Shontra Powell

A global leader in business, Powell holds more than 25 years of experience in leading growth initiatives and delivering strategic ideas to multinational Fortune 500 industrial, automotive, financial, and travel firms. She is also co-founder and owner of Red Zone Fleet Services, a mobile fleet services startup in Southwest Florida.  

During her tenure as a top executive for multiple companies such as GE, Johnson Controls, Inc., and Hertz, Powell was an instrumental key leader in transforming strategies and business models. While with Johnson Controls, Inc., a Fortune 500 company specializing in industrial products and services, she served as vice president and general manager responsible for driving global sales, solutions and commercial operations and as a key leader in a multi-billion-dollar business unit divestiture; appointed to additional duties as chief employee engagement officer.

Powell has advised a portfolio of startup companies with revenue totaling more than $50 million and is often a featured lecturer for early startup events. Having sat on multiple boards for nonprofit organizations, Powell was the recipient of the Girl Scouts of Southeast Wisconsin’s Innovation Award and has been highlighted as a worldwide motivational speaker and leader by Odyssey Media. She currently sits on the Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation board of directors and is an adjunct professor for the university’s Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship and Lutgert College of Business. Powell also serves on the board of directors for 8th Light, a global technology firm based in Chicago.

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