Greg Wallig
Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business
Age: 51
“People-first leader who believes diversity of thought leads to better outcomes.”
Hometown: Arlington, VA
Family Members: Wife of 25 years, Beth, sons James (11) and Thomas (8), and a pug named Lily (4)
Fun fact about yourself: I was born in Pohnpei, Micronesia, on a layover of then-Continental Airlines’ Island Hopper, which flies from Honolulu to Guam. I left on the next flight the day after I was born, and didn’t return for 47 years.
Undergraduate School and Degree: William & Mary, B.A. International Relations, with a secondary concentration in Mathematics
Where are you currently working? National Head of Public Policy and MetroDC Market Managing Principal, Grant Thornton LLP
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:
Volunteering:
Board Co-Chair, The Global Fund for Children, 2020 – present
Board Member, Greater Washington Board of Trade, 2018 – present
Board Member, Grant Thornton Political Action Committee (GT PAC), 2022 – present
Masters of Science in Business Analytics Advisory Board Member, William & Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business, 2017 – present
Board Member, Virginia Society of CPAs, 2021 – 2023
Board Member, Rosslyn Business Improvement District, 2021 – 2023
Assistant Cub Master and Assistant Scout Master, Pack 149 and Troop 149, Scouts BSA, Arlington, VA, 2020 – present
Awards:
Beta Gamma Sigma, International Business Honor Society, 2024
The Virginia 500, Virginia Business Magazine’s listing of the state’s most powerful and influential leaders, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA), 2020
William & Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business Career Champion Award, 2018
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? While completing my MBA, I was elected to be the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Fund for Children (GFC). I chose to focus my MBA capstone on child safety with respect to emerging Artificial Intelligence technologies. This allowed me to combine my MBA research work with my volunteer activities and my day job as the head of policy for a major accounting firm. Elements of my capstone included speaking to lawmakers about child protection legislation and attending GFC’s 30th anniversary gala in London with two members of my cohort.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? As Managing Principal of my firm’s presence in Washington, DC, I consolidated multiple physical offices into the firm’s largest domestic office, with 1400 employees in a flagship building overlooking the National Mall. I emphasized inclusion and leveraged our Business Resource Groups (BRGs) to build a sense of community within this large and diverse office. The year after the consolidation, my office had the highest revenue growth of any office in the firm and enjoyed the firm’s highest employee satisfaction scores.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? Accounting professor Allison Koester. Although I have spent fifteen years of my career as a Partner in a global accounting firm, I am not an accountant. I deeply appreciated Allison’s amazing talent for breaking down a vast and complicated set of information and providing it to students in a way that was tremendously informative and useful.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? Location. Reputation. Values. Georgetown’s location in the nation’s capital means that the business school is about much more than just business. Like no other MBA program, Georgetown seamlessly infuses policy, economics, non-market strategy, and geopolitics into every class and activity. Combine this muti-disciplinary academic approach with a global perspective and Georgetown’s Jesuit values, and the outcome is an MBA program that is both the best in the world and the best for the world.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? At Georgetown, we are fortunate to have access to professors who are known and influential in the political arena. While completing my MBA, I pushed to take on an additional role of National Head of Public Policy for my firm. I immediately leveraged strategies and tactics I had learned in various classes to engage directly in the power and politics of Washington. I was able to produce meaningful outcomes both inside and outside of my firm related to emerging climate disclosure and Artificial Intelligence regulation. This impact would not have been possible without the knowledge I gained in the classroom and from my professors and fellow classmates, many of whom are Washington insiders.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? In a case of trying to fit too much activity into too little time, I attempted to fit in studying for a complex finance exam with a board retreat to Guatemala. The Guatemala City airport is not the best place to attempt to master future cash flow formulas. Let’s just say I bombed the exam.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? My hobby before starting my MBA was competing in Olympic-distance triathlons. I had completed 18 prior to starting my MBA. I even used my triathlon experience as part of my application essay. I equated the stamina, focus, grit and determination needed to finish a triathlon to the skills I felt I would need to complete my MBA. This turned out to be true. What I underestimated is that triathlon is a solo-sport, and an MBA is a group-sport. The members of your cohort, faculty and administration are such an important part of the MBA experience. Getting over that finish line at graduation is a team effort!
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? It’s very hard to keep this to one person – our class was wonderfully diverse and included many members who brought so much to this experience. I really admired Kristen Paral for her spirit, dedication, focus, professionalism, intellectuality, and high standards, both inside and outside of the classroom. Kristen was chosen as one of our three class representatives and dealt directly with the faculty and administration on many complex topics that directly benefitted our entire class, and the university as a whole. I firmly believe our entire MBA program was made demonstrably better because of Kristen’s time and effort.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The in-person experience was a major benefit I was seeking in an MBA. I wanted to deepen and diversify my network outside of my current professional domain. I started the EMBA program at 50, with nearly 30 years of management consulting experience, including nearly 20 years of executive-level experience. It was important to me to have a cohort that was reflective of my professional acumen, but also complimentary to it. The in-person EMBA was the only choice for me.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I’m open to possibilities.
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