Consultant Spotlight: Linda May Cooney, Senior Project, Program, and Product Management Consultant

As a senior management consultant, Linda May Cooney is an integration specialist in the financial services sector. While she’s passionate about helping clients create opportunities through new products, tools, or services, she’s equally dedicated to helping her clients free up time by creating new efficiencies—often through better organization or communication throughout the existing team network.

Through her 25-plus years in financial services, including experience with BlackRock, Barclays, and Charles Schwab, Linda has emerged as an expert in fostering positive team dynamics. She’s a pro at using her well-honed people skills and organizational expertise to get disparate team members working together—respectfully, collaboratively, and efficiently—for impactful results.

“I focus on gaining trust and relying on communication and intuition to understand people's motivations, concerns, and work abilities,” Linda says, adding that her clients appreciate working with her because she’s “easygoing, yet forthright and direct.”

Linda’s passion for and expertise in integrating all kinds of talent (and tools!) extends to her kitchen life. While everyone in her family loves to cook, each has their own specialty: Dad’s the “head chef,” and her 25-year-old “bonus son” is the Flavor Master—he’s amazing with herbs and spices, particularly with vegetables. Her college-age daughter does the baking (cakes, cookies, pies, etc.), while her 15-year-old son can pull “random things from the refrigerator and make the best egg-based breakfast or quesadillas.” (Integrating random things for great results? That guy sounds like a project manager in the making!)

As for Linda, her specialty is preserving jam, jelly, butter, and pickles. When the holidays roll around, just ask her for her special cranberry holiday jam recipe!

Linda lives in Lafayette, California, which is part of the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Here, she enjoys year-round outdoor activities, including running, walking, and hiking. A self-described “fitness fanatic,” she joined the Peloton craze during the pandemic and hasn’t slowed down. She’s also a voracious reader and dedicated volunteer. She has passionately served local and national animal rescue organizations through onsite volunteering, transporting animals, and working at local adoption events. Her family has fostered more than 20 dogs over the past eight to 10 years.