2024 started with a new professional challenge for Hannah Foaden. After 4,5 years of working as a consultant at Deloitte, she was eager to put sustainability first in her career as consultant at Been Management Consulting. What consulting experience does she bring along? Why choose us? And how does Hannah want to contribute to the food transition? Let’s meet Hannah.
What is your background?
I have degrees in International Relations and Global Political Economy, topics you initially might not link to a career in consulting! I have to say that being a consultant wasn’t part of my “plan” when I was studying – I thought that I would become a diplomat and pursued this by doing an internship at the Dutch Embassy in Singapore. While I loved my internship and living in Singapore, I also came to the conclusion that the diplomatic path wasn’t for me: I really enjoyed the analytical and strategic parts of it, but I wanted to see the impact of my work. During my Masters I worked for a start-up in Amsterdam and had the opportunity to experience the client-facing side of a company. Eventually I combined the aspects that I enjoyed from my work experiences – business strategy, analyzing and solving problems, and engaging with and advising clients – and came to the conclusion that consulting would be a good fit.
What types of projects did you work on at your previous employer Deloitte?
I mostly worked on large business transformations in the financial sector and the public sector, focusing on Operating Model (re)designs. This means that the clients I worked for often had had a change in strategy or were going through a big transition, like implementing a new technology, and we were there to help them (re)organize themselves in such a way that enabled them to execute on their plan.
"I was looking for an organization with an informal culture and intrinsic motivation to do better for the world, and I have found it"
There are several reasons, but a big one is Been Management Consulting’s emphasis on the food transition. At Deloitte, I was already working on this topic, but did this next to my client projects, while at Been, the food transition is one of the key focus areas. Next to this, as a B Corp, the company’s commitment to sustainability and impact is something I found very appealing, especially because I was looking for more opportunities to see the (societal) impact of my work. Finally, I was looking for a smaller organization with a more informal culture, a strong sense of team and an intrinsic motivation to do better for the world. After almost three months here, I can definitely say that these expectations have been met!
What can we expect from you here at Been Management Consulting and how do you want to contribute to the food transition?
I bring a strong set of consulting skills and experience across various industries and clients. I want to further expand these at Been, but also use them to help my new colleagues grow their skills - in the same way that they can help me fully understand the energy sector, for example. I am naturally very curious and I think learning from each other and being honest and open can really enhance collaboration. In the food transition, I’m hoping to bring our Been propositions and expertise to our clients and work together to improve the sector.
Can you tell us a little bit about your personal life? How do you relax?
I live in Amsterdam with my boyfriend Joost. I love cooking, finding wine pairings and hosting friends and family for dinner; I recently got a pasta machine, so making fresh pasta is turning into a new hobby (with hits and misses) and will most likely start a wine course soon, to learn more about that. The beach really calms me down, both in summer and in winter, and I enjoy yoga (also planning to do a teacher training course – something about learning new things), Pilates and spinning classes.
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