The Fortified Life Podcast with Jason Davis - EP 116 w/ Henri Ward | Chief Operating Officer at B-Direct | Black executives & entrepreneurs

With over 30 years experience spanning various industries from manufacturing to high tech, Henri Ward’s background is very deeply rooted in growing domestic and global businesses. Ward is currently Chief Operating Officer at B-Direct, the nation's first corporate board preparedness and board placement company singularly focused on preparing and placing US Black executives and Black entrepreneurs on paid corporate boards on the African continent.Prior to B-Direct Ward served as General Manager, Vertical Markets at Fiserv Inc., where he held overall responsibility for the financial, operational and technical performance of a $100M technology business providing Software-as-a-Service across multiple vertical markets. Ward also served as Head of Product Management, Global Consumer Solutions at Equifax Inc., where he led revenue generation, new product development and product & platform life cycle management for the $400M Software-as-a-Service business unit.As Global Vice President, Verint Systems Inc. Ward served as P&L leader of Verint’s $700M Software-as-a-Service Enterprise Intelligence business. His professional career also includes McKesson Corporation where he served as Director, Product Management and Business Unit Strategy Leader. Ward’s earlier career encompasses leadership roles at US Bank as well as 17 years at General Electric Co. in various roles of increasing responsibility. Ward holds a BSBA in Information Systems from Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH and a Lean Six Sigma, Black Belt certification from General Electric Co. Ward is also a member of the Private Directors Association, a national organization whose mission is to connect board-ready executives and corporate board members with Private Equity, Venture Capitalist and privately held companies for corporate board consideration. Ward and wife Antoinette (Toni) live in the metro Atlanta area.