2023 Global Leaders in Consulting: Jessica Vandermark Moore

Jessica's work is focused on social and behavior change insights and strategy. Prior to Camber, Jessica spent five years with Monitor Group. At Monitor, Jessica developed strategies for public and private sector clients in health, agriculture, tourism and consumer goods. She has extensive experience working on segmentation, market entry and innovation projects across Europe, Africa and North America. Previously, Jessica was a project manager with Synovate, a global market research firm, and Idenix Pharmaceuticals. With these companies, Jessica built 15+ years' experience conducting global qualitative and quantitative market research and consulting. Jessica holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and graduated with honors from the University of Maryland with a BS in International Management. Jessica lives in Paris with her two children and is fluent in French

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

It's hard to narrow it down! I'm very proud of having worked on a project where Kofi Annan was the Director of the Board. Becoming a Partner at Camber (i.e., becoming a "big boss lady" as I joked with my daughter) was amazing. At the intersection of professional and personal, I gave a speech at a pro-choice rally last year in response to Roe v Wade being overturned – working on the speech with my trusted friends and colleagues, and actually giving it (which was a big deal because I can be very introverted) on such an important topic was very meaningful to me.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

A few things in no particular order: 1) You will spend a decent amount of time trying to explain what your job is to friends and family, this is normal, and try to have patience 2) The beginning can be rough! I almost didn't make it past my second project in consulting. I told myself I'd give it a year…that was about 15 years ago! Find colleagues you can confide in when things get tough and support each other, 3) Always be thinking about the impact your work will have. A beautiful powerpoint document is great but does no good if it doesn't translate to action. Sometimes the consultant should support from behind the scenes and elevate other people's voices. 4) As a consultant, you are in a position of privilege, power and influence. Always be learning, thinking about, and applying an equity lens to the work you are doing.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

The diversity of experiences that I have been able to have – working with inspiring people from all over the world, on important and challenging topics.

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

Some more things in no particular order: 1) It's OK, and even preferable, to say that you don't know something instead of trying to answer. This will help build trust and respect with the people you are working with, 2) Your health, including mental health, is so much more important than a document or a meeting, try to keep it all in perspective, 3) Jobs can be thought of like relationships – sometimes you may need to move on and there's not much you can do to change that, 4) When you introduce yourself and what you do, pay attention to the words you use, what you highlight and what you gloss over – this is very telling about what you are proud of and what you most enjoy! 5) There is a difference between intent and impact – think about a car crash – there was no bad intent but it still caused damage – you are responsible for both the intent and the impact of your words and actions

What does being honored as a Global Leader mean to you?

I was very honoured to simply be nominated by my colleagues for this award – to be thought of, and to know that they spent time submitting an application filled with positive examples of my work and my leadership – the idea of this fills me with deep gratitude and appreciation for each of them and for the organization where I work.

Our mission at Camber is to "create a sustainable organization, solving problems that matter, where people can build purpose driven careers." Winning this award is a recognition that this type of firm, and our values-driven leadership can be successful and even differentiate us from our competitors. I hope that the pride I feel in winning this award is shared across our team, as well as with our amazing partnerships with global organizations and clients who enable us to do this great work in the field of social impact consulting.