Top 25 Most Influential Consultants 2001 -#2 - Nancy Killefer, 47, Director, McKinsey & Co.

Like most consultants, McKinsey director Nancy Killefer would sooner go fishing with Tony Soprano than divulge the names of her favorite clients. So, we thought we'd name two on her behalf — the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. Of course, these are not clients in the traditional sense, but instead are entities that have routinely sought out and leveraged the talents and skills of one of the profession's most dedicated consultants.

In the end, the dividends Killefer's clients reap pale in comparison to the rewards she pays the consulting profession. Today, Killefer's consulting career is a potent weapon aimed at every consultant-bashing book ever penned. It's a career that continues to advance and be enriched through government service."I have spent over 18 years developing market strategies and improving the organizational effectiveness of large, customer-oriented companies," Killefer told the Senate Committee on Finance during a hearing that would clinch her a seat on the IRS oversight board, a group independent of the agency that is charged with overseeing its administration and management.  Late last spring, after a three-year stint working directly under U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Killefer had just returned to her job as a director at McKinsey when she was prodded by Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, among others, to pursue an oversight board appointment.The 47-year-old mother of two was confirmed to a five-year-term, and today holds the position while continuing to head up McKinsey's consumer and retailing practice.

Few candidates had more to offer than Killefer. During her tenure as the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for management and chief financial officer, Killefer worked side-by-side with Charles Rossotti, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, to modernize the IRS. She resigned from the Treasury Department in Spring 2000 and returned to McKinsey's Washington, DC, office. For Killefer, no matter what opportunites the public sector  may bring, the profession of consulting will always be home.  She entered the profession in 1979 as a consultant in McKinsey's San Francisco office  and would become a partner in 1985. She was elected director in June 1992 — the same month she gave birth to her second child. In 1997, she took a leave of absence to take the government post. While at the Treasury Department, Killefer was involved in decisions — big and small — that affected most Americans. In addition to helping modernize the IRS, she oversaw the department's $1.9 billion Year 2000 date transition project and testified in support of the redesign of the Susan B. Anthony coin.