Who We Are
Founder & Managing Partner
Henry (Hank) Webber is the founder and Managing Principal of Urban Impact Advisors, a national consulting firms that works with higher a nationally recognized higher education and community and economic development leader. For the past 35 years, he has made major contributions to Chicago and St Louis and helped lead the University of Chicago and Washington University in St Louis, two of America’s largest and finest research universities.
Principal
Holden Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals on 28 October 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and professor from 2013 to 2023. He is currently a professor at George Washington University and on leave to serve as the Editor-in-Chief at Science.Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013.
Founder & Managing Principal
Henry (Hank) Webber is the founder and Managing Principal of Urban Impact Advisors. For the past 35 years, he has made major contributions to Chicago and St Louis and helped lead the University of Chicago and Washington University in St Louis, two of America’s largest and finest research universities.
Principal
Holden Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals on 28 October 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and professor from 2013 to 2023. He is currently a professor at George Washington University and on leave to serve as the Editor-in-Chief at Science.Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013.
Founder & Managing Partner
Henry (Hank) Webber is the founder and Managing Principal of Urban Impact Advisors, a national consulting firms that works with higher a nationally recognized higher education and community and economic development leader. For the past 35 years, he has made major contributions to Chicago and St Louis and helped lead the University of Chicago and Washington University in St Louis, two of America’s largest and finest research universities.
Senior Consultant
Brian Phillips is the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Executive Director of the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation, a partnership between BJC HealthCare and Washington University in St. Louis dedicated to the long-term stabilization and revitalization of neighborhoods adjacent to the Washington University Medical Campus. Under his 25 plus year leadership, Brian has overseen institutional investments of over $50m into the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, which has resulted in over $1b in private and public investments.
Senior Consultant
Jillian Guenther is an experienced leader with over 14 years of progressive experience in strategic planning, strategy execution and performance monitoring within community and economic development organizations. She is driven by making the complex manageable, connecting dots from goals to actions, and improving the ways institutions can proactively impact vulnerable people and communities. Throughout her career, Jillian has specialized in implementing new initiatives and multi-stakeholder change efforts that advance strategic goals.
Brian Phillips is the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Executive Director of the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation, a partnership between BJC HealthCare and Washington University in St. Louis dedicated to the long-term stabilization and revitalization of neighborhoods adjacent to the Washington University Medical Campus. Under his 25 plus year leadership, Brian has overseen institutional investments of over $50m into the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, which has resulted in over $1b in private and public investments.
