2020 is a year of change for us at SYPartners. We have a new CEO: our former President, Jessica Orkin—and we’re very excited to enter this chapter of our company’s growth with her at the helm.

During her seven years at SYP, Jessica has partnered with top executives at companies including Starbucks, AARP, IBM, OWN, WW (formerly Weight Watchers), Eileen Fisher, and The Obama Foundation, to help them imagine the future they want to create and build the strategies, culture, and human behavior to make those visions real.

Jessica began her career in public policy, working for the City of New York and the Committee for Economic Development on policy recommendations to increase educational equality and economic opportunity. While working on public-private initiatives funded by the Ford Foundation, Jessica saw firsthand the power of business to impact lives at scale. The belief that purpose-driven businesses can be a force for creativity, human connection, and opportunity has guided her 20-year career in consulting.

Our former CEO Susan Schuman and Founder Keith Yamashita will continue to play active roles at the firm. Susan is taking on the position of Executive Chair, and has also joined Tim Brown of IDEO as a Vice Chair of kyu, the creative collective of which SYPartners is a member.

Keith is still involved with pioneering project work at SYPartners, and is also helping plan the future of kyu. Recently, he was featured on Meditative Story, the popular podcast by WaitWhat, and Time Well Spent, a series by Harvest and CreativeMornings.