked by all who know him.”

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JESSICA BAILEY
A.T. Kearney
Associate
Age: 29

Sometimes, achieving so much so early in a career can lead to a few uncomfortable moments. That was the case with Jessica Bailey, an associate with A.T. Kearney. “I actually had an instance where a client thought I was too young. My manager said to the client, ‘We think she’s great; give her two weeks and if you still think she’s too young, we’ll pull her off the engagement.’” While Bailey was spared the knowledge of this during the project, she found out about it at the end when the client approached her to apologize. “It was a little strange, but at the end of the engagement, I was actually offered a job with that client,” she says. “It really meant a lot to that the firm believed in me. That’s what’s special about A.T. Kearney. I feel very confident when I walk into client setting because I view myself as having 80 years of intellectual capital behind me. It’s not just me walking into that room—it’s A.T. Kearney.”

Bailey spends most of her time in the organizational and transformation practice, but also finds time to lead the firm’s women’s recruiting efforts at the Northwestern/Kellogg School, where she earned her MBA. “I love being back on campus. It’s so great to talk to students and to get them excited about the firm and the field of consulting,” she says.

What’s next for Bailey? “Well, I’d like to make partner at A.T. Kearney.” In the meantime, she’ll have plenty of training to keep her busy—Bailey is registered for three triathlons this year. “It’s always great to set—and achieve—those personal goals.”

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ADRIAN JONES
Bain & Company
Consultant
Age: 27

While most high school seniors were putting the finishing touches on their college entrance applications, Adrian Jones was preparing a plan to unseat a popular mayor in his hometown. At the age of 17, Jones was serving as a campaign director for his neighbor, Jon Costas, in a mayoral run in Valparaiso, Ind. “I love the ability to make a difference in the community, and that’s one reason I love local politics,” Jones says. “And I’m passionate about Valparaiso. This is where I grew up, and I look at it as giving back to my community.”

Now, a decade later, Jones is a consultant with Bain & Company and still serves as campaign director for Costas, who became mayor in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. Jones, who has been with Bain since 2001, says he “spends nights and weekends” pursuing his political passions since none of that work is through Bain. But “consulting has helped me build the skills that are necessary to make a difference in local community,” Jones says. For the record, he says running a political campaign is not all that different from his work as a consultant: “Define the problem, develop a plan, then implement the plan to solve the problem.”

He’s currently a member of the private equity practice, but he’s done “a little bit of everything at Bain,” and that includes another one of his passions—travel. Jones has traveled to 67 countries and is currently working in Stockholm, Sweden, “trying to build a bigger global perspective on how business operates,” Jones says. “I think that perspective will be very beneficial.”