Melba J. Duncan Named a Worldwide Who's Who Executive of the Year for Excellence in Retained Search and Consulting

    NEW YORK, May 17, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ --Melba J. Duncan, President and Founder of The Duncan Group Inc., has been named a Worldwide Who's Who Executive of the Year in Retained Search and Consulting. While inclusion in Worldwide Who's Who is an honor, only a small selection of members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, years of service, and the credentials they have provided in association with their Worldwide Who's Who membership.

Melba J. Duncan is the Founder and President of The Duncan Group Inc., a retained search and consulting firm. Since 1985, the firm has been advising CEOs and other corporate leaders regarding specialized senior management support resources. The firm operates nationally and offers expertise in four practice areas: recruitment, organizational consulting, coaching and "executive level" training for administrative staff, with focus on C-Suite Strategic Assistants.

From 1976 to 1985, Ms. Duncan was Assistant to The Hon. Peter G. Peterson, Founder of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder of The Blackstone Group, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb Incorporated, and former Secretary of Commerce. In her prior position, she was Assistant to Sanford C. Bernstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., a New York Stock Exchange member firm, where she was elected Corporate Secretary and became a stockholder.

Ms. Duncan is Founder and CEO of the Duncan Leadership Institute, which offers a targeted curriculum solution for multiple tiers of administrative support staff. Institute faculty is headed by pioneers in executive education, Drs. Norman Toy and Tom Ference, Professors at Columbia University. Three educational programs are available: the Premier Program, for Senior-Level, C-Suite Executive Assistants, modeled on executive MBA programs, offered off-site to a multi-company peer group, devoted to process learning. The Advanced Role, Courses 1 and 2, offered on-site within the sponsoring corporation, tailored to the level of Assistant in the program, and designed to refine tactical support strategies in order to respond with detail accuracy, in rapid pace, to a higher level of complexity. The New Executive Assistant Career BootCamp , is a rigorous, condensed, interactive and dynamic program, appropriate for mid-to-upper-level Executive Assistants. Offered on-or-off-site, this program emphasizes foundational skills, professional standards, performance priorities, and essential process strategies to confidently attain higher levels of responsibility.

In March 2013, Ms. Duncan announced the launch of "On Point", a Network Web Radio talk show that addresses workplace complexity, and assists in redefining the role of New Executive Assistants and their business partnership relationships. The overall intention of the conversations with diverse business leaders, Executive Assistants, authors, educators, human resource professionals and religious leaders is to create a global view of the workplace, supported by the vitality and indispensable nature of the role of the Executive Assistant as a strategic business partner and contributor to corporate productivity.

Ms. Duncan is the author of How to Succeed in Business as an Executive Assistant (Macmillan), and The New Executive Assistant: Advice for Succeeding as an Executive or Administrative Assistant (McGraw-Hill). Ms. Duncan's most recent book projects are three: An Expanding Universe, Understanding the Emerging Role of the New Executive Assistant, Indispensability, an overview of career survival strategies in the new economy, and The Handbook of Assistants' Best Practices, all scheduled for release in 2013. She has also authored numerous articles, including The Case for Executive Assistants, featured in the May 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Ms. Duncan is an experienced public speaker. In November 2006 and October 2007, Ms. Duncan delivered the Keynote address to the EA&PA Congress Series in Sydney, Australia, and Adelaide, Australia, respectively. In April and May 2008, Ms. Duncan served as Keynote for the EA/PA Congress in Melbourne, Australia. In April 2008, during Administrative Professionals' Week, Ms. Duncan served as Keynote and Conference Host for the Bermuda Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals. In October 2009, Ms. Duncan was a Keynote at the 17th Annual Administrative Professionals Conference in Orlando, Fl. In March 2010, Ms. Duncan was a presenter at The World Bank, Washington, D.C., responding to the topic "Shaping Your Future: Maintaining Your Competitiveness." Ms. Duncan conducts extensive workshops on the issues of women in business, career and personal development.

Ms. Duncan attended the New York Institute of Finance, and in 1969 was approved by the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers as a Registered Representative. Over the course of her career, Ms. Duncan has received numerous honors, including the first Women of Vision Awards from the National Organization for Women, honoring women entrepreneurs, and the 1993 Women of the Year Congressional Award for leadership, achievements and inspiration to women. Ms. Duncan was selected as a winner of the Crain's Small Business Award, and was featured in Crain's October 2000 Special Reports.

An active participant in her field, Ms. Duncan is a member of the Seraphic Society.

For more information about The Duncan Group Inc., or the Duncan Leadership Institute, visit www.duncangroupinc.com

About Worldwide Who's Who
With over 500,000 members representing every major industry, Worldwide Who's Who is a powerful networking resource that enables professionals to outshine their competition, in part through effective branding and marketing. Worldwide Who's Who employs similar public relations techniques to those utilized by Fortune 500 companies, making them cost-effective for members who seek to take advantage of its career enhancement and business advancement services.

Worldwide Who's Who membership provides individuals with a valuable third-party endorsement of their accomplishments, and gives them the tools needed to brand themselves and their businesses effectively. In addition to publishing biographies in print and electronic form, it offers an online networking platform where members can establish new professional relationships.

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Contact:
Ellen Campbell
Director, Media Relations
[email protected]

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