Jeannie Diefenderfer

Jeannie Diefenderfer is the chief executive officer of the Center for Higher Ambition Leadership (CHL), a non-profit community formed by and for CEOs committed to building high-performing organizations that deliver superior economic and social value. Jeannie’s experience spans corporate executive leadership, academic board service and stewardship of purpose-driven non-profits. During her 28-year career at Verizon Communications, Jeannie led both technical and operational organizations and held a range of roles, including SVP of global engineering and planning, chief procurement officer, and SVP of enterprise customer care. She managed organizations with up to 10,000 staff, operating budgets up to $1 billion and capital programs over $10 billion. Jeannie is currently an independent director on the board of Colony Capital, Inc., an advisor to Sedona Systems, lead executive advisor of Ascend Pinnacle, a member of the NACD NJ chapter board, trustee of Olin College of Engineering and vice-chair and trustee of Tufts University.