As the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Aware, Jeff pushes his team to think beyond the possible. Forward-thinking and often labeled a visionary, Jeff will find a solution even if he must create it. This is evidenced by his credentials and success in the entrepreneur and startup community, as well as enterprise companies.
Jeff successfully built more than 10 companies throughout his career – starting in middle school, continuing through college and even while holding a highly-prominent position at a Fortune 100 company. Before graduating from high school, Jeff had already built and launched his first software company: a video platform that grew to more than 100,000 customers. He found additional early success leading his next venture, an online service that monitored and tracked Al-Qaeda communications on the dark web.
Prior to forming Aware, Jeff was most recently responsible for leading all enterprise collaboration at Nationwide Insurance, where he was charged with digitally transforming the way more than 35,000 Nationwide employees do business. His work was also recognized by Forbes, CIO Magazine, Fortune, the Harvard Business Review, Gartner and the Wall Street Journal.
Despite his career achievements, Jeff’s greatest success derives from his willingness to help others in any way that he can. Jeff is passionate about encouraging, coaching and mentoring youth and young professionals, helping them navigate their career paths, teaching them about leadership and entrepreneurship, and helping to guide them through life’s many twists and turns. From mentoring young professionals and supporting the Special Olympics to pushing his employees to stretch and grow, Jeff is whole-heartedly committed to giving back to his community and helping others succeed.
A proud Buckeye, Jeff holds a degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) from The Ohio State University’s Max M. Fisher College of Business.