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Dr. Cedric D. Alford, M.B.A.

There is a compelling need for leadership development that considers aspiring minority and female leaders and entrepreneurs’ unique needs. What sets Dr. Alford apart is his intentional approach to supporting the success of his clients, as he feels that everyone has leadership potential. Our approach leverages the unique methodology of Dr. Cedric Alford, MBA, and other scholarly research and practices.

DrAlfordOur practice focuses specifically on women that aspire to obtain and sustain a career in leadership.

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Alford has held global director roles at multinational organizations like Microsoft, Pegasystems, and Vertis Communications and served as a top executive at start-ups like InnerLogic and Numeric Analytics. Dr. Alford’s career has included titles that ranged from intern and Global Director of Marketing Solutions Sales at Microsoft to President, Technical Director, COO, V.P. of Sales and Marketing, VP of Sales and Marketing Automation, and Director of Integrated Data Solutions.

Dr. Alford is a problem-solver, as he has not held a corporate role that existed before his employment in 22 years, creating a brand where organizations deploy Dr. Alford to areas of the business that require innovation and leadership. Dr. Alford’s career path consists of starting as a proofreader to a transit intern. From there, Dr. Alford became a bus operations planner in the transit industry. That role led to Dr. Alford taking the reigns of a team focused on Geographic Information Systems mapping and eventually into IT. In IT, Dr. Alford became a developer, leveraging that skillset for the next ten years, with successes that included developing Walmart’s first website, leading a statistical modeling practice, and eventually implementing over 300 global marketing technology solutions.

Dr. Alford joined the Microsoft organization after they acquired two marketing technology software firms. Dr. Alford was responsible for influencing the roadmap of those solutions and selling them. This success led to Dr. Alford being the sole global sales executive for the Adobe-Microsoft partnership. After many awards and successes with that relationship, Dr. Alford accepted the opportunity to lead two additional teams. The first was serving as the US Director of ISV Partner Recruiting for Dynamics 365 and, later, the US Director of Regulated Industries for Microsoft Azure Data/AI and Apps and Infrastructure Specialists Team Unit.

Dr. Alford established the Azure team and celebrated winning the first deal globally for Microsoft’s new initiative. After that, Dr. Alford left Microsoft to take on a new role with Pegasystems to serve as the Partner Development Executive for Comms and Consumer Services. This role resulted in tremendous success, as Dr. Alford helped the team achieve over 281% of the plan. Dr. Alford then created a global solutions development framework to help Pega decrease the time-to-market for partner solutions. Dr. Alford developed the framework and reduced partner solution development time to market from over one year to less than one quarter.

Dr. Alford’s research interests include organizational leadership, women in leadership, technology leadership, effective coaching and mentoring, change management, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Alford has earned marketing, strategy, organizational leadership, business administration, and Capstone professorships. In addition, Dr. Alford has held faculty roles at the Jack Welch Management Institute, including serving as Faculty Lead for the Marketing Department and coaching and managing Ph.D. faculty.

Dr. Alford’s experience in corporate and academic leadership roles provides him with unique perspectives as he helps businesses and individuals develop the leadership skills necessary to achieve their goals. Dr. Alford has coached hundreds, taught, and influenced thousands over his decades-long experience.

Dr. Alford has a BS in Business Management, an MBA in Marketing, and a Doctorate in Management with expertise in Organizational Leadership. In addition, Dr. Alford is a published author (ProQuest Dissertations) with a research focus on Women in Technology Leadership. Dr. Alford lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with his wife (Bonita). Dr. Alford has a daughter (Dr. Alexia) and son (Tyler), as well as an adorable border collie (Rockie).

MY WHY:  WHY STUDY WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP?

This is a question that I always address relative to why, as a male, a female should agree to my coaching approach. My answer is relatively simple: you can be a part of the problem or the solution.

I was very fortunate over the past 25 years to have had access to strategic C-Level discussions about business transformation and strategy. I also led the marketing faculty under Jack Welch, the undisputed CEO of the last century. During the last two-and-a-half decades, I noticed that men primarily held the titles for decision-making and leadership in the organizations I was consulting for. However, as I probed deeper into the business challenges, almost always, a female staff member without the title would be designated as my point of contact to “go deeper.”

These were some of the world’s largest companies. I was utterly enthralled with why so many women had the skills and knowledge but not the title. I thought of this question for years without qualification. At this point, I was already a global director of an organization. I was conflicted between my continued interest in the phenomena and my inaction. I decided to do two things: (1) enroll in a doctoral program that would simultaneously enable me to continue working and (2) address the issue by hiring, promoting, and supporting the women that I felt were out of position.

After six years of doctoral study, completing a dissertation, and hiring and promoting dozens of female leaders, I have developed a unique POV that has resonated with the women I have interviewed and coached over the years. By combining my research, sound coaching methodology, and engaging approach, I have helped many women find comfort in their authenticity, define an identity and commit to it, and as importantly, obtain and sustain a career in leadership.

Much of my impact is on the weekend and in the evenings, as I feel this offers excellent value in my holding corporate and academic roles. The academic roles connect to the theoretical basis of leadership and women’s challenges. The corporate roles enable me to impact the business and access the women within organizations that can use a qualified ally.

I look forward to supporting your success.

Contact me.

EDUCATION:

  • Doctor of Management / Organizational Leadership (D.M.)
  • Master of Business Administration / Marketing (M.B.A./Marketing)
  • Bachelor of Science in Business Management (B.S.)
  • James Madison High School, Dallas, Texas, Salutatorian
  • Certificate, Data Science: R Basics, Harvard University, HarvardX Campus
  • Certificate, Classroom Strategies for Inquiry-Based Learning, the University of Texas at Austin, UTAustinX Campus

CORPORATE EXPERIENCE

  • Pegasystems, Inc., Global Director, Growth Industry Solutions
  • Pegasystems, Inc., Partner Development Executive – Comms & Consumer Services (Medallion Winner)
  • Microsoft, US Director of Regulated Industries / Azure Enterprise Digital Sales
  • XylaWorks, Inc., President, and CEO
  • Microsoft, Director, Partner Development Manager – Recruit. OCP ISV Recruiting.
  • Microsoft, Director, Global Black Belt Marketing. Global Lead for Adobe/Microsoft Partnership.
  • Microsoft, Marketing SSP / Dynamics Marketing. U.S. Lead for D365 Marketing Sales
  • Numeric Analytics, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Sales, Services, Change Management, Training
  • DeVry University – Online, Marketing Instructor
  • Numeric Analytics, Vice President of Marketing Automation. Services, Implementation, Change Mgmt.
  • Vertis Communications, Director of Integrated Data Solutions. Digital, Analytics, Modeling, Sales
  • American List Counsel, Director of New Business (Data and List Management)  . Modeling, Sales
  • Vertis Communications, Dir. Integrated Data Solutions, Dir. Program Mgmt. PM, Sales, Analytics, Web
  • Idea Integration, Internet Development Consultant. Web Development Leadership, Program Mgmt
  • Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Senior Web Developer, Bus Service Planner, GIS Supervisor, Intern

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

  • ONLINE / Professor. CSU Global (04/2019 to Present).
    • ORG429 Ethics and Law in Organizations
    • ORG525 Decision Theory in a Global Marketplace
    • ORG550 Decision Making and Leadership (offered)
    • ORG555 Leading Diverse Teams (offered)
    • ORG561 Examination of Modern Leadership
  • ONLINE / Full Professor. Strayer University – Jack Welch Management Institute (2016 to 2019)
    • JWI 518 – Marketing in a Global Environment
    • JWI 580 – Business Analytics
    • JWI 599 – Capstone
    • Faculty Lead – Marketing (12 Ph.D.s)
  • ONLINE / Lecturer. Indiana Wesleyan University (06/2016 to present).
    • MBA0359 / Marketing Management
    • BHC025 / Healthcare Marketing
    • MKT 220 / Introduction to Marketing
    • MKT 605 / Integrated Marketing Communications
  • ONLINE / Professor. Southern New Hampshire University, (11/2017 to present).
    • MBA 540 / Organizational Strategy
    • MKT 605 – Integrated Marketing Communications
  • ONLINE / Visiting Professor. DeVry University – Keller School of Mgmt, (2010 to 2016).
    • MGMT 530 / Management Decision Making
    • BUSN 319 / Marketing
  • ONLINE / Adjunct Online Professor. The University of Phoenix, March 2009 to June 2013.
    • Marketing 230 / Introduction to Marketing
  • ONLINE / Adjunct Developmental Math Instructor. El Centro Community College – Summer 1996
    • Delivered and prepared lectures and discussions to students for classroom development

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

  • Book: Women and I.T. Careers: Why Women Are Leaving the Ranks of I.T. Careers, and Why It’s So Important They Stay – 2015
  • Dissertation (ProQuest): A Phenomenological Study of Women in Information Technology Leadership Positions – 2011
  • White Paper: The Top 3 Things You Need to Know to Achieve Business Improvement from Big Data – 2013
  • White Paper: Multi-Channel Analytics: The Answer to the “Big Data” Challenge and Key to Improved Customer Engagement –2013
  • Dallas Area Rapid Transit Retail Operations Study – 2012
  • White Paper: The Role and Value of Automation for Integrated Marketing Success – 2012 The LTC Group, a Vertis Company: Web Development Process – 2000
  • Internal White Paper: Developing Active Server Page Applications using Oracle Databases – 1999
  • Internal White Paper: Developing Active Server Page Applications using Microsoft Access Databases – 1998
  • Internal White Paper: Active Server Page Standards for DART Intranet Applications – 1998
  • Research Assistant / Intern – Dr. Sudalamathu Paraniappan – DART Resident Researcher. Conducted several quantitative studies that aimed to understand, predict and/or report ridership for bus and rail extensions. 1994-1996
  • Research Assistant / Dr. Sudalamathu Paraniappan – DART Resident Researcher. Conducted a “Lifeline Ridership Study” to determine the impact on urban and suburban riders on decreasing the frequency of bus routes to different city areas. 1994-1995