"The mindset is competing against your previous best performance. It's about crystallizing a vision of what great looks like, about self-improvement and informed optimism."
 

Gerard F. McDonough is a Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of G2 Equity Partners

Mr. McDonough is Chief Executive Officer of LeadFirst Learning Systems, LLC. His career spans 30+ years and includes a diversity of experience in senior corporate positions and successful business start-up and scale-up ventures in the electronic information, financial services, and professional services industries.

He has experience in competitive business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets with senior executives for corporations including Bank of America, Merck, JPMorganChase, Colfax Corporation, ESAB, National Gypsum, KeHE Distributors and New England Sports Network (NESN) and with private equity firms, including Thomas H. Lee Partners, MTN Capital Partners, and Caltius Capital Management.

He has demonstrated expertise forming and leading organizations, allocating enterprise resources, developing customer centric governance teams and cultures, maximizing the value of large, complex customer portfolios, all to create shareholder value. He also serves as executive coach and advisor to numerous CXOs for big-brand and middle market companies.

Gerry has been co-founder, or on the founding management teams, of four companies, three of which were acquired by larger corporations. He was co-founder and served as President & Chief Operating Officer of Collegiate Research Services, Inc., an electronic information company that he sold to R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company in 1986.

Gerry is an Expert member of the CEO Trust, a referral-based, by-invitation-only position. CEO Trust Experts are screened for their experience, expertise and appropriate CEO Trust values. This platform of shared values enables CEO Trustees to pull together, to help each other, and to make their businesses and communities more successful and viable. Trustees are actively involved in business: most are CEOs and many serve on boards. They are in highly-visible positions and their behavior influences those around them. Many young people view Trustees as role models. By adhering to principles of Authentic Leadership and Generosity of Spirit, Trustees have a significant impact in the business world.

Trained in economics and finance at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, Gerry has authored several papers on corporate governance, leadership, managing intangible assets (customer portfolios and organizational culture) to maximize shareholder value, customer value profiling, and customer-profit causal relationships.

From 2009 to 2012, Gerry was Vice President of the Board of Directors of SwimMAC Carolina, an 850-athlete USA Swimming "Center of Excellence" based in Charlotte, NC. SwimMAC placed three elite swimmers on the USA Olympic Team that competed in Beijing, five athletes and an assistant coach on the 2012 London Olympic team, and five athletes and the Head Coach on the Rio de Janeiro team. During these Olympiads, SwimMAC athletes won multiple gold, silver and bronze medals.