Darren Ford
- Former VP of Culture for Santander (an International $6 Billion Dollar Company)
- Entertaining and inspirational presentations that challenge people to do great work
With a driving passion to see people succeed, Darren Ford has enjoyed a very successful career that has crossed several industries as well as several countries. Darren spent much of his early professional years in the IT industry, first selling advertising and marketing services to industry heavyweights such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell and later managing
read the restFor over 30 years, Darren has helped people find business and personal success. Drawing from his deep business experience, Darren delivers inspiring presentations about Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Leadership, and Multigenerational Workforces, ultimately offering actionable strategies for overcoming business challenges.
After an early career managing sales forces in the IT advertising industry, Darren and his family moved to Bulgaria where he worked primarily as a Headmaster of a small English-speaking school. Upon his return to the United States, Darren founded a nonprofit organization, NexGen Leadership, which taught leadership and life skills to high school and college students.
Darren then returned to the corporate world at a large auto finance company. First, as Director of Employee Development and later as Vice President of Culture and Engagement, Darren was responsible for all people
and culture development efforts. He has also helped organizations boost business results and workforce engagement through his own consulting firm and as leader of people development at a large industrial manufacturer, Darren has written two books, 3 + 4 Equals Success and The Millennial Challenge. He earned his Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation in 2011 and has been recognized as Salesman Of The Year and Innovator Of The Year. And in 2016, Darren was awarded the Excellence In
Teaching Award by Southern Methodist University’s Business Leadership Center.
With employee engagement scores stagnant and society becoming less civil with each election, blog, and tweet, Darren is passionate about helping organizations boost performance by building engaging cultures. He also challenges employees to value both their coworkers and anyone they encounter in life.
An engaging, informative, and entertaining speaker, Darren has spoken to audiences of all sizes, across every employee level, and to numerous industries including healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and financial.
He is just as comfortable wearing a hardhat as he speaks to frontline manufacturing workers as he is wearing a tie while speaking to Fortune 500 executives.
“Your energy woke the audience up and engaged us throughout your presentation,” said one Program Manager at a Fortune 200 company. Another Talent Management executive referenced Darren’s “humor, wit,
and charm” as audiences “sense his genuine passion for helping people grow.” Darren is committed to delivering that same performance to your audience as he delivers a powerful presentation that leaves people saying “Wow!” and “Thank you!”