The Young MCA has announced Emily Ireland Jones from IBM Consulting as the new Chair of the Young MCA, a professional network for consultants starting a career in management consultancy. The appointment comes as the Young MCA continues to grow with more younger consultants joining the profession than ever before. The network, supported by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), runs networking events across the UK as well as workshops with guest speakers focusing on communication, leadership skills, and diversity and inclusion throughout the year. Recent topics for events have included sustainability and finding your consulting niche.
The Young MCA aims to engage and develop the young consultant community, whilst also shaping the future of the industry. Members of the Young MCA get involved with numerous university and school engagements across the UK promoting consulting as a profession while young consultants from MCA firms regularly appear on panels at career events across the country discussing the life of a consultant and future career opportunities. The Executive committee is led by the Chair, who also sits on the main MCA board, with a team of volunteer Vice-Chairs who lead on various workstreams with a Young MCA representative also sitting on the MCA Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.
In addition, the Young MCA has a school leavers network for those joining the industry as apprentices, school leavers and trainees – a growing community in the sector. Last year over 2,080 graduates were recruited by MCA member firms: a 51% increase from 2020. The industry is also increasingly creating jobs for school leavers; 717 were created in 2021, up 5% in 2020, while in total there were 1,687 apprentices on programmes for firms represented by the MCA with increasing opportunities across the UK.
New Chair, Emily Ireland-Jones, joined IBM in 2016 as part of a placement year whilst studying at the University of Leeds, achieving a First-Class Honours in BA Human Geography, before returning as a graduate. Within IBM, she focuses on Enterprise Strategy Consulting, whilst holding roles supporting the ChMC Award and previously as the IBM Council Rep for the Young MCA. She takes over the role from incumbent Hassan Kamara from EY who has been chair for the last few years.
Emily Ireland Jones, Young MCA Chair, said:
“As Chair of the Young MCA I am delighted to have the opportunity to represent and influence the community of young consultants, whose contributions solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. I am excited to engage more young consultants with the Chartered Management Consultant Award through the Young MCA, in order to maintain and reward the highest standards of management consulting. I take pride in my career in consulting, and I look forward to working with our diverse Executive Committee, Council, members and stakeholders to enhance the young consulting community to positively shape the future of our industry.”
Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, added:
“The Young MCA is a vital part of our trade association providing development and networking opportunities as well as acting as the important voice of young consultants in our profession. I look forward to working with Emily and the wider team on the range of Young MCA activities in 2023 as we promote the exciting career pathways in consulting and provide essential tools and advice for consultants on their journey in the profession. Emily’s passion for the new Chartered Management Consultant Award shone through in her interview and she will be a vital ambassador for this new important award for our profession. “
Further information on the Young MCA can be found here.