Veteran Business Expert and Community Leader Selected to Drive Organization’s Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

JumpStart Inc. has announced Lamont Mackley has been promoted to its executive team as Chief Inclusion and Outreach Officer. A nine-year veteran of the organization, Mackley most recently served as the head of JumpStart’s Core City Services and Outreach program. Mackley will immediately transition into his new executive role reporting to JumpStart’s CEO, Ray Leach.

“There is strong desire within JumpStart to be a valuable partner to communities who have been excluded from opportunities for economic growth,” said Mackley. “My job is to listen and learn from our entire community to ensure JumpStart understands how it can help make a meaningful difference by supporting and partnering on meaningful work that accelerates diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs.”

“Lamont is well-known throughout the community for his wisdom, integrity and commitment to equity and inclusion,” added JumpStart CEO Ray Leach. “Our team, board and clients have benefitted from his vision and servant-leader approach for nearly a decade and know he is the ideal leader for this role.”

Mackley joined JumpStart in 2010 as a member of the inclusion team, working to connect women and people of color to JumpStart’s services. In 2012, he transitioned to the investing team where he worked directly with startups seeking venture-capital investment.

In 2015, he took on the challenge of helping to plan, launch and grow JumpStart’s Core City: Cleveland program, taking it from a small pilot to the successful line of business it is today. And more recently, he has worked to launch similar programs in Canton and Toledo.

Over the past two years, Mackley has also held a leadership role in establishing Cleveland’s Business Growth Collaborative, as well as a collaborative in Toledo designed to streamline support for small business owners.

As Chief Inclusion and Outreach Officer, Mackley will provide internal and external leadership as JumpStart strives to ensure its strategies, services, partners and clients are fully inclusive of the entire community it serves.

He will also serve as the executive team’s direct liaison to the Inclusion Committee of JumpStart’s board, while providing leadership to JumpStart’s “Inclusion Champions,” a grassroots group created and led by employees who are dedicated to internal education and understanding on the importance of a diverse and inclusive work culture.

Prior to JumpStart, Mackley spent 25 years in the commercial and community development banking industry and served as President/CEO at three community banks in various locations within the United States. His ability to create environments of high achievement led to his selection as leader of two entrepreneurial businesses; one in the transportation industry and the other in the distribution industry. This experience allowed him to see business needs from a different perspective and has provided him with insight into the challenges of managing an entrepreneurial enterprise.

Outside JumpStart, Mackley has taught business and professional studies courses at Chancellor University and the Jack Welch Management Institute. He is the founder of Another Level Resources—an executive coaching and development firm specializing in facilitating solutions to problems for business executives—and serves as Chairman of the Board for Shoes and Clothes for Kids, a Cleveland non-profit organization providing shoes, school uniforms, clothes and school supplies at no charge to thousands of children in need.

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About JumpStart Inc.
JumpStart is a nationally recognized investing, entrepreneurial support and economic development organization dedicated to unlocking the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs to economically transform entire communities. For more information follow @JumpStartInc on Twitter.