Kenneth Chenault

Kenneth Chenault attended the Waldorf School of Garden City on Long Island, studied history at Bowdoin College and earned his law degree at Harvard. An Adelphi University profile identifies him as African American and traces a career that eventually placed him at the head of American Express. He later served on President Barack Obama's Council on Jobs and Opportunity.

He joined American Express in September 1981 as director of strategic planning, according to his biography for the President's Council on Jobs and Opportunity. He was named vice chairman in 1995, became president and chief operating officer in 1997, and assumed the chief executive's responsibilities on January 1, 2001, adding the chairman's title that April. When he was named chairman, reference works record that he became the third Black chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.

His leadership began in a difficult period: the September 11 attacks struck near the company's headquarters and killed employees. In a later Stanford business-school discussion, he described the importance of acknowledging the situation directly while explaining what the organization would do next.

The financial crisis created another test. Stanford's 2010 account described American Express cutting jobs, receiving government assistance and repaying that assistance in June 2009.

Chenault's tenure as chief executive ended in 2018 after thirty-seven years with the company. He subsequently joined General Catalyst, where the firm identifies him as chairman and managing director, and co-founded OneTen, a coalition of executives and participating employers concerned with employment opportunities for people without four-year college degrees, a coalition that has aimed its work at creating one million jobs.

In July 2022, Concordance announced a $1 million commitment from Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault to its work with people returning from incarceration, services involving education, employment and other forms of support.