Meet the team
About us
We are a team of seasoned consultants who all worked with top firms across research, strategy, operations and project management. We bring a strong mix of global experiences and are all deeply versed in the European, African, and American markets.
We believe in winning strategies, in plans that can be implemented, and in practical yet top notch solutions that yield true results.
We are pragmatic, thorough, analytical and creative in our approach to solving complex business challenges. We are committed to using our collective skillset to build tangible strategies that work for you. We are here to help you win in the large and complex United States market.
Marieke Witjes
Founder
After 15+ years of strategy consulting and operating experience, Marieke founded MW Strategy in 2023, in order to build a platform to support European companies to successfully enter the United States market. As an Economist, she is as passionate about Macro (markets) and Micro (behavioral) Economics. As a strategist, she stick to the core questions of “Where to Play” and “How to win?” As a global citizen, Marieke lived and worked in 9 countries across 5 continents.
Marieke is at her best when solving complex business problems, engaging with clients and stakeholders, driving new insights using qualitative and quantitative data, designing strategies and action plans, and driving results. Marieke is a creative strategist, a data driven people manager and a pragmatic designer. She is focused, high energy and fast-paced. She gets things done, because she enjoys seeing results. Marieke believes in facts, logic and in collaboration. She believes in people as drivers of impact and change.
Problem-solving and resilience are natural traits, driving fast pace and high quality work. She developed MW Strategy’s unique playbooks, tools and approaches to U.S. market entry strategy, and developed a team of high quality free lance consultants to support project delivery.
Lily Olsson
Consultant & Consumer/Positioning Strategist
Lily is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of expertise in consumer insights, strategy, and international consulting. Having lived and worked across the US, Europe, and the Middle East, she brings a global perspective to her projects. With an MBA and a background in psychology, Lily seamlessly transitions between cross functional management and strategic consulting, collaborating with some of the most recognizable and innovative global brands.
At the heart of Lily's passion is the intersection of business, consumer, and brand. She thrives on aligning business goals with market positioning and evolving user expectations. By integrating strategic insight with emerging technology and behavioral psychology, Lily crafts connected, relevant, and distinctive interactions for consumers while driving strategic growth for her brand partners.
Lily's ability to fuse creativity with analytical thinking is the cornerstone of her success. She excels in precisely addressing user needs and capitalizing on market opportunities.
Ready to embark on something extraordinary? Let's get started!
Kwanele Mpanza
Consultant & Market/Brand Strategist
With 17+ years of Go-to-Market experience in both emerging and developed markets, Kwanele brings a equity, diversity, and sustainable lens to MW Strategy. Kwanele enjoys cultivating new business and market opportunities, and is passionate about bringing a growth mindset entrepreneur approach to all projects he’s engaged on. He is flexible at his core and able to readily adapt to changing dynamics around him. Kwanele’s superpower is being a super connector of all people. He brings people together and helps them achieve great things together. He’s executed large, complex projects across Southern and East Africa, Europe, and the United States.
Josh Moreen
Consultant & Financial/Operations Strategist
Josh has 16 years of experience in industry and international consulting, including initiatives in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and operations research from Princeton University and an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, with a focus in strategy and finance. Josh brings a breadth of capabilities from competitive research and strategy development through project execution and across consumer, operations, and service functions. He is driven by taking complex problems and distilling them down to clear, actionable plans.
