At UNICON, we are privileged to collaborate with exceptional leaders who drive innovation and excellence in executive education, leading some of our special interest groups. Today, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to two such individuals:
- Gene Mage, UNICON Technology Disruptors Group Lead and Managing Director of Custom Programs at the University of Michigan, Michigan Ross
- Joe Renshaw, UNICON CRM Discussion Group Lead and CRM Manager at Alliance Manchester Business School.
Both groups meet regularly on Zoom, to keep up with the latest CRM and tech updates in the executive education world.
Technology Disruptor Group: Gene Mage
Gene’s involvement with UNICON and the Tech Disruptors Group has been profound:
“UNICON has helped me connect with a wonderful and truly global peer group for exchanging ideas and building relationships. The conferences and events have been catalytic in helping me grow personally, and helping our team here at Michigan get better each year. Volunteering as a member of the Conference Committee and as one of the founders of the Tech Disruption Working Group has been incredibly rewarding, deepening relationships, and giving me the chance to ‘give back’ to UNICON over the years. Emceeing the Directors Conference in Hong Kong last year was an unforgettable experience — I’m honored and grateful to Nick, Melanie, and the board for the opportunity to do that important work.”
University of Michigan, Michigan Ross School of Business
Reflecting on the role of university-based executive education, Gene states:
“University-based Executive Education serves a unique and important role in the learning and development ecosystem. The work we do makes a positive difference both in the lives of individual leaders and by helping organizations transform and excel. University partnerships transcend programs and content, creating multidimensional relationships between academia and the industries and governments we serve.”
About Gene
Since joining Michigan Ross in 2015, Gene has built a growing portfolio of custom clients in North America, Asia, and the Middle East. Gene’s key expertise is helping clients create customized multi-month and multi-year high potential development programs using a wide range of experiential learning approaches. A certified assessor and feedback coach, Gene also helps clients build customized executive assessment protocols.
Before joining the executive education field, Gene was a senior client partner for Kenexa Corporation (aka IBM Smarter Workforce), and a leader in marketing, international business development, and global leadership development with Corning Incorporated. At Corning, Gene launched several major new products, redesigned the go-to-market strategy for Japan, built Corning’s first global leadership development program, and led Corning’s internal consulting team. With Kenexa, Gene led executive assessment and development for North America, working with top organizations such as GSK, American Express, and Ingersoll Rand.
Gene holds a BA in economics and an MBA with honors from Cornell University. He is the author of two books and more than 100 articles on management and leadership. In his free time, Gene enjoys playing bass guitar with a local musical group, studying jazz guitar, and learning Mandarin Chinese. He and his wife Anne have two sons — one is a guitar player in Oakland, California, and the other a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.
Directors' Conference 2024: Re-Cap
Indeed, Gene was also an exceptional Master of Ceremonies for our latest Directors’ Conference, and recorded a comprehensive video summarizing the key takeaways:
CRM Group: Joe Renshaw
Over the last few years, Joe has been leading our CRM Discussion Group, a meet-up with schools interested in finding out more about CRM strategies. Joe shared extensively his own experience with Salesforce with colleagues and often invited members and external speakers to share their challenges and opportunities using CRM systems during popular monthly meet ups online.
Joe’s Reflections
Reflecting on the impact of executive education and his experience with UNICON, Joe shares:“Executive Education plays a key role in developing the learning ecosystem and has a positive impact on both individuals and organisations, by providing a wealth of training courses suited to individual needs. Salesforce plays a key part in supporting this, by ensuring that there is a system in place to facilitate these learner journeys. UNICON has allowed me to connect and learn from a fantastic array of professionals from across the globe, allowing for the exchange of ideas and understanding. Through volunteering as the lead on the CRM Strategy Group, I have gained confidence, shared great ideas, and made lasting and rewarding relationships. I am grateful to all of the team at UNICON for giving me the opportunity to do this.”
Alliance Manchester Business School
About Joe
Joe has served as the CRM Manager at Alliance Manchester Business School for the past five years, dedicating his efforts to planning and delivering Salesforce projects that enhance collaboration, data quality, and retention across the institution. Prior to his tenure in higher education, Joe worked as a Senior Commercial Systems Support Specialist at Arm Ltd, where he led support and training initiatives for sales teams in the semiconductor and software sectors.
Joe holds a BA in History from Liverpool Hope University. In his spare time, he enjoys running, traveling, and learning Spanish, and currently resides in Stockport, England.
What's Next?
We are grateful for the dedication and leadership demonstrated by Gene and Joe. Their contributions have enriched our community and advanced the mission of executive education globally.
Thank you all for being an integral part of the UNICON community. We look forward to announcing the next leads soon!
