Kimberly Vaughan

KIMBERLY VAUGHAN is the founder and Principal of Summit, a management consulting firm that specializes in unifying brand and culture for peak performance. Working with clients across a variety of sectors, Summit uses a proven process to get at the heart of what a company stands for, the way it puts it in action, and how it turns it into a story that employees, customers and other audiences can believe in. Summit helps create the alignment that drives higher performance inside companies and out. Previous to launching Summit, Vaughan was the Chief Marketing Officer and Brand Head, Chief People Officer and Chief Culture Officer at Suffolk, one of the largest and most innovative building construction companies in the country. Over more than a decade, Vaughan was at the nexus of brand and marketing, people and culture. As Chief People and Culture Officer, Vaughan provided leadership and oversight of talent acquisition, talent management, succession planning, engagement and retention, performance, training, leadership development, and compensation and benefits. Vaughan also served on Suffolk’s executive management team, which was responsible for providing counsel and input on the strategic direction of the company. Here, she ensured that any evolving strategies, ideas and initiatives were in alignment with Suffolk’s overall mission and business goals, while also creating and maintaining a strong corporate culture for employees. Vaughan serves on the board of trustees of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Conference for Women, and is Treasurer of the Massachusetts Women’s Forum. Vaughan was named one of Banker & Tradesman’s Women of FIRE, an annual award recognizing key female players in the local FIRE (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) sector. She was also named one of the 10 Phenomenal Women Honorees by Strong Women, Strong Girls, was honored as one of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 recipients of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders awards, and has also received the prestigious Pinnacle Award by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Vaughan graduated from Holy Cross with a BA and recently received her Executive MBA from the Harvard Business School.