The 2022 Women Leaders in Consulting: Mary Beth Edwards

Mary Beth Edwards is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura, based in Washington D.C. Mary Beth has over 20 years experience providing financial and complex data analysis in the health care, life sciences and financial services industries. She works in the areas of financial analysis, damages, industry customs and standards, class certification, and regulatory compliance involving the billing, payment, and administration of health and pharmacy benefits. Mary Beth also provides forensic data analytics where she is responsible for data acquisition, discovery services, and economic modeling of large volumes of transactional data.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement

One of my greatest professional achievements would be growing businesses by unlocking talent within the team and helping groups reach higher levels of success by implementing processes to facilitate new ways to work together and embracing the value of diversity in team dynamics. As a female, health care industry specialist in a male-dominated field, I don't fit the mold of the typical Disputes business leader, and I am immensely proud of my Firm for providing me this opportunity.

At Navigant, I had a leadership role where I was tasked with leading two highly disparate groups of professionals where growth was declining. The groups were comprised of many talented senior practitioners who were used to working in individual silos. As I built relationships across the team, I saw an opportunity to improve performance by implementing processes that encouraged teaming, while allowing for the individualized nature of the markets that our practitioners serve. In my first year, we achieved revenue growth of 26%, margin improvement of 35% and increased employee engagement.

Shortly after joining Ankura, I was named the Global Leader of the Disputes & Economics group. This role required me to bring together eight different practices from various legacy organizations, including our international businesses, in the middle of the global pandemic. I was asked to lead this large, multidisciplinary group based on my track record for finding ways to create scale within the business to drive efficiencies across the groups, while also identifying the unique offerings, and ensure we had focused growth plans.

What advice would you give to a female consultant just beginning her career?

My advice would be to embrace the differences between men and women in the workplace. Don't view being a woman as limiting or as a weakness, but rather recognize that we each have unique strengths that are assets to a team. We know that diversity is powerful because different points of view, life experiences and talents make a team function better. I also encourage women to view networking as an exercise in building relationships, a concept that may feel more comfortable than the more intimidating term "sales." Women are generally 'relationship-driven', focused on collaboration and communication rather than individual accomplishment. These relationships skills, combined with emotional intelligence are powerful tools in building relationships, displaying empathy to understand a client's problem and motivating teams to operate at their best.

Finally, take advantage of a variety of mentorship opportunities. Mentors come into our lives throughout different stages of our lives and can be personal and professional, young and old, and men and women. A mentor has the ability to see something in you that you may not see in yourself. Don't assume a mentor has to share your life experience to be able to be helpful to you.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

I have received great advice over the years from both my professional and personal relationships. One piece of advice that has resonated with me over the years is: Don't ever identify a problem unless you have a solution. And, if you see an issue, feel empowered to implement the change.

As a young professional just starting out in the consulting world, I was on a project and was frustrated with the manual nature of the client's processes. I was hesitant to raise my concerns but then finally noted to the Partner that this would work better if we automated the process. He then encouraged me to build the tool that would automate that process.

I learned that one needs to be a change agent and regardless of your position, you have the ability to improve a team's situation with your ideas and help with implementation. The support of my Partner many years ago helped me develop my confidence into the leader that I am today and has shaped the way that I approach mentoring my professionals.

My advice to fellow leaders would be to encourage your teams to raise ideas and give them room to be part of the solution. They'll feel more invested in the success and empowered to be a positive change agent in the future. For younger professionals, don't underestimate your ability to identify ways to help the team. You are in the day-to-day trenches of the work and often bring a unique perspective to the challenge.

What does being honored as a Woman Leader in Consulting mean to you?

Being recognized for this award among such a talented group of women is incredibly rewarding. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to lead Ankura's Disputes & Economics practice even though this is a male dominated market. But, our CEO believed in me. He knows that you don't have to be "cookie cutter" to be successful and trusted that I could create an environment for our talented professionals to operate at their best. Not only did we grow revenue by over 10% in the first year, compared to flat to declining revenue in prior year, unlike many Disputes businesses, our team collaborates across all the businesses within Ankura to bring the talent of the entire Firm to support our clients. This recognition would be validation of the Firm putting their trust in me to lead our team, and also validation of the team to embrace new approaches to the market.

Further, no leader succeeds without a talented team at her side. This recognition would most importantly be validation of our team and what we have accomplished together and a celebration of the growth that each of us has shown in our roles. I have mentored professionals who have progressed from first-year Associates to Senior Managing Directors and am grateful that they entrusted their career with me. Witnessing our team coming together, winning new mandates and working across other practice areas at Ankura has been a huge achievement for the team and for me.