Monica Azizkhan Gould ’85

Business consultant forges relationships across the globe

by Michelle Simmons

September 1, 2010

"My mother taught me confidence," says entrepreneur Monica Azizkhan Gould '85. "She taught me to stand up for myself, go for what I want."

As founder and president of the business-consulting firm Strategic Consulting Partners (SCP), Monica Azizkhan Gould ’85 puts all her energy and enthusiasm into every project she takes on—from providing strategic planning and leadership development to Tbilisi State University in the Republic of Georgia to crafting a business and marketing plan for a new spa resort in Mechanicsburg, Pa.  

“I love helping organizations become more effective,” she says. “They hire me to be a change agent, and I help them figure out what the organization should look like.”  

In addition to teaching organizational culture and leader­ship skills as an adjunct professor at Kaplan and Duquesne universities, the former German major with an MBA in marketing from American University serves on several non­profit boards, including Big Brothers Big Sisters Capital Region, Central Pennsylvania Association for Female Executives and the Mechanicsburg Chamber of Commerce.  

Perhaps that’s why she was named one of Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business by the Department of Community and Economic Development in 2009 and received a Women of Excellence award from the YWCA of Harrisburg in 2010.  

Gould credits her mother with instilling the virtues that have made her successful. “My mother taught me confi­dence,” she says. “She taught me to stand up for myself, go for what I want.”