Peg Anthony is an accomplished organizational consultant with a 40-year track record. Dr. Anthony has extensive experience supporting the needs of agencies that protect and advance the nation’s defense and public health. First as an employee of the US Environmental Protection Agency from 1979 to 1989, and since then as a contractor to more than 50 agencies, she has deep knowledge and experience in providing services to political appointees, military officers, and senior career executives. She has served dozens of agencies since the 1970s including the DoD, VA, CDC, NIH, HRSA, CMS, and SAMHSA.
Dr. Anthony’s work focuses on organizational and public service change. Before starting A-G Associates, she built, developed, and oversaw customer satisfaction and loyalty programs and service improvement practices at three consulting firms. She and her teams have aided and facilitated clients to transition their organizations into market-driven, customer-focused entities through research-based strategy consulting. She has designed and managed organizational improvement and service excellence projects at the VHA and VBA; the largest HHS agencies such as HRSA, CDC, CMS, NIH, and SAMHSA; the Departments of Education, Homeland Security, Labor, Energy, and Interior; the Army Medical Command; the majority of Defense agencies (DLA, DFAS, DISA, and DCAA); the Army, Navy, and Air Force; and the IRS, EPA, FEMA, and the Social Security Administration.
Many of Dr Anthony’s clients engaged in strategic initiatives to develop internal and external connections, become more customer-focused, less bureaucratic, and more cost- and quality-competitive, and to drive innovation and large-scale change. She has advised federal agencies on how to enhance connections with residents and consumers. She created citizen grant programs and taught federal employees how to connect with stakeholders (including grievances, public meetings, and continuing activities).
Among her numerous delighted clients, Dr. Anthony’s technical, managerial, and client connection talents are highly appreciated. Her customers applaud the organizational and program advancements, as well as the service quality, that have resulted from the assistance offered by Dr. Anthony and her various project teams. Dr. Anthony received her EdD and MS degrees in education from George Washington University (1981) and Indiana University (1972), respectively. She received her BA from Baldwin-Wallace University (1970), where she majored in Political Science.
Below are highlights of the interview:
What motivated you to become a Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, and how did you progress to your current position at A-G Associates?
After being an executive for two other similar companies, I decided it was time for me to strike out on my own. I had lots of great experiences, both technical and business. I had lots of great contacts and former clients. And I had a business partner that I knew would learn the business, help build the business, and eventually take over the business. That business partner was my son, Chris Gonzalez. We have recently celebrated our 15th year in a business in which only 30% survive 5 years or less.
Tell us about A-G Associates.
A-G Associates is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned and Minority-Owned Small Business (8(a)/SDVOSB/MBE), certified by the US Small Business Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE), and the State of Maryland. A-G was founded in 2008 by Chris Gonzalez, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Dr. Peg Anthony, a recognized expert in the field of organizational consulting with over 40 years of experience. Since 2008, the A-G Team has grown significantly to include subject matter experts that provide high-quality consulting services to our clients. A-G has been recognized for outstanding service by earning awards such as the Bridging the Gap Award by the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Future 50 Award by Smart CEO magazine for the 50 fastest growing companies in the Baltimore area.
How would you describe your leadership style? What are the key principles or values that guide your leadership approach?
My leadership style is very collaborative, democratic, and strategic. I look for opportunities to make a significant difference and take an organization to the next level. I encourage our staff to seek those types of opportunities too. I think we’ve built a company culture that supports staff and client collaboration and innovation, courageous leadership, engagement, and an orientation to achieve purposefully for the betterment of our communities, our country, and our world.
What strategies do you employ to ensure effective communication and collaboration within your organization?
We have a flat, matrix organization. We work in cross-functional teams, with most staff working with a variety of colleagues, crossing skill sets, technical expertise, etc. We have weekly staff and project director meetings and have systems that support document sharing and transparency.
How do you motivate and inspire your team members to achieve their best performance?
We focus on the positive, encouraging a learning environment of honest self-assessment and feedback and developmental assignments. We emphasize that delivering insights and impact is what we want to be known for. Staff have a great deal of autonomy and independence, with sufficient mentoring and guidance as needed. We don’t emphasize how many hours we work; we measure ourselves by what we produce.
What is your vision for A-G Associates’ future? How do you see the company evolving and adapting to industry changes?
We have evolved from year to year with new clients and new opportunities. For example, our original focus was going to be on the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, but our largest clients are actually from the Department of Health and Human Services. Being in the public health space, there are almost endless opportunities. From mental healthcare to integrated community-based services, to improved cost-of-care, to preventing suicide and opiod overdosing, to lethal means safety, we are prepared to offer expert services to federal, state and community clients.
What are the major challenges you face as a Co-Founder & Executive Vice President in the in the sector? How do you overcome these challenges?
We have been growing at a fast pace in recent years, which is a good thing. Fortunately, we have been blessed with recruiting an amazing staff. As growth continues at a rapid pace, there have been times when everyone is working consistently at more than 100%, and that is difficult to sustain. We are going through one of our steepest growth spurts right now. We plan to step back in the fall to staff up in key areas and give our current staff time to recover from a very busy spring and summer.
As an executive, how do you maintain a healthy work-life balance? What practices or activities do you engage in outside of work to recharge and rejuvenate?
I have to admit, I am not always as well balanced as I should be and would like to be. This business has certain extremely busy periods, especially during the spring and summer when many federal contracts are posted for bids. I handle the business and pricing end of that process, so I have lots of late nights as the deadline approaches. To recharge and rejuvenate, I like to swim, travel, and spend time with my grandchildren.
What advice would you give to aspiring leaders who are looking to make a significant impact in their respective industries?
Choose something that has meaning, that you are passionate about, and that gives you a sense of real contribution.
Website: https://a-gassociates.com/
