As One: About the contributors

Jim Quigley
Former Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
Jim served as Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited from 2007-2011. Deloitte member firms provide audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients in 150 countries. Prior to his global CEO role, Jim was the CEO of Deloitte LLP in the United States. Throughout his 36 years with the organization, Jim has taken on a number of leadership roles and built a distinguished track record of service to many multinational clients.

Jim is actively engaged in a number of international business organizations and committees, each working to help shape the policies for a successful and sustainable global economy. He is U.S. co-chairman of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue, and a member of the board of trustees of the U.S. Council for International Business and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He is also a member of the Council on Competitiveness, the Shanghai International Financial Advisory Council, and the Yale CELI Board of Advisors. He has also served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting.

Jim is regularly asked to share his perspective on global business trends and potential challenges at events such as the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the annual Boao Forum for Asia, and the annual German Marshall Fund Brussels Forum.

Jim is involved in various business and community groups in the United States, including Japan Society and The Economic Club of New York.  His memberships include the Business Roundtable and the National Advisory Committee—Brigham Young University. 

Jim is a past member of the task force on the role and mission for the United Way of Tri-State, USA (Connecticut/New Jersey/New York) and a former board member of Catalyst, the Center for Audit Quality, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Financial Accounting Foundation, and Junior Achievement of New York City. He has also served on numerous committees of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree and an honorary Doctorate of Business from Utah State University. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science from Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Mehrdad Baghai
Managing Director, Alchemy Growth Partners
Mehrdad is Managing Director of Alchemy Growth Partners, a boutique advisory and venture firm in Sydney, Australia. Mehrdad has been advising large global companies on growth, organization design, and transformation for the last 20 years. He currently works with clients in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.

Mehrdad is co-author of the international best-sellers, The Alchemy of Growth, and its sequel, The Granularity of Growth. He travels widely and is frequently asked to address business audiences about emerging ideas in the field of management.

He is currently co-leader of the As One flagship project, the Deloitte organization’s global initiative on collective leadership. He is also Chairman of Emue Technologies, the worldwide leader in authentication and personal identity protection.

Previously, Mehrdad was a partner in the Sydney and Toronto offices of McKinsey & Company and co-leader of the firm’s worldwide Growth Practice. He has also served as an Executive Director at the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, with overarching responsibility for growth.

Mehrdad is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He is a co-founder of the High Resolves Initiative, a community project on global citizenship, which has engaged over 15,000 high school students.

Mehrdad received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree with highest honors from Princeton University. He continued his education at Harvard where he completed a Master's degree in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctor degree with high honors at Harvard Law School.

Ainar D. Aijala Jr.
Global Managing Director, Consulting
Ainar D. Aijala Jr. leads Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s global consulting group, which is comprised of 35,000 Deloitte member firm consultants operating in 84 countries around the world. He is a member of the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited Executive. He is also a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for Deloitte Consulting LLP in the United States.

Ainar has been with the Deloitte organization since 1982 and was admitted as a partner to Deloitte United States in 1985. He has held numerous roles within the organization during his career and was the founding global leader of the Human Capital practice, which has grown to over US$750 million in member firm revenues and over 3,000 member firm people in the last eight years. His immediate past role was National Managing Director—Services for the Deloitte United States Consulting practice in which he oversaw the entire US$2 billion services portfolio from technology through strategy consulting. Ainar has advised clients of all sizes around the world on matters critical to the execution of their strategy. As the leader of a significant group that has grown rapidly while attracting, developing, and retaining top intellectual capital, he is especially well versed in the talent management challenges facing today’s business leaders.

Ainar is a member of the board for JA Worldwide™ (Junior Achievement). He is an enrolled actuary, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Mathematics from the University of Michigan.

Sabri Challah
Vice Chairman and Senior Partner, Human Capital, Deloitte LLP
Sabri is a Vice Chairman and a senior partner in the Human Capital practice of Deloitte LLP in the UK. He has been advising large global companies and government departments on strategy, organization, and transformation for the last 25 years.

Sabri is a board member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and was previously the director of the DTTL Global Human Capital group. He is also a member of the Deloitte UK Executive, where he is responsible for corporate development.

Sabri trained as a doctor and practiced for seven years. In addition, he holds  Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Cambridge, a degree in Public Health (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), and a Master in Business Administration degree (London Business School).

Gerhard Vorster
Chief Strategy Officer, Deloitte Australia; DTTL Regional Managing Director for Consulting, Asia Pacific
Gerhard has advised leading organizations and led teams of Deloitte professionals in South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia over the last 27 years. He is also responsible for the innovation program at Deloitte Australia and has published widely on the topic of innovation in organizations. Gerhard is actively involved in the national innovation agenda of Deloitte Australia and is often asked to address large corporations as well as public forums and conferences on the topics of innovation and leadership. His insights, both as an adviser and a leader, are practical, fresh, and aimed at making a difference.

Gerhard serves as a director of Emue Technologies and is a member of the Deloitte Australia Executive, the DTTL Asia Pacific Leadership team, and DTTL Consulting Global Executive. He has been with the Deloitte organization for 23 years.

Gerhard is a civil engineer by training and practiced as an engineer for seven years. He obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (cum laude), winning the Old Mutual Gold Medal at the University of Potchefstroom.