Everette W. Fortner

Education: B.E., Chemical Engineering, Vanderbilt University; MBA, University of Virginia Darden School of Business

Everette Fortner currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, following a twenty-year career in career services at both Darden and UVA. He joined Darden in 2003 after a 20-year career in consumer products marketing and management. He is a 1987 graduate of the Darden School.

Fortner currently serves as Head Coach and CEO of his own career coaching business, Everette Fortner Coaching. A leader in the career management field, he first joined Darden in 1987 as director of the Career Development Center. During his tenure, Fortner focused on student outcomes, reaching and sustaining industry-leading placement rates for students. Fortner wrote and introduced new career management curriculum for both the full-time and executive format programs. In 2004, Fortner created and built curriculum for a Second-Year student career coaching course, which teaches Second Year students valuable coaching skills while giving them hands-on practical experience coaching First Year students. The course has grown from a pilot of 12 to over 60 today.

In 2012, Fortner launched a new career course entitled "Using Design Principles to Design Your Life," which helps MBA students link the necessary skills of design thinking to their career management and career success.

In addition to his work with students in their career pursuits, Fortner focused much of his career at Darden expanding and building corporate relationships. In 2005, Fortner re-launched the Darden Corporate Advisory Board; increasing membership to 40+ companies and focusing their engagement beyond recruiting to all aspects of the program. The Darden Leadership Speaker Series, led by Fortner for five years, engaged 30+ CEOs at Darden during his tenure, helping align their business interests with the interests of Darden. In 2008, Fortner led the launch of the University of Virginia Investing Conference which now annually attracts 500+ investment professionals to the Darden grounds each fall.

A native of Georgia, Fortner received a B.E. in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 1984 and a Master in Business Administration from Darden in 1987. Fortner worked as a sales manager with Frito Lay prior to business school. Post business school, Fortner spent 16 years in consumer products marketing and general management with Kraft, Nabisco and Dun & Bradstreet, including a two-year stint with Nabisco in Singapore. Fortner and his wife, Sally, have three children and four grandchildren and reside in Crozet, Virginia.