Marion McGovern is the founder of M Squared Consulting, a specialty consulting firm that uses independent consulting talent to meet the needs of clients to help them solve critical business problems. Founded in 1988, M Squared was a gig economy business before the term was even coined. She also started Collabrus, a subsidiary, which is a professional employer for independent consultants while they are on engagements to ensure compliance with employment laws. In 2005, she completed the sale of the companies to The Kelly Group, a publicly traded company in South Africa. She remained a Director until 2014, when Solomon Edwards purchased M Squared.

An expert in the dynamics of the senior independent talent market, she wrote a book, A New Brand of Expertise, in 2001.She has followed that in 2017 with Thriving in the Gig Economy. Thriving focuses on senior level independent talent, but also on the digital talent platform environment, personal branding in the digital age, and the eco system that surrounds the gig economy, from productivity apps to insurance platforms to co-working space.

A gig economy participant herself, Marion’s primary gigs are her roles as a corporate Director. For the past 14 years, she has been on the board of CPP Inc., the publisher of the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator, where she is chair of the Audit Committee. She recently joined the board of The Front Porch. The Front Porch is a billion dollar Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) with facilities in 3 states that provide a spectrum of services including retirement communities, elderly housing, skilled nursing and dementia care. She recently stepped down as the Chair of ReSurge International, a humanitarian NGO that provides reconstructive plastic surgery to the poor around the world and training for the next generation of plastic surgeons in developing countries. She is also a Director of the Alliance of CEOs. In that role, she facilitates peer education with a group of 10-12 CEOS on a monthly basis. She taught Human Resource Management at the University of San Francisco for 7 years. On a totally different note, she developed and now manages a small apartment building in San Francisco.

McGovern has a BA from Boston University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. She is s member of YPO, the NACD and SHRM.She lives with her husband in San Francisco. They have three wonderful, grown children and a delightful Labrador named Lucy.