Biography
Akosua Barthwell Evans is a strategic organizational innovator whose career spans leadership in manage-ment consulting, asset management and securi-ties/corporate law.
She brings to the corporate boardroom a three-decade track record helping leaders of Fortune 500 companies, the military and major universities look to the future as she guides them in tackling new market opportunities and enhancing their organizations’ competitive advantages in changing global environments.
She has served on board finance, investment and marketing committees in the nonprofit sector, and offers corporate board-level legal expertise in financial transactions including public and debt financing, mergers and private equity/limited partnership deal making – for both U.S. and international organizations. She is a certified Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NCAD).
As CEO of The Barthwell Group, the Detroit-based strategic management consulting firm she founded in 2005, she has built and effectively served a client portfolio of Fortune 500 companies (McKesson, Lockheed Martin, TIAA-CREF, State Street), higher education institutions and the military, including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Marine Corps.
With her team of core team of 11, and 14 virtual market sector expert consultants, she has helped companies assess and devise business plans for new market opportunities. As an organizational strategist, she has guided clients through assessments, culture changes and organizational redesign planning to enhance innovation, operational efficiency and productivity. She has developed creative talent acquisition initiatives to meet sustainable leadership, STEM, veterans, and diversity goals. She also has helped businesses and universities develop and implement market-building strategic partnerships.
In 2014, she was appointed to the U.S. President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. As a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase (2000-2005), Dr. Evans planned, launched and led two new national businesses, profitably diversifying and broadening JPMorgan’s market reach. While there, she attained five securities licenses.
In JP Morgan’s Asset Management division, she built a new Endowments and Foundations Group providing asset allocation and investment management strategy for large universities, hospitals, museums and founda-tions – growing the business to $1.5 billion in assets.
For JPMorgan’s Private Bank, she launched and headed a new national Diversified Client Services Group focused on high net worth African American individuals and organizations, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the National Football League Management Council.
As a securities Associate with three leading international law firms (1990-1999) – Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thatcher Bartlett (both New York) and Kilpatrick Stockton (Atlanta) – Dr.. Evans led numerous financial transactions, including IPOs, debt financings, credit facilities, private equity fund start-ups and investment partnerships for Fortune 500 and other companies across diverse industries in the U.S., Europe, India and South America.
With Coopers & Lybrand’s Management Consulting Services Group (1981-1987), she provided businesses with strategic and business planning, financing and real estate development/construction project services. Dr. Evans earned her J.D. degree at Yale Law School, where she was the Co-Marshal of her class and won the Edward D. Robbins award for her writing; a Ph.D. and M.Phil (both in Political Science) from Columbia University; and her A.B (Government) from Barnard College.
She has provided board leadership for prestigious not-for-profits throughout the United States, including the 1,000-chapter Student Veterans of America, as Founder and Chair of The Museum of Modern Art (NY) Friends of Education (a minority outreach model), the Yale Law School Executive Committee, the Executive Leadership Council (African American C-suite leaders), the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation (community revitalization, social justice), the Detroit Science Center and Hutzel Hospital, among others.