On an unseasonably warm day in October, a busload of Kania School of Management students arrived at New York City’s Sixty Pine Street for a President’s Business Council (PBC) Networking Reception they hoped would provide a sneak preview into the types of careers their Scranton degrees might help them build.
As these young voyagers introduced themselves to alumni from a 4-decade span of grad years, it was clear that everyone in the room believed in the power and promise of the Scranton network, and why shouldn’t they? The reception itself, after all, was proof positive of the network’s ability to connect established alumni looking to assist the next generation of Royals with developing talent eager to soak up their wisdom and experience, a veritable “win-win” for all involved. And, moving through the crowd with the grace and aplomb that can only come from a lifetime of navigating similar rooms filled with similar crowds was one of the architects of the event, a founding member of the PBC who has given a great deal of her time, talent and treasure to its cause for more than two decades and who now finds herself, as its chair, presiding over a critical post-Covid inflection point in its storied history; her name is Elizabeth A. (Boyle) Madden ’96, and, if one of the eager young minds in attendance was to ask her to distill the secret of her success into a few short words, she might reply with a smile, “An underdog mentality and a growth mindset.”
Today, Madden isn’t anyone’s idea of an “underdog.” As the managing member of Compass Advisors and Coaching, the HR consulting and executive coaching business she founded about a year ago, she utilizes some of her favorite parts of her former positions at Goldman Sachs & Co. and Davidson Kempner Capital Management to the benefit of her clients. She resides near the beach in Lake Como, New Jersey, with her husband, Michael Madden ’95, founding partner, St. Thomas Aquinas Private Long Term Equity, and their two children, whom she has been able to spend more time with since she became her own boss. And, in her role as chair of the PBC, she has become the very sort of person she once looked up to at the outset of her career: the mover and shaker who is never too busy to help a fellow Royal if she can. But, when she was first starting out, she often felt the dreaded sting of imposter syndrome, especially when she compared the Ivy League credentials of some of her former competitors and colleagues with her own accomplishments, which were largely still ahead of her. How did she find the strength and resolve to become a leader in a room full of leaders?
“The University taught me confidence in who I was that was foundational for me to … be the underdog, or not be afraid of conflict, or be brave enough to stretch outside my comfort zone,” she said. “That has obviously helped me throughout my career, and that’s part of the reason why I continue to give to the University through the PBC.”
In The Beginning
Madden grew up in Union County, New Jersey, about a two-hour drive from campus. When the time came to research colleges, her mother, who had worked with Rev. Bernard R. McIlhenny, S.J. H’98 (then-dean of admissions at the University) years earlier and had kept in touch with him, suggested she take a look at Scranton. As a lifelong public school attendee, she was initially intimidated by the prospect of attending a Catholic college, but a campus visit and a little research into the Jesuit order’s mission soon helped her feel that it was the right place for her.
“Once I got on campus, there was just a real sense of something different, a real sense of community,” she said. “It felt like a traditional college experience wrapped up in community, faith, and the city (of Scranton).
“When I learned more about the Jesuit mission and ‘cura personalis,’caring for the whole person, I felt a greater sense of connectivity and alignment.”
Madden initially thought she might want to pursue a career in broadcast journalism and majored in Communications, feeling that the field was broad enough to allow her to keep her options open if her interests evolved. She jumped into the Scranton community headfirst, serving as a class officer and eventually rising to the position of student government president her senior year. She struck up a friendship with Sherman Wooden, who was then the director of Multicultural Affairs at the University and who helped her learn to “look around the room and recognize difference.” She was also elected to serve on the National Association of Campus Activities Board, which helped pique her interest in a career in higher education.
“My community experience really shaped me much more than my academic (experience),” she said. “I learned during that experience the business side of education.”
During her junior year, she met Michael, her future husband, at an RA training session, and the two bonded while leading a first-year retreat together.
“Twenty-nine years later, we’re still learning about each other and loving each other,” she said.
Opening Doors
Thanks to her experiences at Scranton, Madden decided to pursue a career in higher education, and she applied for a full two-year fellowship at New York University (NYU) that would allow her to complete a master’s degree in that field. At the final interview for the position, she found herself competing against a Harvard alumna who had been working at Julliard and thought, “Harvard, Julliard, great – I’m not going to grad school, what’s my plan b?” And then, something extraordinary happened: NYU granted a fellowship to them both, clear proof that a Scranton education can open the same doors as an Ivy League education.
“It’s a classic underdog story of Scranton,” she said. “There are things that are hard, but, when you work through them, you learn. That’s a big thing I learned from the University. ‘Hard’ doesn’t mean you don’t do it; ‘hard’ means you’re going to learn from it.”
Opportunity Knocks
At NYU, Madden had a variety of experiences, from managing NYU’s campus ambassador and tour program, to lobbying in Albany and Washington, D.C., for student aid. While she thought she was going to pursue a career as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill, a cold call from Goldman Sachs forever altered her career trajectory, to their mutual benefit: they were looking for someone to help build out their campus program, and they believed she was the right person for the job.
“I thought, ‘OK, I have a lot of debt to pay, and Wall St. seems to pay, I have to take the interview,’ and that lasted for almost 18 years,” she said with a laugh.
At Goldman, Madden initially traveled around college campuses in the U.S. “educating, opening up doors and creating connectivity” among underrepresented populations. She then continued to expand her experience, working as a HR business partner, moving to a role in employee relations, and eventually leading the Hedge Fund Human Capital Consulting Practice advising the firm's clients on employee matters. Along the way, she and Michael married and welcomed their children. She was then hired by Davidson Kempner, where she served as global head of Employee Engagement and Experience for seven years, before she took the plunge and founded Compass.
“I strongly believe in a growth mindset, and I know if I’m not learning, I’m bored,” she said. “At the times in my career when I felt like the window was tightening, I always tried to create a new opportunity to learn.”
Founding Compass, of course, has presented her with ample opportunity for personal and professional growth.
“It’s exciting, it’s scary, it’s hard, and I’m learning a ton about myself, but it’s been a fun journey so far,” she said.
The PBC 2.0?
When Madden first joined the PBC, she was its youngest member, and she never imagined she would one day find herself leading it.
“I remember (saying) 20+ years ago, ‘I’ll never be an honoree, and I’ll never chair the PBC,’” she laughed. “And, here I am, chairing the PBC.”
What changed in the interim? Madden said her experiences mentoring, coaching, and networking with students gave her a front row seat to the transformative power of the organization.
“I look at the PBC as opening up doors for students that they may not have ever thought were possible,” she said. “They come to a PBC meeting and they see the things that can happen.
“You meet them as freshmen, they get an internship, you mentor them, and you see them at a PBC dinner down the road – I love watching that sort of growth for them because, in many cases, the PBC gives them that foundation of opportunity.”
Since taking the helm of the PBC, Madden has placed renewed emphasis on its three pillars: mentoring, internships and philanthropy.
“The greatest gifts (alumni) can share with a student are time and experience,” she said. “Whether it’s through our mentor program, coaching students, or creating internship opportunities … it literally can change the course of a young person’s life. I love that, and that’s why I continue to show up.” -Elizabeth A. (Boyle) Madden ’96
“We’ve had an amazing generation before us that has really built this magnificent mechanism for philanthropy and connectivity, and, with any sort of growth, there is the opportunity to take it forward, especially post-Covid,” she said. “We are not looking to change the core mission at all; the idea is to engage this next generation of PBC leaders.
“We are rebuilding our executive committee, reinvigorating our members, and continuing the great work so many started before me.”
Madden said she hopes to attract and retain new members by offering more opportunities for mentoring and internships, the very same aspects that have kept her in the PBC’s orbit since its founding, and she’s confident that the intrinsic altruism of her fellow alumni will continue to pave the way forward for the next generation of Royals. And, her focus on diversifying membership across several generations is already beginning to pay off as the PBC welcomed 12 new members to its executive council at the council’s Jan. meeting.
"The greatest gifts (alumni) can share with a student are time and experience," she said. "Whether it's through our mentor program, coaching students, or creating internship opportunities ... it literally can change the course of a young person's life. I love that, and that's why I continue to show up."
