Ambassador John F. Hicks, Sr. Has Joined the ProSidian Consulting Advisory Board

Sept. 23, 2011 - PRLog -- Charlotte, NC.  September 22, 2011 — Ambassador John F. Hicks, Sr. joins ProSidian Consulting Advisory Board.  His independent guidance and expertise will help maximize ProSidian Consulting’s growth and strategic value.  ProSidian Consulting, LLC (ProSidian), a strategically diversified business and technical advisory firm providing services to government and private sector, has created a board of advisors comprised of five (5) industry veterans who will help maximize the firm’s success and value.

ProSidian has been on a path with a vision to realize the full potential of our capabilities as a top tier advisory services firm through excellence in service, while upholding our values and ethical standards to give back to the communities in which our consultants and their clients work and live.

The announcement was made by Adrian Woolcock (Managing Principal).  ProSidian’s management hopes to execute on a five (5) year plan of realized growth while focusing on the same "pole star" of successful client engagements and a growth continuum to create value for the firm and its clients.  We are looking for “Great People Who Lead” at all levels in the organization, explains Adrian Woolcock (Founder & Managing Principal).

Mr. Woolcock founded ProSidian Consulting in 2004 with a firm focus on client results first and foremost through a culture where team dynamics, entrepreneurial spirit, and respect for the individual form the cornerstone of advisory services.  Adrian Woolcock has a long track record of engaging clients to develop and execute strategies focused on driving business performance.  Mr. Woolcock previously held leadership positions in industry and with Big 4 Accounting and consulting firms.

The formation of the Board of Advisors is the next step in the firm’s strategic plan to grow organically and through acquisition to $30 million with offices in Charlotte NC, Washington DC, Atlanta GA, Houston TX, and Ft Lauderdale FL — by 2016.

The Advisory Board Members were chosen to reinforce a firm focus on opportunities in the South West, South East, and Mid Atlantic Areas of the United States.  The members of ProSidian Consulting’s Board of Advisors are:

- Colonel (Ret.) Richard Leibert (Houston, TX)
- Ambassador John Hicks, Sr.   (Atlanta, GA)
- Dr. Herman Ellis, MD. (Wilmington, DE)
- Patrick Diamond (Charlotte, NC)
- Theron Simpson (Fort Mill, SC)

“ProSidian Consulting will look to these experts as a sounding board for strategic growth and investment options and to provide independent assessments of our strategy and execution,” said ProSidian Consulting Managing Principal Adrian Woolcock.  “Our Board of Advisors will be a compelling differentiator to customers, partners, acquisition candidates, and prospective employees.”

PROSIDIAN CONSULTING’S ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER BIO
AMBASSADOR JOHN F. HICKS, SR.

Ambassador John F. Hicks, Sr. , a retired diplomat and international educator, is a member of the Advisory Board and Principal/Practice leader for International Affairs at ProSidian Consulting.  Ambassador Hicks is also founder and CEO of Global Consulting and Advisory Services based in Atlanta Georgia.  He brings 26 years of experience in international development and diplomacy and 13 years of experience in international education.  

As a Senior Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), he served in Washington, the Middle East and in 6 different African countries. As an economic development and humanitarian assistance professional, Ambassador Hicks developed country assistance strategies and programs, prepared and managed multi-million dollar budgets, led project preparation and implementation, and undertook comprehensive evaluations and assessments of economic development and humanitarian assistance activities worldwide.

Ambassador Hicks joined USAID’s professional internship program in 1973 and progressed quickly through the ranks directing offices in Washington, serving in executive leadership positions in three African countries, and being appointed by President Clinton in 1993 as Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Africa Bureau, responsible for directing U.S. economic development and humanitarian assistance programs for Sub-Saharan Africa.

In this capacity, Hicks was responsible for the $800 million per year Development Fund for Africa and over a billion dollars in humanitarian assistance including food aid. While at USAID he became a member of the Senior Foreign Service and achieved the rank of Career Minister.

Ambassador Hicks assumed his second presidential and senate confirmed appointment in August of 1996 when he became the second U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Eritrea, a newly independent country in East Africa. In this role, he represented the President and U.S. government in Eritrea on matters pertaining to political, military, commercial and other U.S. interests.

Prior to joining ProSidian, Ambassador Hicks served for 13 years as the Associate Provost for International Affairs at Georgia State University where he established the university’s first university-wide international office charged with strengthening international education. This was accomplished through the establishment of numerous programs for both students and faculty members aimed at: increasing international exposure through study abroad, international exchange, strategic programmatic initiatives to foster increased faculty engagement, infusing international content into the curriculum and building strategic partnerships with international higher education institutions.

Notable accomplishments include: quadrupling the number of students studying abroad; increasing faculty international participation by 50 percent; the creation of partnerships with over 100 universities worldwide; leveraging nearly $60 million from both public and private sources to support the institution’s global engagement; national and international recognition of Georgia State University as a leader in preparing its students to become globally competent citizens and world leaders.

With extensive and diversified international experience and his unique competencies in diplomacy and negotiation, economic development and international education, Ambassador Hicks brings a unique and critically important global dimension to ProSidian’s Board of Advisors.

His efforts will focus on leveraging both domestic and international clients and creating opportunities for ProSidian to offer services in the areas of organizational development, strategic planning, business development, project management, operations and change management, instructional technology, human resources development and international education capacity building in tertiary education institutions.  

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College, a diploma from the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies Center in Bologna Italy and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies in Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the U.S. Department of State’s Presidential Award and the Agency for International Development’s Equal Employment Opportunity Award.

Ambassador Hicks holds honorary doctorate degrees from the Morehouse School of Medicine and Morris Brown College and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of Georgia State University’s Advisor Board for the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER).

When not working, Ambassador Hicks does volunteer work for at risk youth and mentors young men regarding self-improvement, higher education and social responsibility. He enjoys art, reading and golf.

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ProSidian provides strategically diversified business and technical services focused Risk Management, Energy & Sustainability, Compliance, Business Process, Program/Project Management, HR Talent Management and IT Effectiveness (Information Technology/Staff Augmentation).

Linking strategy to execution, ProSidian assists client leaders in maximizing company return on investment capital through design and execution of operations core to delivering value to customers.

Our Services are deployed across the enterprise, target drivers of economic profit (growth, margin and efficiency), and are aligned at the intersections of assets, processes, policies and people delivering value.