Ira’s 40 years of management experience spans three worlds: business, nonprofit and education. Earning his PhD in Marketing and MA in Sociology under the mentorship of Dr. Philip Kotler at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Ira worked with Dr. Kotler to advance early initiatives in social marketing.

Since then, his work has focused on crafting branding, and Integrated Digital Transformation and Marketing plans for SMEs and nonprofits. Visiting 40+ countries, Ira developed a cultural sensitivity integrating values and sustainability into workshops on purposeful leadership, marketing strategy and digital transformation in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

He taught digital marketing at the senior executive programs at Kellogg and Virginia Tech. Currently, at Lynchburg College School of Business and Economics he is designing innovative courses on leadership, digital marketing and social entrepreneurship while directing their new Institute for Transformative Leadership. As a digital strategist, he guides companies ranging from start-ups to multinationals with their innovation, social branding, integrated digital marketing and transformation strategies.

He has a deep commitment to working with Legacy International’s Emerging Leaders Network to develop their skill sets as transformative agents for a sustainable future.

He has co-authored Digital Marketing: Integrating Strategy, Tactics with Values (now in 2nd edition with Digital Strategist, Chris Horton). Outside of his professional life, his true passions are his two children, organic gardening, basketball and meditation.