Mari-anne Kehler

Mari-Anne Kehler leads GHJ’s strategy, business development and marketing. She is also Strategist for GHJ Foundation, GHJ’s vehicle for purposeful and proactive giving to the community. Mari-Anne has more than 30 years of experience as a high-impact leader who successfully expands business through action by using core skills of teaming, coaching, strategy development, program execution, measurement and innovation. She has an integrated client-centric and industry approach with experience in professional services, finance, consumer business and entertainment and media.

For her many contributions as a marketing leader, Mari-Anne was named a 2019 “Most Influential Marketer” by Los Angeles Business Journal. Additionally, in 2018, Mari-Anne was the winner of the CMO Club’s “CMO Transformation Award” for her demonstrated ability to lead company-wide brand transformation beyond the marketing department.

Prior to joining GHJ in 2015, Mari-Anne held sales, marketing and business development leadership roles at top organizations. She served as a national marketing leader for a Big Four firm where she held a number of positions on the Marketing and Business Development Leadership Team, including heading up National Tax marketing, and marketing/business development of the Pacific Southwest region. She was a highly rated trainer of senior-level talent at the firm's globally renowned training program.

Before joining a Big Four firm, Mari-Anne led West Coast regional marketing efforts for a division of Nestle. She began her career on Wall Street at Morgan Stanley, and has also held director positions at Bertelsmann Entertainment and Grey Direct, overall gaining insights in various industries including finance, entertainment, media and consumer products.

Mari-Anne’s nonprofit work focuses on organizational problem solving, leadership coaching, capacity building, constituent development, communications and global and grass-roots advocacy.

Mari-Anne has been active in the community in the areas of disability awareness and fundraising and in mentoring families and professionals for almost two decades. Her particular specialty is creating successful transition strategies to optimize the special needs journey into adulthood.

In addition to serving on numerous nonprofit boards supporting children, education and the special needs community, she is also a speaker at universities and conferences on the topic of disabilities: awareness, transition to adulthood and the impact on families. Mari-Anne has been a featured speaker at conferences on topics such as social media and marketing strategy.

Her book Putting the Profit in Nonprofit was a #1 e-book bestseller on Amazon.