William Meehan Obituary

William F. Meehan III was the Raccoon Partners Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Senior Partner Emeritus of McKinsey & Company.

As a faculty member of the Center for Social Innovation and Public Management Program, he taught the popular course “Strategic Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations and Social Ventures”, and he developed and taught a pioneering course, “Private Equity in Frontier Markets.” As Faculty Director, he helped launch the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED).

In addition, at Stanford, he advised the Stanford Board of Trustees and President on strategy and governance. He was a founding member of the Natural Capital Advisory Council. He was a founding member of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society Advisory Council and the Arts Advisory Council. In 2014, he received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

His book, co-authored with Kim Starkey Jonker, Engine of Impact: Essentials of Strategic Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector, engineofimpact.org , is a bestseller in its field.

He was a former Board Member and Special Advisor to King Philanthropies and a Life Governor of the San Francisco Symphony; Chair Emeritus of Guidestar; a member of the North American Council of Ashoka, and a member of Positive Coaching Alliance’s National Advisory Board.

He was Chair of the United Way of the Bay Area, a member of the Board of Fordham Prep, the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy (STEP) and the California Roundtable. He was also a long-time member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Endowment Board and, earlier, the Board.

Mr. Meehan retired in December 2008 after over 30 years at McKinsey & Company where his focus was working with chief executives on strategy, organization and leadership, including mentoring more than a dozen new CEOs in shaping their agendas.

In addition to his service to clients, he held many leadership roles with the Firm. As a member of the Shareholders Council, McKinsey’s board, he was Chair of the Client Committee and Chair of the McKinsey Investment Office, which oversees more than $5 billion in investments. He was also Vice-Chair of the Directors Review Committee, founder and leader of the Private Equity Practice; Chair of the West Coast Practice, and Managing Director of the San Francisco Office.

He was a former Director of Juniper Networks and Westward Leaning and currently a Director of Big Switch.