From studying Biology at Duke University to U.S. Army Infantry Officer Basic School, Airborne School, Ranger School, and ultimately standing in the door of a C-130 Hercules aircraft ready to jump and lead his 40-member infantry platoon into hostile territory, ACME Consulting co-founder David Kelleher is no stranger to a challenge. But when his military career was sidelined by a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis in 1996, he was facing the fight of his life. In the early days of the disease, while suffering through symptoms including temporary blindness and limb paralysis, Kelleher kept his diagnosis mostly to himself. After coming to terms with his new reality, he decided to engage with the MS community. Since then, he's enlisted ACME employees to get active, organizing bike rides and walks that have raised more than $500,000 for MS research since 2006.
Consulting: You have quite the interesting background, how did you end up in consulting?
I grew up as a military brat—we lived in Thailand, Canada and Germany. My father was a career army officer who retired as a General. I went to college on an Army ROTC scholarship and planned to make a career out of the military. The meaningful, raw leadership challenges of being an Infantry officer were very, very compelling to me. While I was stationed in Vicenza, Italy in late 1995/early 1996 and preparing for a deployment to Bosnia, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This news abruptly ended my military career. As I was completing the Army's medical retirement process, I connected with folks at the government for EDS in Northern Virginia. They took a chance on someone with no business training and sent me through a rotational program. From there, I moved on to Arthur Andersen, Oracle and then founded ACME.
Consulting: How did that background guide your hand?
To me, the most important thing anyone brings to a job is not their professional or academic pedigree, but their personal life experience. So, moving every 12 to 18 months as a kid, being responsible for the lives of 40 men in an Infantry platoon at age 22 and having my chosen career abruptly ended at 23 all have shaped how I have played my part in building ACME.
Consulting: How'd you begin raising money for MS research?
As is typical with people who are newly diagnosed, I was not public about the disease. Once I became comfortable with MY disease and MY course of treatment, I decided to engage with the broader MS community. I started by participating in the MS Walk in Portland and then moved on to giving speeches in partnership with Biogen (manufacturer of Avonex—MS disease modifying drug). Once I was exposed to the MS community, I joined the board of the Oregon Chapter of the National MS Society.
