Marilyn H. West is Chairman/CEO of M. H. West & Co., Inc., which is a 15-year-old Richmond, Virginia based planning and consulting company specializing in management, planning and education services. Her business performs work for large and small companies throughout the United States and several foreign countries.

Marilyn advises and consults on matters involving operations, development, structure, regulations and strategy. She has over thirty years of experience working with CEOs, executive management and governance of public and private sector business including corporations, medical care facilities, health care systems, federal, state and local governmental agencies, law firms and professional and trade associations. She also works with public and elected officials and community and civic leaders.

Marilyn is known for strong analytical, communication (writing and verbal), management and planning skills, decisiveness, leadership and volunteerism. She has participated in business process optimization and strategic and financial planning initiatives and has led the business process reengineering, organizational development and strategic planning initiatives for the firm. Marilyn has substantial expertise in regulatory impact work, business counseling and development, community planning, workforce development, human resources, survey research, meeting and retreat facilitation, government relations and lobbying. Other areas of her specialization are team building, continuous quality improvement, survey research, focus group and survey work, motivational speaking, customer service improvement, human relations, conflict management and retreat facilitation. She also has assisted many organizations reverse poor financial performance, dysfunctional workforces and poor relationships between organizations and people.

Marilyn serves or has serverd on the board of numerous organizations and businesses. Among these are the Bon Secours Joint Hospitals Board (Chairman), Richmond Renaissance (Executive Committee), the Metropolitan Business League (Advisory Board), Children's Home Society (Executive Committee), the Atlantic Rural Exposition, Inc. (Executive Committee), Richmond and Capital Area Workforce Investment Boards (Chair), Richmond City Police Foundation, the American Red Cross (Executive Committee), the Campaign Leadership Council of America First Freedom and Virginia 21. She is also a Former Chair of Leadership Metro Richmond.

Marilyn served as one of 60 businessmen and women on a Commission to Reinvent Virginia State Government, a Congressional appointee to the White House Conference on Small Business (1995), and a parent delegate to the White House Conference on Education (1992).

Marilyn holds memberships in many locally and nationally based community service and social organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, The Links, Inc., Jack & Jill of America, Coalition of 100 Black Women and Continental Societies, Inc. She is a member of St. Philips Episcopal Church, where she is a member of the vestry.

Among the honors and recognition that Marilyn has received are the selection as one of the 100 power players in the Greater Richmond Region (Richmond Magazine, February 1998), the annual Leadership Award (2000) of the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Community Services Award (2000) of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Marilyn is also author of The West Collection, Volume I. This publication provides tips and techniques for ordinary people, executives, professionals, public and elected officials and others who want to stay in touch with success. It addresses leadership, self-confidence, effective communications and strong performance.

She is a frequent speaker to community and social organizations and to students in public and private school systems and institutions of higher education. She has served as an executive coach and mentor for executives, other professionals, students and at risk populations.

Marilyn is a Pittsburgh Pennsylvania native and holds a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health and a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Waynesburg College in Pennsylvania. She has served as a statistician for the Allegheny Health Department in Pittsburgh; Assistant Director of Planning for a 610 Bed General Acute Care Hospital (Pittsburgh), Director of a Continuing Education Project in Mental Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Director of Planning for the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services and Director of the Virginia Certificate of Public Need Program.