Dr. Jelani Ellington

Exceptional Leadership in Complex, High-Stakes Environments

Where strategy, operations, and organizational dynamics come together.

I speak to executives, board members, founders, and senior leaders who are accountable for performance and transformation—and who know that the way their organization works today won’t be enough for where it needs to go next.

About Dr. Jelani Ellington

Dr. Jelani Ellington is a COO, Fortune 50 transformation leader, and innovation-driven strategist who has led large-scale change, operational turnarounds, and strategic initiatives in healthcare, financial services, retail, industrials, and professional services.

With experience managing an $11B product portfolio, directing enterprise-wide transformation agendas, and founding a strategy and innovation consultancy, Jelani brings a rare blend of board-level perspective, operational depth, and real-world storytelling to every stage.

His sessions are practical, candid, and grounded in lived experience—not theory.

Speaking Expertise

  • Leading strategy execution and organizational transformation
  • Designing and running high-performing operations
  • Organizational dynamics, culture, and leadership behavior
  • Innovation, data & AI applied to real business problems
  • M&A integration and operating model redesign
  • Building resilient, improvement-oriented leadership teams

SIGNATURE TALKS

From Strategy Slide Deck to Operating Reality

How senior leaders can close the gap between ambition and execution.
This talk breaks down why well-designed strategies stall once they hit the organization and what executives can do differently with operating models, governance, and leadership behaviors to ensure traction.

Operational Excellence in an AI-Powered World

Using data, analytics, and AI to sharpen performance—without losing the human core.
Jelani demystifies AI and advanced analytics from an operator’s perspective, focusing on practical use cases, critical pitfalls, and how to build the organizational capability to use these tools responsibly and effectively.

Designing Organizations That Don’t Break Under Change

Leading large-scale transformation across functions, business units, and geographies.
Drawing on experiences in Fortune 50 transformations, this talk explores the organizational dynamics of change—decision rights, incentives, culture, and leadership habits—and how to structure transformation so it sticks.

The Fractional Executive Advantage

Scaling senior leadership capacity before you scale headcount.
Ideal for boards, PE firms, and growth-stage CEOs, this session explains how fractional executives can accelerate strategy, stabilize operations, and enable leadership transitions without over-committing fixed cost too early.

Custom executive sessions & offsites

Jelani regularly designs and facilitates tailored executive team sessions focused on:

  • Strategic clarity and prioritization
  • Operating model design and role clarity
  • Team effectiveness and norms
  • Governance and performance management
BOOK DR. JELANI ELLINGTON TO SPEAK

Industry Served
Healthcare • Financial Services • Retail & Consumer
• Construction & Trades • Automotive & Industrial
• Technology-enabled services • Education & Nonprofit