Les Silverman is a Director Emeritus of McKinsey & Company and adjunct lecturer in Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Until he retired from McKinsey in 2005, Silverman led the international consulting firm’s Nonprofit Practice, which supports McKinsey's work with nonprofit service providers, philanthropies, and public sector organizations across the firm’s network of 84 offices in 44 countries, and also stimulates the development and dissemination of thinking about the nonprofit sector. Silverman joined McKinsey in 1982 to help build the firm's energy practice, and he has been active in electric industry restructuring on a worldwide basis. Prior to joining McKinsey, Silverman served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation at the US Department of Energy from 1980 to 1981. He also served as Director of Policy Analysis at the US Department of the Interior from 1978 to 1980. Silverman holds a PhD in economics and a masters and undergraduate degree in industrial administration—all from Carnegie Mellon University. He has been appointed to committees of the National Academy of Sciences on the future of nuclear power, on natural gas statistics, and on energy R & D to cope with global warming. In addition to his board role at Venture Philanthropy Partners, he serves on the board of Pepco Holdings, Inc., The Council for Excellence in Government, and Arena Stage (where he is Vice President), and has served on the boards of Samaritan Inns and the National Human Services Assembly. He has co-authored more than 35 articles (including pieces in the Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The McKinsey Quarterly, Leader to Leader, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Electricity Journal, and Public Utilities Fortnightly) and professional papers in the fields of nonprofit management, energy, and economics.
