Gerry Valentine

Gerry Valentine is a public speaker, executive coach, and writer; who comes from an extensive Fortune 100 background. He advises corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and entire companies on how to turn challenges into an advantage. He specializes in leadership vision, building resilience, unlocking innovation, and showing leaders how to use the best within themselves to inspire the very best in others.

Gerry built a career as a leader with some of the world’s most respected firms—companies like American Express and Pfizer Inc.—where he oversaw multi-million dollar lines of business. But this was an unlikely path. Gerry’s early life was spent in poverty, in a low-income part of New York City, and as the child of a single mother. He went on to earn a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University, and an M.B.A. from the New York University Stern School of Management. Along the way, Gerry found that the adversity of his youth had given him what he needed to succeed in the corporate world; and that turning adversity into advantage is a skill he can teach others.

Today, Gerry gives keynotes and workshops on turning adversity into advantage, and he’s a trusted advisor to corporate executives, business leaders and entrepreneurs. He has also taught executive leadership at the Colorado State University School of Professional Studies.

Gerry divides his time between life in New York City and New Paltz, NY; a picturesque town in the New York Hudson Valley. Gerry’s an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys running, cycling, hiking, and skiing. To date he has completed eight Ironman Triathlons, five marathons, and many shorter-distance events.