Mike LaFortune

Strategic and creative leader focused on impact. Delivers business results through leadership, innovation, global teams, technology, and strategic partnerships.

Highlights

  • Global management in large and small orgs with deep technology, services, and product expertise

  • Sales and customer management contributing 20% to YOY revenue growth at $50MM company

  • Policy and legislative advocacy, lobbying, and government relations for public-private partnerships.

  • Services sales above annual quota and over $7MM in individual contribution

  • Managed solutions portfolios and partnerships to $100MM+ in annual revenue

  • Active in all phases of people care, from org design to budgeting, hiring, engagement, and release

  • Launched complex compliance, analytics, and retention solutions to over $10MM first year ARR

  • Led enterprise services to 32% average annual growth over 12 years at increasing margins

  • Helped create and execute $1B (2x) growth plans for public and privately-held companies

  • Repeatedly increased product customer loyalty, engagement, and annual spend

  • Created global customer communities and co-managed large global customer events

  • Launched and grew two companies with successful exits

  • Coached businesses, internal teams, emerging leaders, and entrepreneurs

  • Helped customers earn national recognition for excellence, earned media and industry awards

Experience

MTX GROUP (2022)

Senior Director - Corporate and Business Development, Emerging Practices
Frisco, TX (remote)

  • Internal and external operational alignment to accelerate growth and reduce business risks

  • Worldwide OKR program rollout from C-level down, across all regions and teams

  • Policy and program advocacy with Florida Legislature and Governor’s Office

  • Initiated improved process for build/buy/borrow and investment decisions

MODus create (2017-2022)

Client Partner (2019 - Present)
Reston, VA (remote)

  • Sales and customer management contributing 20% to YOY company revenue growth

  • Services sales above annual quota, to $7.3MM individual contribution

  • Created customer executive relationship function and helped grow Client Partners to eight leaders

  • Evangelized “Product Kickstarts” to reduce risk and accelerate results for customers

  • Closed an average of 3 net new customers per year, for 10% additional revenue

  • Collaborated with executive buyers to define outcomes, scope, pricing, and contractual terms

  • Helped increase key services to be 84% of total revenue up from 22%, in two years

  • Active in all phases of people care - recruiting, retention, performance, and release

  • Delivered results by turning product development into competitive advantage


Senior Program Manager (2017 - 2019)
Reston, VA (remote)

  • Helped global brands reduce risk, accelerate revenue, and delight customers with innovative software

  • Managed fully remote, global UX and visual designers, engineers, DevOps, and analysts

  • Responsible for delivery services and cross-functional teams to 65 people

  • Modeled agile product design, development, and project management best practice

  • Rapid time-to-value and iterative “agile finance”-based operations for high-visibility, high-risk projects

 

Accessible Solutions (2017-2019)

Strategic Consultant to C-Suite (contract)
Cocoa, FL (remote)

  • Strategic advisor to ownership team for navigating new opportunities and growth at rapidly-growing senior nutrition and healthcare services company

  • Coaching strategy, operations, organization, investments, talent, and partnerships

  • Advised on strategy and tactics for national partnerships leading to rapid revenue growth

 

Ultimate Software (2015-2017)

Product Manager, Global HR, Talent Development, and Learning
Weston, FL (remote)

  • Responsible for direction, readiness, and impact of UltiPro Talent, Learning, and Global HR solutions - including General Human Resources, Performance Management, Succession Planning, Career Development, Leadership Development, and Prescriptive and Predictive Analytics

  • Helped launch major new solutions, including a partner-based social learning platform, mobile web and apps, marketplace APIs, and compliance solutions

  • Launched model solutions powered by emotionally aware analytics

  • Helped company earn best workplace awards by inspiring teams and empowering people

 

EY / Intuitive company (2015)

Strategy and Alliances Consultant (contract)
Greater Philadelphia Area (remote)

  • Subject matter expert for components, architecture, partner alliances, and cost models for new business process and capture automation solution

  • Short-term contract focused on native app and responsive web solutions to rapidly disrupt large, risk-averse industry using Mobility and Cloud design patterns

  • Modeled user journey, information architecture, UX, and technology requirements

 

ELLUCIAN (2012-2014)

Product Manager, Common Components
Fairfax, VA (remote)

  • Responsible for global strategy, business performance, and customer impact of complex portfolio of enterprise software, partnerships, and services

  • Reporting directly to Chief Product Officer, with regular executive committee engagement

  • Grew product satisfaction while improving margins and revenue in mature product lines.

  • Managed strategic customer and partners escalations

  • Negotiated partnership goals, economics, terms, and agreements.

  • Led cross-organization readiness across internal and partner teams.

  • Helped plan and deliver the largest technology conference in Higher Education globally.

  • Worked with leadership to standardize product ideation to launch process following major M&A.

  • Worked with inside and outside counsel to improve anti-trust and compliance frameworks

  • Delivered integrations across technology platforms, business processes, partners, and geographies - including UX, Identity and AuthZ, business logic, web services, data interchange, and analytics

 

SunGard (2005-2012)

Product Manager, Content Management (2009 - 2012)
Malvern, PA

  • Expanded and rebalanced major partner portfolio with alliances team

  • Managed transition from on-premise, single-tenant systems to multi-tenant, managed SaaS offers

  • Deepened records management and compliance best practices for customers and internally

  • Established and led customer advisory boards, user groups, and code-sharing communities

  • Represented product vision and commitments for global customers and field

  • Successfully planned and delivered complex, high-visibility global product end of life, resulting in improved customer relationships and trust

Product Owner, Student Services (2008 - 2009)
Malvern, PA

  • Responsible for emerging global markets and success for largest product in the company ($100MM)

  • Helped improve revenue, global reach, and customer satisfaction while reusing existing teams and components. Aligned acquired solutions for strategic portfolio optimization

  • Led customer and development partner activity for international markets while overhauling key business processes in registration and advising

Product Owner, Integration and Content Management (2005 - 2008)
Malvern, PA

  • Responsible for direction and outcomes for business process management, service-oriented architecture, and enterprise, web, and compliance content management solutions

  • Led teams in transition from Waterfall to Lean Agile development practices, as well as from North American-based to global, follow-the-sun R&D operations

  • Improved customer satisfaction and strengthened relationships and revenue. Managed multi-$MM, multi-product relationships with partners such as EMC, Oracle, Documentum, and Blackboard

  • Worked closely with technical architecture teams to keep business and technology strategies aligned.

  • Helped redefine Product Management and Product Marketing Management job families

  • Selected to help overhaul company global export processes in collaboration with US regulators

 

Systems & Computer Technology / Sungard (1997-2005)

Product Manager, Workflow and Document Management (2001 – 2005)
Malvern, PA

  • Helped turn workflow product from free into multi-$MM solution

  • Transitioned low-penetration homegrown document management product to integrated partner solution for several times growth in revenue and adoption

  • Responsible for marketing, lead generation, and sales support of portfolio

 

Process & Technical Consultant, Professional Services (1997 - 2001)
Malvern, PA

  • Successfully scoped and delivered enterprise process improvements in Higher Education

  • Recommended by customers including Yale University, University of Greenwich (UK), McGill University, Dalhousie University, and Virginia Tech

  • Helped customers achieve national recognition for process efficiencies and improved student service

 

Other Professional experience

  • Founded multiple technology and service companies with successful exits

  • IT services and sales of hardware, software, networking, administration, and training

  • Product marketing, visual and UX design, DBA and systems admin

  • Coach and mentor for business owners and entrepreneurs

 

Education

Florida Institute of Technology

Bachelor of Science, Physics (honors)
BS, Applied Mathematics (honors)

  • Graduate study in machine vision and learning, neural networks, signal processing, grid computing, complex systems modeling, and 3D data visualization

  • Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society, student government, rowing crew, mentoring and tutoring, voice, music, theatre, and languages

  • Created business leader community partnerships, improved shared student services on campus, and co-founded national science honor society chapter, while working multiple jobs to pay for education


Community Leadership

Brevard Schools Foundation

Director and Two-Term Chairman of the Board (2014 - Present)

Providing servant leadership to organization recognized as one of the top ten public school educational foundations in the US (Dewey and Associates). Supporting learner, teacher, and administrative impact, strategic fundraising, public-private partnerships, legislative advocacy, teacher leadership development, and organizational governance and sustainability. Delivering innovative programming and partnerships for inspirational teaching, learner outcomes, professional development, and classroom vibrancy. Helped launch new model for community engagement and first-ever multiyear undesignated giving society to support students and teachers.

 

Brevard Cultural AlliancE

Director Emeritus and Two-Term Chairman of the Board (2008 - Present)

Brevard Cultural Alliance (BCA) is the arts council for Florida's Space Coast. During my service, BCA board and staff successfully reset organizational vision and strategic planning, executed an international search for a new Executive Director, rebalanced the portfolio to emphasize programs of national prominence, and restructured financially for sustainability and community impact.

Simultaneously, BCA launched model partnerships with business, educational, and government leaders, leveraging arts and culture within regional strategic planning and economic development. These include place-making partnerships with municipalities to emphasize distinct community cultures such as Arts and Algorithms, an international festival celebrating arts in the digital domain, launched at the edge of Kennedy Space Center.

 

Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast

Community Marketing Council (2014)

Advisor to marketing strategy and campaigns promoting the value of economic development and the competitive business advantages of Florida's Space Coast. Partner with leaders in business, tourism, arts and culture, education, and local government to align and execute strategic plans and messaging. Ensured successful ballot initiative supporting local economic development investments.

 

Brevard Save Our Students

Leadership Committee (2014)

Helped deliver equitable local funding for Brevard Public Schools capital expenses across facilities, technology, and security - generating an estimated $200MM over six years, backfilling state cuts. Assisted with strategic planning, data analytics, thought leadership, messaging, political action, and the unglamorous legwork required to get the job done.

 

NASA SPACE APPS CHALLENGE

Organizer, Sponsor, Speaker (2017-2019)

NASA Space Apps Challenge is one of the world's largest hackathons and public-data innovation events for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, technologists, and space fans everywhere. Teams engage with NASA's free and open data to address real-world problems on Earth and in space.

For one weekend each October, participants from around the world come together over a 48-hour period to solve challenges submitted by NASA personnel. After the hackathon, project submissions are judged by space agency experts and winners are selected for one of 10 Global Awards.

Space Apps inspires collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Our mission is to leverage this interest to encourage the growth and diversity of the next generation of scientists, technologists, designers, storytellers, and engineers.

My role as a booster was to help find funding and sponsorships, competition locations, community partners, and logistical support for teams converging in Central Florida. My role as a speaker was to share my journey as an entrepreneur and technologist in order to encourage future leaders.

Entrepreneurial groups (Various)

Member, Fan, and Booster (2007 - Present)

Supporting Brevard County entrepreneurial groups, including Groundswell, FabLab, and TrepHub, who encourage innovation, economic development, entrepreneurialism, and fulfillment by connecting inspired Engineers, Designers, Hackers, Entrepreneurs, and Investors with services to enable their success. Volunteer judge for Groundswell and Space Coast EDC Moonshot Innovation Series.

 

Brevard County Cultural Grants Panel

Grant Panelist and Chair (2010 - 2013)

As an invited community leader panelist, I read, scored, and provided feedback on applications for Brevard County Community Cultural Grants. These grants help regional cultural organizations cultivate excellence, accessibility, and diversity in their offers. As panel chair, I led the public discussion and scoring process alongside grants administrators and independent auditors.

 

Two Turns Theatre Company

Associate Producer (2009 - Present)

TWO TURNS THEATRE COMPANY produces intimate theatre in unique places. Two Turns engages classic writers and new takes on classic work. The company is committed to developing new audiences, supporting lifelong learning, and keeping overhead low in order to share revenue with partner cultural institutions, particularly those dedicated to historical preservation.

 

Florida Institute of Technology and brevard public schools

Science Showcase Advisor and Judge

Ongoing service to science fairs and university research showcases in Brevard County, FL. Emphases in Physics, Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science, and Ocean Sciences.