GeSI Team

Kevin Thompson

COO

Kevin will have responsibility for advancing GeSI's internal organization and operations

Kevin has a 25 year executive career of diverse experiences ranging from managing a farm in a remote West African village to programs with multinational corporations in industries from big tech to impact media. He is an internationally recognized social intrapreneur and adjunct faculty at the University of Michigan Rossl School of Business. 
For 15 years, Kevin worked at IBM on multiple programs and policies related to sustainability, climate, community engagement, supply chain social responsibility and socially responsible investing. He held eight positions of increasing responsibility and scope in strategy, corporate citizenship and marketing. While at IBM, Kevin led the design, launch and scaling of  IBM's Corporate Service Corps (CSC), which placed 5,000 IBMers from 60+ countries on month-long, onsite assignments in 32 low-income countries, working with nonprofits, universities, government agencies, and small business owners. His IBM career concluded as the marketing director responsible for the $5B US Public Sector business.  
Most recently, Kevin served as the General Manager for GOOD Worldwide and Upworthy where he had P&L responsibility, managed the business and services teams and co-led M&A and strategic growth projects. GOOD Worldwide is a leader in social impact, sustainability and engagement at scale. Through his work at GOOD, he served as a co-founder of the GOOD Institute, a new nonprofit organization that merged with Net Impact. 
Mr. Thompson is a First Mover Fellow with the Aspen Institute, a leadership and innovation lab for social intrapreneurs, the subject of a Harvard Business School case study and winner of a FrED Forum innovation award.  He has published on topics ranging from cloud computing to next generation leadership. He also co-founded a leadership development consultancy called World Action Teams that designs and delivers immersion experiences in rapidly developing markets.  
Prior to IBM, he spent two years managing a farm and micro enterprise in rural Ghana, West Africa while a US Peace Corps volunteer and performed as a musician based in Massachusetts.  Mr. Thompson holds MBA and MS degrees from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Massachusetts in Natural Systems.  He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his two boys, Nels and River.