Meet Jay
For more than 25 years, Jay Sullivan has helped thousands of professionals
improve how they manage and lead their teams. He has designed and delivered
programs on critical thinking, innovative thinking, business development, and a
broad range of communication skills. He is an award-winning author and
columnist and was an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law Center and Fordham
University School of Law.
His book, Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work and Beyond, was released
by John Wiley & Sons in 2016, and has since been translated into Arabic, Chinese,
French, Korean, and Russian. As a contributing writer for Forbes.com and The
Business of Law Insider.com, Jay brings relevant and timely advice on how we can
all enhance our communication and leadership skills.
Jay received his J.D. from Fordham University in 1989. That year, he was named
among the first class of Skadden Fellows by the Skadden Foundation. For two
years he acted as in-house legal counsel at Covenant House, a crisis shelter for
runaway and homeless teenagers. He then practiced corporate law for seven
years on behalf of Lloyds of London.
After graduating from Boston College in 1984, Jay entered the Jesuit International
Volunteer Corps. He taught English at St. George’s College, a Jesuit-run high
school in Kingston, Jamaica. Jay became involved in Alpha Boys School, a nearby
orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy. Jay eventually moved into the convent
with the sisters so he could spend more time working with the boys at the
orphanage. His book about that experience, Raising Gentle Men: Lives at the Orphanage Edge
, was named the 2014 Best Book by a Small Publisher by the
Catholic Press Association. All proceeds from Raising Gentle Men go to support
the work of the Sisters of Mercy.
Jay sat on the Board of Directors of Dot Foods, Inc., the largest food redistributor in the U.S. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.
He and his wife, Mary, live in Pleasantville, New York, where they raised their four children, and in Middletown, Rhode Island.
Jay sat on the Board of Directors of Dot Foods, Inc., the largest food redistributor in the U.S. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.
He and his wife, Mary, live in Pleasantville, New York, where they raised their four children, and in Middletown, Rhode Island.