Oliver Wight Charts Future Course with Strategic Board Appointments

NEW LONDON, N.H. – June 16, 2026 – Oliver Wight Americas, a long-standing authority in business management methodologies, today announced a significant evolution in its leadership with the appointment of Charity Lopez and Donald McNaughton to its Board of Directors. The move is being interpreted as a deliberate strategy to fuse deep-seated industry experience with a forward-looking perspective on technology and market dynamics, reinforcing the firm's position in an increasingly complex global landscape.

These appointments follow the late 2025 naming of Andrea Montecchi as Chairman of the Board for both Oliver Wight Americas and its international counterpart. The consultancy, which pioneered many of the concepts that define modern Integrated Business Planning (IBP), framed the decision as a reinforcement of its core mission to drive business transformation through operational excellence.

“These leadership appointments reinforce the strength and depth of our organization as we continue to evolve and grow,” said Andrea Montecchi, Chairman of Oliver Wight Americas and Oliver Wight International. “Charity and Donald each bring unique capabilities, deep expertise, and a shared commitment to helping clients achieve outstanding business results. I look forward to working alongside them in this next chapter.”

Bolstering the Bench with Proven Practitioners

At the heart of the announcement is the caliber of the new appointees, whose careers reflect the practical, results-oriented ethos Oliver Wight champions. The additions are not merely symbolic; they represent a significant injection of specific, high-demand expertise into the company's strategic core.

Donald McNaughton returns to the board, having previously served from 2011 to 2013. A veteran business advisor, McNaughton brings decades of experience leading the design and implementation of effective business processes. His track record includes guiding more than 60 IBP implementations for a roster of global giants, including Caterpillar, Motorola, Heinz, and Coca-Cola Enterprises. His deep specialization in IBP, Product Management, and Demand Management processes is a testament to the firm’s continued emphasis on foundational excellence.

Joining him is Charity Lopez, a business advisor whose appointment marks a milestone as she becomes the youngest board member in Oliver Wight's history. Lopez brings a powerful combination of experience in Demand Management, Brand Management, and IBP from her time in leadership roles at major consumer goods companies. At Mondelēz International, she was instrumental in managing iconic brands like RITZ, Oreo, and Chips Ahoy!, where she led marketing forecasting for a business unit exceeding $6 billion annually. Her role was pivotal in the IBP process and she also provided M&A advisory support during the acquisition of Perfect Snacks. Her prior experience at Turkey Hill included P&L ownership and driving brand profitability. This background in high-stakes, fast-moving consumer markets provides a crucial client-side perspective to the board.

“Charity and Donald each bring distinct perspectives and deep operational expertise that will help strengthen how we guide clients through transformation,” commented Tom Strohl, President of Oliver Wight Americas. “I look forward to continuing to work with them as we advance our strategy and deliver meaningful, measurable outcomes.”

Integrating AI into the IBP Playbook

While the new board members bring a wealth of human expertise, their appointments coincide with Oliver Wight's strategic pivot toward technology-augmented consulting. The firm has been vocal about the integration of "AI-enabled accelerators" into its offerings, a move designed to address a market that increasingly demands not just strategic advice but tangible, data-driven execution.

In March 2025, the company launched its "Ollie Accelerator™," a cloud-based platform designed to operationalize IBP strategy. The tool aims to unify a client's entire operation—from innovation and demand to supply plans—under a single, integrated dashboard. By leveraging advanced analytics and robust scenario planning, the platform promises to help businesses close the often-fatal gap between strategy and execution. This technological push is a direct response to industry trends, where AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a primary driver of consulting demand. Clients are seeking partners who can help implement, scale, and govern AI solutions to build what the consultancy calls "future-ready" supply chains—integrated, agile, and resilient.

The appointments of Lopez and McNaughton are perfectly aligned with this dual strategy. McNaughton’s extensive history with hands-on IBP implementations provides the institutional knowledge of process and people that is critical for any technology to succeed. Meanwhile, Lopez’s background in data-heavy forecasting and analytics at Mondelēz, coupled with her status as a digital native, brings a modern, tech-fluent perspective to the leadership team. This blend ensures that the firm’s technological advancements remain grounded in the practical realities of business operations.

A New Generation of Leadership

The appointment of Charity Lopez as the youngest-ever board member is perhaps the most telling signal of Oliver Wight's future direction. It reflects a broader trend in corporate governance where companies are actively seeking to diversify their boards not just by gender and race, but also by age. In an industry where the average board member is often in their sixties, bringing in younger "next-gen directors" is a strategic imperative.

Experts in corporate governance note that younger leaders often bring an inherent understanding of digital ecosystems and a greater willingness to challenge established norms. Their perspectives are invaluable for shaping digital strategy, fostering innovation, and connecting with younger consumer demographics and workforce talent. By bringing Lopez onto its board, Oliver Wight is signaling a commitment to infusing its leadership with fresh energy and perspectives that are critical for navigating the digital frontier.

This move, paired with the return of a seasoned expert like McNaughton, creates a powerful dynamic. It suggests a balanced approach to governance—one that respects deep-seated wisdom and experience while actively embracing the innovative thinking required to stay relevant. This combination of seasoned stability and youthful dynamism is designed to guide the organization through a period of significant change in the global consulting market, which is projected to grow to nearly $300 billion by 2035, largely fueled by digital transformation. As the industry bifurcates between massive integrators and niche specialists, Oliver Wight appears to be solidifying its position as an expert firm that can deliver both time-tested processes and cutting-edge, AI-powered execution.