Jeff McConnell has earned a reputation as a successful CEO and now as an independent director and leadership advisor.

He understands the issues and challenges of leading disruption and the talent that is required. In his career, he has held various financial, strategic and operational roles at leading financial and technology companies including American Express, First Data, Western Union, Moneygram, PRG Shultz and Integon. In addition, he has been involved with emerging companies including, Whisper Communications, Avalon International, and iKobo

Recently he worked with a boutique executive search firm advising a wide variety of emerging enterprises at different points in their development, as well as serving significantly larger publicly traded and private equity-controlled companies that are at strategic inflection points requiring a step up in leadership.

Jeff started his career in public accounting and then moved to the finance function of public companies gaining operating expertise as a Controller, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer before making the transition to General Management. He has served as Division President and Chief Executive Officer and is experienced in building exceptional teams to succeed in turnarounds and high-growth environments.

At Georgia Tech he cofounded both Pitch Gauntlet and Startup Gauntlet that helped teach storytelling and customer discovery to over 1,000 startups and has taught how to make effective presentations in the TiGer program at Georgia Tech’s Scheller School of Business.