The 2020 Top 25 Consultants: Daniel O'Keefe

"I had great interest in helping clients understand issues, see opportunity, and then shape solutions that can be implemented and ultimately add real value," he says. "I take great pride in being a partner at Arthur Andersen; helping start and build Protiviti; and my leadership roles in community service. Through all of this, mentoring others and helping clients globally have been most rewarding."

Today, O'Keefe is a Senior Managing Director with Protiviti and has some 47 years of consulting experience globally servicing a variety of organizations across multiple industries.

A founding member of Protiviti in 2002, O'Keefe was responsible for leading the firm's account management program for major clients. He has served in a variety of leadership roles, including in the practices of governance, risk management and compliance and as leader of the financial services industry program.

"I have always enjoyed the fact that no one consulting opportunity is the same," O'Keefe says. "All clients have unique characteristics as a result of the people involved, the type of business, their business model, the root causes of issues, the environment they operate in, etc."

He also has been active as a mentor and building training and development programs. "Working with teams, listening and learning, and then going through the process of finding workable solutions from strategy to implementation has always been challenging and rewarding," he says. "Add to this, that I have traveled the world in doing this, making it extra special."

i on Hunger

In 2014, O'Keefe developed—and continues to lead—Protiviti's award-winning global community service initiative, 'i on Hunger,' through which Protiviti partners with leading non-profit organizations and clients to help alleviate world hunger through meal-packing and meal delivery efforts.

That very first year, O'Keefe and the firm set a lofty goal of committing all its offices worldwide to providing 1 million meals to people in need globally in one year.

By the end of the campaign, Protiviti significantly exceeded its goal and served up 1.6 million meals. In addition, more than 2,000 of the firm's employees and many of its clients will have participated in i on Hunger activities, benefiting more than 40 non-profit organizations worldwide including: Stop Hunger Now, Feed My Starving Children, Feeding Children Everywhere, City Harvest, Food Lifeline, Harvester's Foodbank, Ronald McDonald House and many others, O'Keefe says.

By June of that year, Protiviti had exceeded its goal of providing 1 million meals four months ahead of schedule during its annual summer intern orientation.

"I think we tapped into something that's pretty special about Protiviti," O'Keefe said at the time. "One driving force behind the initiative was a promise to our clients that we would find additional ways to connect and engage with them. We're doing that through this effort, and we're collectively serving a greater need at the same time."

In 2015, the program was recognized by Consulting magazine for its work with an Excellence in Social and Community Investment award. Since its inception back in 2014, the i on Hunger program has delivered more than 10 million meals globally to people in need. And as its founder and steward, O'Keefe has been a huge driver of the program's success.

O'Keefe's community service work also included serving as acting COO for a non-profit organization and serving on a number of boards and committees of other non-profits. Currently, he serves on the board of the Ounce of Prevention Fund that promotes the early development of children in impoverished areas nationally.

"My internal drive was shaped by the strong work ethic modeled by my family members; my wife Barbara's absolute belief in and support of me; and the expectations of the extraordinary organizations I have been associated with," he says. "I have always reflected on my good fortune to have all this in my life. My motivation is fueled by wanting to stay relevant and to live up to values such as Protiviti's which are Innovation, Integrity and Inclusion."

Keys To Success

Ask O'Keefe to identify factors that have been keys to his success over the years and he'll come up with three factors that he says all work together.

"The most important is the development, support and confidence of the organizations, teams and individuals I have been associated with," he says. "Another is my willingness to apply my skills to new opportunities as they arise and go all in on their pursuit, regardless of complexity."

Finally, he says he learned that failure is part of the journey and the key is the rebound, "which helps drive resilience and reinvention, for myself, our people and clients."

Prior to Protiviti, O'Keefe was an audit and consulting partner at Arthur Andersen. He also served as general auditor and as head of operations for The Northern Trust, and as acting general auditor for Accenture. His international experience includes launching new offices, serving clients and strategically developing business in Europe, Asia and South America. O'Keefe holds a BA degree in accountancy from the University of Dayton and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Put it all together—nearly half a century serving clients and working toward the greater good—and the results speak for themselves. The culmination of a career of caring and compassion has led to O'Keefe being named Consulting's Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2020.

For his part, O'Keefe says he finds it very humbling to be nominated for the award and then ultimately selected. "It means that people found value in their interactions with me and I made a difference," he says. "I am grateful for the support of all those who supported me in my career, especially my colleagues at Protiviti and our parent company, Robert Half."

O'Keefe says he is also grateful to Consulting magazine for the opportunity to communicate one person's journey and hope that it may help others find success in theirs. "To those I have helped along the way, I ask that you pay it forward to others," O'Keefe says.

Q&A: Professionally, what are you most looking forward to over the next 12 months?

O'Keefe: "As I am writing this, I am working from home as a result of the COVID-19 virus. The world changed in a matter of a few weeks. My immediate focus is family and friends. The current situation is also presenting me with new opportunities to apply my skills to help Protiviti, clients, individuals and not-for-profits recover and find new ways of doing things. Where to focus will be my challenge."