Jeff Ponders II Corporate Speaker from Southfield, MI

For Jeff Ponders II, embracing distinct passions and skills is the key to unleashing great performance. As such, he's spent his career helping others unlock their best performances with creativity, innovation, and infectious energy. For nearly 15 years, Jeff has developed strategies and consumer experiences for some of the world's most recognizable brands. As a marketing executive with agencies like Leo Burnett and Digitas, he launched new capabilities and introduced game-changing strategies for clients such as General Motors, Walmart, Samsung, and Colgate. Today, Jeff helps ambitious brands understand their customers, develop creative campaigns, and launch new business models and products as a founding partner of The Better Company. In addition to consulting large brands, Jeff is intimately engaged with the start-up community. He leverages his experience as a tech start-up founder to guide entrepreneurs and growth-stage businesses as an advisor and board member, leading to exponential sales growth and successful capital raises. After working as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TechTown Detroit, Jeff recently joined Invest Detroit Ventures as Principal for Portfolio Success. Despite a demanding corporate schedule, Jeff remains true to his creative core. A professional saxophonist for 20+ years, he continues to perform with some of the most notable names in jazz, urban, and gospel music. His 2018 jazz album, Spark, is available on all major music platforms. Jeff frequently references his jazz training as the secret to his success in corporate and entrepreneurial endeavors. A vibrant keynote speaker, Jeff pulls from his unique experiences from the boardroom to the bandstand to help organizations achieve peak performance. Using a mix of live performance, real-world stories, and practical techniques, Jeff helps audiences infuse jazz into their businesses to develop their talents, boldly tackle challenges, and collaborate to discover big ideas and achieve breakthrough results. Jeff graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and proudly resides in his hometown Detroit with his wife and children.