Guy Burks
Principal & Founder
ForwardLine Transformation & Strategy
I've always been curious about how to build things that work. In my youth I was preoccupied with architecture. After college at the beginning of the dotcom era, that meant writing business applications software, solving technical problems, and getting deep into the details other people didn't have time to solve. But I became just as interested in the people behind the systems—how teams work together, how organizations make decisions, and what helps good ideas become something lasting.
That curiosity has followed me into some very different settings, from corporate technology and executive consulting to ministry, mentoring, and community development. I've never really seen these as unrelated pursuits. In each, I've been drawn to building things, strengthening relationships, and helping people and organizations achieve their critical objectives that make communities better.
Over nearly four decades, I've worked across multiple business and IT disciplines, from systems engineering, infrastructure, enterprise applications, and operations to program leadership and executive strategy consulting. I've had the opportunity to develop deep expertise in those fields by actually doing the work, leading the people responsible for it, and helping executives make decisions about it. That experience has taught me something important: understanding the big picture matters, but so does knowing what it takes to make things work on the ground.
At leading consulting firm, A.T. Kearney, I helped build enterprise technology capabilities supporting scores of Fortune 1000 client data analysis engagements worldwide. I've also strengthened oversight of troubled government initiatives, successfully led a 25-person team to restore performance and confidence in critical federal technology operations, and advised major professional membership associations on technology strategy, governance, data, and organizational effectiveness.
More recently, my consulting work has included technology modernization and cyber-resilience initiatives for major banks, global manufacturers, and other large enterprises.
Alongside that work, I've spent decades as a minister, teacher, mentor, and community organizer. Some of the work I've found most meaningful has involved bringing people together, helping them develop, and creating opportunities for connection, purpose, and growth. I've often used technology and an ability to create business structure to make those opportunities possible even when that work had nothing to do with my professional advancement. It mattered to me, and I wanted to do it.
I've experienced the satisfaction of seeing ideas become reality, and the disappointment of discovering how difficult they can be to get off the ground or even sustain. Those experiences have made me attentive to people, and optimistic, yet practical, about what mission-focused organizations can accomplish.
Looking across these different parts of my life, I recognize a common sense of purpose. I care about what people and institutions might become, and I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and help do the work that gets them there. I suppose that's as close as I can come to describing what vocation means to me.
I founded ForwardLine because I want to put what I've learned to work for organizations whose missions I genuinely care about. I bring the perspective of someone who has worked with complex technology, led teams, advised executives, and helped build smaller mission-driven institutions from the ground up. Understanding both the work and the people is where I begin. What matters most to me isn't simply completing a project. It's knowing that the people and institutions I've worked with are better equipped to carry their work forward.
Academically, I hold a BS in Finance from the University of Baltimore, an MBA from the University of Maryland, and a Master of Divinity from Howard University. I'm a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), with additional qualifications in IT service management, enterprise architecture, and Agile delivery.