Ken Countess is managing director of The Countess Group, a strategic marketing and communications consultancy now in its 13th year. An award-winning marketer and a nationally recognized expert on Email Marketing and Social Media Marketing, Ken’s approach to educating audiences how to use email marketing and social media tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to build their business has earned him the respect of loyal followers around the country. Ken is often sought after for speaking engagements on a variety of topics in marketing and corporate communications.

Ken has held senior level management positions at several Fortune 100 companies and has been a senior partner at Ascend Marketing, a 35-person marketing firm. While with such well-known companies as Marriott, Caremark and Motorola, Ken provided award-winning leadership for the fastest growing divisions of these industry leaders. Over his 25+ year career, he has been responsible for creation and delivery of multiple successful sales growth strategies, strategic messaging and communications, and change management programs for worldwide markets.

Ken energetically participates in several professional organizations. He currently serves on the Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) Foundation's Development Committee, the SCPS Take Stock in Children Leadership Committee and is a past president of the International Association of Business Communicators Central Florida Chapter. Ken has served on The Conference Board of the Council on Corporate Communication, the Executive Committee of the Motorola Public Relations Council, and the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Business (Texas State Chamber of Commerce), along with several other organizations.

A graduate of both Leadership Southlake (TX) and Leadership Boynton Beach (FL), Ken holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from Florida Atlantic University and a B.A. in Business Economics from the State University of New York.