• Career Advancement Program
• Personal Discovery
• Career Coaching
• Skill Building Resources and Workshops
• Industry Gateways
• Careers after Kennedy
• Helpful Career-Related Links

Career Coaching

Mary Beaulieu, Senior Associate Director and Coach

Having coached HKS students and alumni since 2000, Mary has a wealth of knowledge and experience with the range of careers of most interest to Kennedy School students and alumni. She has worked extensively with thousands of HKS students, helping them maximize their energy, talent and passion towards solving the world’s most pressing public problems.

Before coming to the Kennedy School, Mary served for seven years with the Council for Excellence in Government in Washington DC. As vice president for leadership development, she worked to create results-focused education programs for federal government managers and executives. In addition to leading cross-agency programs for up to 150 government leaders, she developed tailored programs for agencies including the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Resources Services Administration, and the U.S. Postal Service. Mary also developed the Council’s first leadership development program for state government leaders.

While at the Council, Mary worked with corporate leaders and public sector officials to identify and develop more than 100 benchmarks of leadership excellence as models for action by executives and managers across government. She served as a leadership coach to individuals and teams and co-edited The 1992 Prune Book, 50 Jobs that Can Change America, a guidebook to top federal positions.

Before joining the Council, Mary headed her own writing and communications consulting business in Atlanta, Georgia and was a contributing author of the volume, Contemporary Entrepreneurs. She has also held communications, marketing communications and public relations positions with Computervision Corporation, Prime Computer, Inc., Towers, Perrin Forster & Crosby and the Boston Visiting Nurse Association. Mary earned an MA in communications management from Simmons College and a BA in political science/public relations from Syracuse University.

Mary was also a leader in the community development practice of WFD Inc., a management consulting firm that provides global work/life and community investment consulting services.

Judith Coquillette, Senior Associate Director and Coach

Judith manages the OCA program for graduates who plan to pursue careers in international development, international security policy and human rights. The program includes individual coaching, on-campus panels and workshops, plus the annual career exploration trips to New York and Washington. Judith builds networks with a diversity of employers and alumni from organizations across all sectors including, the US government, international institutions such as UNDP, UNV, The World Bank, IADB, and major non-profits and private sector firms with public sector clients.

A graduate of Oxford University with both bachelor and master degrees in Modern History, Judith also holds an EdM from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and has taken additional coursework in counseling psychology at Boston College. Judith holds dual citizenship in the US and the UK and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Africa.

Before joining HKS in 2000, Judith held positions in career services at the Fletcher School, Tufts and Brandeis University, and also worked at Harvard College. Judith is also a trustee and treasurer of the American Friends of St. Hilda’s College, Oxford University.

Joan Ronayne, Associate Director and Coach

Joan has a wide variety of experience. She has been a career consultant, investor, investment banker, strategy consultant, led her own firm, worked with start-ups to secure venture capital, and served in government. Joan was an investment banker with Merrill Lynch & Company and Cowen & Company and was a strategy consultant with Monitor Company.

Joan has worked internationally and in government and has served as a Research Associate with former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. She was a recipient of the first Group Study Exchange Award to the former Soviet Union from Rotary International. Joan served as a Town Meeting Member for six years.

Joan has experience in a wide variety of industries and sectors including consulting; financial services including investment management, hedge funds, and investment banking; real estate; technology; telecommunications; health care; education and manufacturing.

Joan received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her AB in Economics from Harvard University. While at Harvard, she served on the Visiting Fellows Committee at the Institute of Politics at HKS.

Joan enjoys music, the arts, travel, sports and photography.

Lesley Theall, Associate Director and Coach

Lesley Theall specializes in the nonprofit arena, and international education/international diplomacy. During her 11 years at HKS, Lesley has served as a program director in the Executive Education Department and managed the Mid-Career Summer Program for 8 years. Previously she worked in the non-profit sector, in which she managed two non-profit organizations, whose focus were on the arts and international educational exchange and public diplomacy. Having lived in Madrid and worked in Mexico City, Lesley is proficient in Spanish and loves Latin American culture, food and music.

She completed her BA in Spanish at the University of Vermont and her MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School. In addition Lesley is certified as a professional coach through The Coaches Training Institute.