leadership
Mary E. Spada, President & CEO
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Under the leadership of Ms. Spada, digitale inc. specializes in assignments involving strategic planning, complex project management, transaction structuring, and information economy opportunity assessment. The firm was founded in 2001, and looks forward to celebrating two decades of high performance consulting for its dynamic and diverse clientele.
Recent efforts undertaken by Ms. Spada include: planning and execution of public/private real estate development partnerships; creation of "spin-offs" to promote and commercialize new technology; corporate marketing strategy assessment & performance-tuning; development & implementation of relationship-based marketing; and facilitation of leadership summits to stimulate innovative strategic planning.
Prior Experience
Ms. Spada, under a Guest Appointment, achieved success in the role of Program Manager, Strategic Initiatives for the Computing, Environment and Life Sciences Directorate (formerly MCS Division) at Argonne National Laboratory. During her appointment, Ms. Spada facilitated the creation and development of numerous internationally-acclaimed initiatives for Argonne National Laboratory including the Global Grid Forum, Globus Project, Access Grid, TeraGrid, and NSF Middleware Project. Argonne National Laboratory is managed by the University of Chicago.
Also during this time, Ms. Spada also coordinated corporate development activities for the Computation Institute, a joint research venture between the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory focused on advancements in computer science research including advanced collaborative technologies and applications, grid technology research, and bioinformatics.
In early 1999, Ms. Spada was recruited by Mercer Management Consulting, the strategic management consulting practice of Marsh & McLennan, and joined the firm as a Partner within the global Communications, Computing, Information and Entertainment (CIE) practice, and supporting the newly launched Mercer Digital, the e-commerce practice.
Prior to her partnership role at Mercer Management Consulting, Ms. Spada served five years as President and CEO of Global Growth Strategies, Inc. (Washington DC // Chicago), a strategic planning and consulting firm focused on advising Fortune 500 organizations regarding the move towards a digital economy and related emerging technologies. Ms. Spada co-founded Global Growth Strategies in 1992. The firm’s clients under her management included technical and market strategy units of AT&T, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Compaq/DEC (now HP), Ericsson, France Telecom, IBM Global Services, Lucent, McDonald’s Corporation, MCNC, Siemens, Telecom Italia, Telia, Thomson CSF, and USWest/Qwest.
Earlier in her career, while pursuing her graduate studies in international business management in Zurich, Switzerland, Ms. Spada spent several years working with diverse “boutique” consulting firms across Europe and the United States building experience and an extensive knowledge base within the strategic units of multinational organizations.
Ms. Spada participates in, and has served on, numerous corporate strategy, conference and other advisory boards, and continues to contribute to diverse industry publications and events. She holds numerous awards and letters of recognition for her contributions to such landmark information technology efforts as the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) Awards and the achievement of the Theory & Computing Sciences Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. She has received letters of recognition from President Clinton and from Vice President Gore for her efforts on behalf of the Clinton/Gore Information Superhighway Initiative. In 1994, USA Today featured Ms. Spada and her colleagues on the cover of the Money section for their achievements with the I-WAY effort .
Through her travels, Ms. Spada has developed a working proficiency in speaking French and Italian.
Ms. Spada currently resides in Lakeside, Michigan, with her husband, two children, and three very lively Portuguese Water Dogs.
