Geoffrey Kent
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
gkent@cognisit-advisors.com
Geoffrey Kent established Cognis IT Advisors in February of 2007.
Mr. Kent is the former CFO and Executive Vice President of Planning for Opportunity Finance Network (a $4 billion national network of 167 community development financial institutions that find and finance opportunities outside the economic mainstream). Before joining Opportunity Finance Network, Kent was the Managing Principal of Kent Consulting Group, a turnaround management consulting services firm. During this time, he was appointed Director of Consulting Services of Nelson (a Philadelphia based real estate facilities services firm), where he had responsibility for managing all of the firm’s Strategic Planning, Information Services, Occupancy Tracking, and Interior Design activities. Prior to this consulting assignment, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of DraW Computing, an ASP start-up providing 3D graphics developer tools. From 1994 to 1999, he was a Senior Manager with Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, specializing in strategic planning, business process reengineering, and reorganization services. From 1992 to 1994, he was a Management Consultant with the Erving Group, an entertainment management holding company owned by retired NBA Hall of Fame member and entrepreneur Julius “Dr. J” Erving, where he advised on mergers and acquisitions, business alliances, joint ventures, and new market opportunities. Kent also consulted to the U.S. Embassy and the American Consulate General in the Netherlands, and EMI Music in the Netherlands, while participating in an MBA exchange program at the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus Universiteit, as well as to the Wharton West Philadelphia Project. Prior to graduate school, he was employed as an Account Manager at AT&T, from 1981 to 1990, and as a Senior Sales Representative at Xerox, from 1979 to 1981.
Mr. Kent received a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Marketing from the University of Oklahoma, and a Masters of Business Administration Degree in Entrepreneurial Management, Multinational Management, and Arts Management, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
