Dr. Jelani Ellington

Professional Experience

Chief Operating Officer

Restructured enterprise operations across Human Resources, Finance, IT, and Member Services, consolidating functions and streamlining workflows to improve organizational efficiency and position the association for sustainable growth.
Drove 5% net membership growth and achieved 98% member retention in first year, strengthening the association's competitive positioning across 300+ member companies representing a $20B+ regional construction market.
Designed and deployed proprietary AI-powered analytical platforms - including workforce pipeline simulators, market sizing models, and collective bargaining intelligence tools - enabling data-driven labor negotiation strategy and workforce investment decisions across the regional construction industry.
Overhauled board reporting cadence and executive committee materials, improving governance rigor, strategic decision-making, and fiduciary oversight.
Directed organization-wide change management using Prosci and Lean Six Sigma methodologies, driving staff adoption of new systems, processes, and performance standards across all functional areas.
Identified and launched new dues and non-dues revenue programs, diversifying the association's funding model beyond traditional membership assessments and strengthening long-term financial sustainability.

Founder & Chief Executive

Founded and scaled a consulting firm from zero to $3M+ in annual revenue within two years, providing C-suite advisory services in strategy, digital transformation, and operational restructuring across multiple industries.
Served as trusted strategic advisor to C-suite clients, diagnosing complex operational and organizational challenges and delivering transformation roadmaps that drove measurable revenue growth, cost reduction, and competitive repositioning.
Built and led the firm's analytics and data science practice, delivering predictive models, executive dashboards, and economic analyses that empowered client leadership with real-time strategic insights.
Successfully positioned and executed the sale of the firm, managing all aspects of deal negotiation, due diligence, and transition planning.

Senior Director, Strategy & Insights

Shaped innovation strategy for a Fortune 20 healthcare organization ($140B+ revenue), directing a portfolio of 50+ strategic projects and securing capital funding through executive steering committees.
Utilized crowdsourcing, design thinking, and agile methodologies to accelerate new product development, market entry, and revenue growth.
Presented strategic recommendations and innovation pipeline updates to senior executive leadership and board-level governance committees, influencing capital allocation decisions and enterprise growth priorities.

Senior Director, Transformation & Change Management

Drove cross-functional transformation and organizational design, partnering with senior executives to redesign operating models and lead large-scale cultural change across commercial business units.
Spearheaded Agile transformation for commercial operations, resulting in measurable improvements in process efficiency, defect reduction, and customer satisfaction.
Directed M&A integration, post-acquisition execution, and ERP implementations, aligning leadership teams and minimizing business disruption across complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

Senior Director, Principal Consultant

Built and managed the internal consulting practice, partnering with executive leaders to identify and implement high-impact strategic improvement initiatives across the organization.
Created advanced analytics methodologies to streamline Accountable Care Organizations and Cost of Care processes, driving measurable improvements in case, disease, and utilization management.
Established Process Improvement Center of Excellence, training 300+ associates in Lean Six Sigma methodology and delivering $300M+ in operational improvements.

Director, OTC Pharmaceutical Retail Pricing

Managed the $11B OTC Pharmaceutical Retail Pricing function across 4,700+ US stores, deploying machine learning and predictive analytics to optimize pricing models and drive measurable margin improvement.
Directed end-to-end pharmacy and grocery retail pricing execution, leveraging data science-driven strategy to strengthen competitive positioning in a high-volume, low-margin environment.

Chief of Staff to the Chief Information Officer

Served as strategic advisor to the CIO, preparing executive briefings and board-level technology updates while leading cross-functional teams to develop corporate business architecture, align technology strategy with organizational priorities, and implement performance dashboards and cost allocation models.
Performed due diligence on acquisition targets and led M&A operational integration efforts, ensuring seamless technology and process alignment across business lines.

Strategy Manager / Six Sigma Black Belt

Developed and implemented international franchising and expansion models for OnStar, mitigating financial and operational risks while driving global growth. Led cross-functional teams to deliver high-ROI shared service capabilities as Continuous Improvement Leader and Six Sigma Black Belt.

Leadership Rotation Program

Selected for competitive leadership rotation spanning product development, quality engineering, international operations, and plant management, building cross-functional expertise across the full product development value chain and global manufacturing operations.

Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management

Design and teach graduate courses in organizational design, strategic management, and entrepreneurship, integrating real-world case studies from Fortune 50 operating environments into academic curriculum.
Mentor graduate students on applied research and executive career strategy; developed new course content connecting organizational theory to operational transformation and change leadership.

PhD, Management — University of Maryland

MS, Management / Systems Engineering — MIT Sloan School of Management

MPA — University of Pennsylvania (In Progress)

MBA — Indiana University – Kelley School of Business

MS, Innovation & Entrepreneurship — HEC Paris

MS, Business Creation — University of Utah

BS, Mechanical Engineering — North Carolina A&T State University