About the Founder Joseph F. Jackson
Joe has the experience of 40 plus years committed to understanding the needs of entrepreneurs in start-ups and organizations large and small. These lessons have included helping to assess disruptive ideas and also applying the principles that support the building of sustainable, successful, team driven enterprises. As a respected business strategist, business founder and business development professional with in-depth domestic and selected international experience Joe has consulted across a broad range of industries with expertise in IT and team building. Specializing in working with visionary entrepreneurs for many years, the lessons learned and shared have been invaluable personally and to those Joe has been fortunate to have worked with and learned from. Joe is also a Managing Director of Donnell Consulting Group which is based in the greater Hartford, CT area and provides strategic business consulting services .
Returning to Penn State University in State College PA in 87' Joe completed an honors BFA. Joe enjoyed a multi-year professional football career, after four years at Penn State University 71’-75’, being drafted in 75' by the Miami Dolphins and finishing his athletic career in 77' 78' season with the Philadelphia Eagles . In 1978 Joe was invited to work closely with and be mentored by the founder of US Electric Car, the first viable Electric Car Company in the USA. During the late 70’s and 80’s Joe worked with and was mentored by technology innovators such as Steve Cudlitz who along with Dr. Draper formed Draper Laboratories, MIT’s ground breaking research and development group. OMB Inc. was founded in 1991 where Joe as partner and founder was responsible for successfully developing new services solutions into traditional business development practices. The focus of this “change agent” consultancy was to provide a new framework for “as needed” services such as IT, marketing, sales, administrative, financial, customer/product development and support for a wide range of select SMBs.
In 2002 the opportunity to directly work with special needs adults and young people in the UK and Germany through Camphill (see www.camphill.org) provided Joe with an important path forward. Joe worked as an Instructor in a variety of creative workshops and as a full time care giver responsible for all aspects of the shared life of volunteers and community members. Working with special needs adults and young people in incredible community settings to embrace a lifelong commitment to education taught Joe profound lessons in humility and community. This experience, focused on the person as the center of the learning experience not the subject matter, has been central to sustaining his commitment to the sanctity of the individual.
Returning to Chicago in 2007 Joe felt that it was critical to find a way to continue to be active and of service. Initially invited to work with prior colleagues in a leading edge Cisco end to end Unified Communications Company based in Chicago as a Sales and Business Development specialist. The desire to make a significant continuing contribution was found in an opportune meeting with the founder of WBS LLC in 2008. An innovative mobile technology driven idea was developed that would be the basis of a new technology paradigm in urban underserved Public, Charter and Magnet schools and school districts nationwide. A safe, monitored and affordable technology driven program called One Aircard One Dream Program (O2P). This platform would significantly advance the technology skills and self-esteem helping to develop the social consciousness requirements facing our urban students, educators and our shared communities most at risk. As architect and team leader Joe successfully designed, developed and launched O2P as a national program.
Joe is currently founder and CEO of Jackson Consulting Group (JCG) formally JCI. JCG is a small consultancy which continues to focus on working with special needs individuals as a Life Skills tutor and Conflict Resolution facilitator in addition to working with visionary entrepreneurs who are committed to bringing disruptive ideas to market in a socially responsible way.
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