Declan Kelly

Declan Kelly (born 1968) is an Irish-American business executive, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of The Consello Group, a specialized investing and financial services platform.

Kelly is best known as the founder, former chairman and CEO of Teneo, an international consulting company based in New York City.

Declan Kelly was born in 1968 in Portroe, Nenagh, a village on the banks of Lough Derg in the Irish county of Tipperary.

He was born to Nan and Tom Kelly.

He recollects that his father, a labourer from Portroe, had been a "small farmer" who left school at the age of twelve to work.

Kelly's parents made financial sacrifices to ensure that he and his brother, Alan, a future Cabinet Minister in the Irish government, received full educations.

At the age of 16 Kelly began working for free as a "cub reporter" for The Nenagh Guardian, while also attending Nenagh CBS at the same time.

At Nenagh CBS he competed as a hurler in the All-Ireland 'B’ Colleges final.

Kelly started his career in the 1980s and 1990s reporting for The Nenagh Guardian, the Tipperary Star, and the Cork Examiner, and in 1994 he received the AT Cross Business Journalist of The Year Award.

While continuing to report during the day and study at night, Kelly attended the National University of Ireland in Galway, Ireland from 1986 until 1989, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and law.

Working for The Nenagh Guardian during his student years, after 1989 Kelly was hired to report for the Tipperary Star.

He became a sports columnist and business reporter for the Cork Examiner in the mid-1990s, and in 1994 he received the AT Cross Business Journalist of The Year Award for his coverage of "an industrial relations crisis in the Irish government."

Kelly afterwards held a number of senior management positions with Irish communications companies.

In 1995 he became a senior consultant for Murray Consultants in Dublin, which at the time was Ireland's largest public relations firm.

He was appointed to the board in 1996, and according to The Independent proved to be the "young protege of the boss, Jim Milton."

In 1997 he left Murray Consultants to join the communications company FleishmanHillard, where he was appointed to the board of its Irish subsidiary.

He afterwards worked in management for Irish communications companies such as FleishmanHillard, and in 1999 he founded his own business, Gallagher and Kelly Public Relations.

In 1999 he founded his own business, Gallagher and Kelly Public Relations.

His partner in the venture, Jackie Gallagher, had previously advised politician Bertie Ahern and has also worked with Kelly at FleishmanHillard.

Selling that firm to Financial Dynamics (FD) in 2000, he subsequently moved to the United States and began consulting for companies such as General Electric, Coca-Cola and Dell.

When FD was sold to FTI Consulting for US$340 million, Kelly became FTI's executive vice-president and chief integration officer.

Kelly sold the firm to the communications company Financial Dynamics (FD) for US$15 million in 2000.

Joining FD as a member of their senior management, he moved to the United States in 2001 and was appointed chairman of Financial Dynamics in Ireland in late 2002.

Kelly was also appointed global head of business development for FD International, and in September 2002 he became chairman and CEO of Financial Dynamics USA.

Kelly was part of the senior management team that "negotiated management buyout of FD International" in July 2003, with management purchasing the company for US$43.5 million.

In 2004 he was still president and CEO of FD in the United States, also managing the company's business dealings in Europe.

By that time he had helped corporations such as "General Electric, Coca-Cola and Dell to burnish a positive image through the media."

In September 2006, Kelly helped oversee the sale of Financial Dynamics to FTI Consulting for US$340 million, which at the time was the largest sum ever paid for a communications firm.

At the same time he joined FTI Consulting Group Limited as their executive vice-president and chief integration officer in New York.

At FTI he also served as the chairman of the FD US and Ireland divisions.

In 2007 and 2008 he was a leading adviser to Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign, and in 2009 Clinton appointed him US Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland.

During his two-year tenure he worked closely with Invest NI and on the US-Northern Ireland Investment Conference, and was praised for bringing jobs to Ireland by politicians such as Peter Robinson, Martin McGuinness, and Owen Paterson.

In 2007 and 2008 he served as "one of the leading advisers" to Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign, also organising fundraising events for Clinton in New York, San Francisco, and Limerick.

The American Irish Historical Society selected Kelly as the youngest-ever recipient of their gold medal in 2008, which is given to a person "deemed to have made a unique contribution to Irish American society."

While holding the roles until late 2009, Kelly was "responsible for the operational integration of the company's various businesses in more than 20 countries."

Working with the 3,500-person business, he also had "responsibility for corporate strategy, global business development, global client management and all of the company's marketing and communications functions."

In June 2011 Kelly co-founded Teneo Holdings in New York, and the following year Irish Central dubbed Kelly "this Irish generation's Tony O'Reilly" for his work in international business.

Kelly has served as an adjunct business professor at the NUI Galway and is involved with a number of non-profit and civic organisations, including the Sesame Workshop, the American Ireland Fund, Cooperation Ireland, and GOAL (USA).

Currently serving as chairman of the American Associates of the Royal Academy of Arts, he also founded the Northern Ireland Mentorship Program for business graduates, and has been recognised with accolades such as the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.