Executives
Alexander Saint-AmandCLICK FOR BIO
As a founding member of Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc., Alexander serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. Under his guidance, we have become the leader in providing timely and powerful connections to expertise. Alexander was previously our Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to joining Gerson Lehrman Group, Alexander reported on companies and financial markets for Bloomberg Business News in New York and Frankfurt. His work has been published in The New York Times and Frankfüerter Allgemeine Zeitung, among other publications. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. Alexander has also volunteered as an emergency medical technician, is a licensed multi-engine pilot and has trained sled dogs for the 1995 Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska.
alexander@glgroup.com
Will BallardCLICK FOR BIO
Will Ballard serves as Chief Technology Officer at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. He oversees the Engineering and IT Organizations.
Prior to joining us, Will was the Executive Vice President of Technology and Engineering at Demand Media. Before that, he was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Pluck, through its acquisition by Demand Media. At both organizations Will managed large teams of engineers responsible for software architecture, design, development and quality assurance. He was also responsible for the design and operation of large data centers that helped run site services for customers including Gannett, Hearst Magazines, NFL.com, NPR, The Washington Post and Whole Foods. Will has also held leadership roles in software development at NetSolve (now Cisco), NetSpend and Works.com (now Bank of America). He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College.
wballard@glgroup.com
John DonoghueCLICK FOR BIO
John serves as Head of New Markets Sales at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. He oversees our New Markets initiative as well as firm-wide business development, managing the growth of new client segments including corporations, law firms and professional service firms. John also supervises corporate development, including partnerships, M&A and joint ventures.
Prior to joining us, John practiced law at O'Melveny & Myers LLP and served as Associate Counsel to Vice President Al Gore. John received his undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University.
jdonoghue@glgroup.com
Laurence HermanCLICK FOR BIO
Laurence serves as General Counsel and Managing Director at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. He oversees legal and compliance globally, and works closely with communications and business development.
Prior to joining us, Laurence practiced law at Cahill Gordon & Reindel and was Senior Vice President, Operations, for Capital IQ, Inc. He worked in strategic development for Delphi Capital, working with the firm's affiliated fund of funds and hedge funds, insurance companies and other investment projects. He currently serves on the board of the Investorside Research Association. Laurence received a BA from Williams College and earned a JD from the University of Chicago.
lherman@glgroup.com
Jessica HuntCLICK FOR BIO
Jessica serves as General Manager of G+, crafting strategy and executing business plans for product development, community development, marketing and sales. With us since 2004, Jessica has previously worked as General Manager of Corporate Markets and Senior Vice President in charge of the Life Sciences Segment. In these roles Jessica forged and grew multiple Fortune 500 corporate relationships, including many of the world’s leading global life sciences, industrial and technology corporations.
Jessica was instrumental to the firm’s growth from the original 11 corporate clients to 160 firms, including nine of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies. She has also managed and directed the sales and marketing teams across the business in the U.S., EU and Asia. Jessica holds a B.A. in biological anthropology from Duke University and a Ph.D. in physical anthropology from Yale University.
jhunt@glgroup.com
David LeggCLICK FOR BIO
David serves as Head of International Markets at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. Since 2003, David has developed our global client base and led our strategic expansion into Europe and Asia, with GLG teams now serving clients in over a dozen unique markets outside the US.
Prior to joining us, David was at McKinsey & Company overseeing strategy and business development projects in the United States, Canada and England. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Lethbridge, in Alberta, Canada, and holds a PhD in political science from Yale University. In addition, David holds a law degree from Oxford University, where he was a Chevening fellow.
dlegg@glgroup.com
Michael MorhardtCLICK FOR BIO
Mike serves as Head of Sales for the Americas Financial Services team at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. He is responsible for driving our core business, optimizing our sales force and maintaining and expanding our excellent relationships with financial institutions.
Prior to joining us, Mike spent 14 years at Gartner where as Group Vice President he ran the Americas Field Sales organization and World Wide Event sales. He was instrumental in growing revenues, was active in the sales organization and helped integrate Gartner's largest-ever acquisition, Meta Group. Mike also held senior sales roles at Mentis Corporation and Summit Strategies. Mike received his BS in business management from the University of Rhode Island.
MMorhardt@glgroup.com
Phillip PonCLICK FOR BIO
Phillip Pon serves as Co-Head of Global Research at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc.
Prior to joining us, Phillip held positions at KKR/Capstone, McKinsey & Company and CIBC Merchant Banking. He received his undergraduate degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and holds an MSc in Forced Migration from Oxford University.
ppon@glgroup.com
Kylie Wright-FordCLICK FOR BIO
Kylie Wright-Ford serves as Co-Head of Global Research at Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. and is also responsible for managing the Americas team. Kylie joined us in 2005 to launch the Financial and Business Services product suite in Europe before transferring to the US to lead the Financial and Business Services team globally. Since then Kylie has been responsible for developing talent and managing multiple teams within the client service organization. She has contributed to key initiatives including geographic expansion into Latin America and growing the global expert membership.
Prior to joining us, Kylie spent eight years with Goldman Sachs JBWere in Australia in their stock broking business, specializing in equities and derivatives. In addition to her role with Goldman Sachs JBWere, Kylie served as a Non-Executive Director on the board of a private healthcare group, UnitingCare. Earlier in her career, she worked for three years as an economist. Kylie has an MBA from the SAID Business School, Oxford University, and an Honors Degree in Commerce from the University of Melbourne.
KWright-Ford@glgroup.com