Students gain real consulting experience through EY partnership
Business students accelerate their career readiness through an immersive corporate consulting program
Inside the Shade Family ELCE program: How Miami University and Chicago-based executives and companies collaborate to train future consulting leaders
Students gain real consulting experience through EY partnership
Inside the Shade Family ELCE program: How Miami University and Chicago-based executives and companies collaborate to train future consulting leaders
Every winter, a group of Miami University students arrives in Chicago ready to spend two weeks working as professional consultants. They just don’t know who they will be consulting for yet.
The Shade Family Emerging Leaders Consulting Experience (ELCE), offered through the Farmer School of Business' Isaac and Oxley Center for Business Leadership (CBL) is designed to immerse students in a real-world consulting environment. Students even get a taste for what it’s like to work “on the road” like many consultants do.
For EY, whose partnership has helped shape the program for years, that's exactly the point.
“EY’s relationship with Miami has always been about more than recruiting. It’s about investing in the student experience and helping prepare the next generation of leaders,” David Shade, a partner at EY and a ‘01 Farmer School graduate, said. “It gives Miami students the opportunity to step into a real consulting environment, tackle business challenges, and present their ideas to executives. It’s incredibly rewarding to mentor these students, support their development, and help future leaders shape their future with confidence.”
A deep dive into the life and work of a consultant
Students spend two weeks based at Chicago's Union League Club, experiencing the travel and client-focused work that defines a consulting career. Suit up in the morning. Review notes and prep documents. Spend the day with the clients. Debrief in the evening. Repeat.
But before the teams even begin tackling the business problems, they spend time meeting with every client.
“We talk to the students about what it's like to be a consultant, and what it means to understand strategic consulting. And then we visit each client,” said Brian Ballou, co-founder of the Center for Business Leadership. "They meet each client before they even know which one they'll be working with. They're listening carefully, asking questions, and beginning to understand the challenge.”
The students aren’t expected to be polished consultants from day one. Through the EY Consulting Workshop, they work closely with EY professionals who offer feedback, refine their thinking, and help them prepare for final presentations.
This year’s participants included Ryenne Beird, an Accountancy major, whose team partnered with Xtreme Xperience, a company built around delivering unforgettable on-track supercar driving experiences.
“Our prompt pushed us to think beyond the racetrack and design a day-one profitable business model, grounded in a clear economic snapshot, a thoughtful marketing strategy, and intentional customer touchpoints,” Beird said.
"What stood out most wasn't just the strategy work, but the process. Working in a fast-paced team environment, aligning around a shared vision, and seeing how different perspectives strengthened the final outcome reinforced how much I value collaboration, challenge, and learning through doing."
For Human Capital Management and Leadership major Claire Reasoner, the biggest takeaway from her experience was confidence.
"I came away from ELCE knowing that I am a more prepared future professional," she said. "I'm infinitely more confident in my qualifications to talk to executives and experts in their fields."
Clients see benefits beyond students’ solutions
It’s easy to assume that experiences like this exist primarily for the students. But the partners and companies involved would tell you otherwise.
"This experience also benefits the companies who participate," said Lisa Shade '98, who represents the program sponsor. "Students provide a fresh perspective on opportunities we think about constantly. It's also incredible to see where they are in terms of presentation skills and professionalism compared to where we were at the same point in our college careers."
Andy Goldstein '83, advisory board chair for the Center for Business Leadership and an executive compensation consultant at WTW, has watched that growth firsthand.
“Throughout our time as hosts, we’ve been consistently impressed by the students’ intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and drive. These qualities not only help them ask thoughtful questions and engage deeply with complex problems—they also spark the kind of conversations that consultants thrive on.”
Ben Dietz '04, President at Mintel and a company participant, says students have a way of challenging assumptions that even experienced teams can overlook.
“Our teams look forward to the program because the students arrive with fresh eyes and an unfiltered curiosity that prompts us to re-examine long-held assumptions. Their final presentations, often delivered to an audience of 100 or more employees, have sparked spirited debates and, in several cases, informed decisions that we ultimately implemented.”
For some participants, like Jack Watson, the ELCE experience never really ended.
He participated in ELCE as a student in 2021 and 2022. “ELCE was a tremendous experience as a student. It was a fantastic opportunity to take the theory learned on campus and apply it to real world scenarios with high caliber companies and leaders,” Watson said.
Since graduating, he returns each year as a mentor, coaching students through the same challenges he once faced. “I continue to take part in the program as a professional because I want to be helpful in developing the next generation of leaders. I want to give back to the program and people that have given so much to me.”
For students, ELCE is an opportunity to step into a profession before they graduate. For alumni and partners like EY, it's a chance to help shape the next generation by sharing their time, expertise, and experience. And that’s what keeps people coming back year after year.
