Who We Are
Get to know the ConnXus team

Our Initiative

The mission of ConnXus is to be the go-to connector between corporate buyers and suppliers. We make it simple and easy for them to do business with one another. ConnXus supplier management software solutions simplify the complexities of global supply chains and allow buyers to achieve their goals of responsible and sustainable sourcing.

Our Story

Like all innovations, ConnXus was born out of frustration.

As the founder and managing partner of consulting firm Accel Advisors and former chief procurement officer, Rod Robinson worked with Fortune 1000 companies to improve or create supplier diversity programs. Time and again, he heard from corporations how challenging it can be to identify new, quality, diverse suppliers. Likewise, he heard from small business owners and diverse suppliers how difficult it can be to share their qualifications or develop relationships with purchasing officers at large companies.

Like his clients, Rod found himself frustrated with incomplete databases, fragmented resources and expensive software. So he set out to create a more complete, convenient and cost-effective solution to meet the needs of both buyers and suppliers.

In 2010, ConnXus was born. We are a CPUC-certified business enterprise.

Board of Directors

Learn more about ConnXus and its leadership.

Rod Robinson

FOUNDER & CEO, CONNXUS, INC.

Rod Robinson is the founder and CEO of ConnXus, a supplier diversity software company that connects diverse suppliers to Fortune 2000 companies. In 2012, Rod was recognized by Ernst & Young as an Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.

Daryl Hammett

SECRETARY TO THE BOARD, CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER & GENERAL MANAGER, CONNXUS, INC.

Daryl joined ConnXus as Chief Operations Officer in early 2014. He is a retired Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sears Optical, N.A., a licensed brand owned and operated by Luxottica Group.

Dave Cohen

CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER, TECHSTARS

David Cohen is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Techstars. Previously, David was a founder of several software and web technology companies. He was the founder and CTO of Pinpoint Technologies which was acquired by ZOLL Medical Corporation.

Chris Downie

FOUNDER & CEO, SPARKPEOPLE, INC.

Chris is the founder and CEO of SparkPeople.com, America’s largest online diet and healthy living community, with more than 15 million registered members. Chris started his career with consumer products giant Procter & Gamble.

Carlton Jenkins

PARTNER, THE YUCAIPA COMPANIES

Carlton is a founding partner in the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Growth Funds, a partnership between The Yucaipa Companies and Magic Johnson Enterprises with more than $500M of investable capital focused on high-growth investments within emerging markets and MWBE business sectors.

Mike Venerable

MANAGING DIRECTOR, CINCYTECH

Mike is managing director of digital, software and health tech at CincyTech and a member of the CincyTech investment committee. Venerable has more than 20 years of experience as a software industry entrepreneur and executive.

Liz Luckett

BOARD OBSERVER, PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS’ FUND (TSEF)

Elizabeth (Liz) has an extensive background in philanthropy, technology, analysis and market research. Before joining TSEF, Liz was Director of Impact Investing at the Pershing Square Foundation.

Kesha Cash

BOARD OBSERVER, FOUNDER OF IMPACT AMERICA FUND

Prior to founding Impact America Fund, Kesha launched Jalia Ventures, a minority-focused impact investing initiative that was funded by Josh Mailman and Serious Change, LP.

Our Culture

#WeLead Culture

Ingrained in our company culture is the #WeLead attitude. Not only do we lead in supplier management innovation, but in employee empowerment, diversity and inclusion, and having a CEO mindset day in and day out.

Learn more about our #WeLead mentality

ConnXus Cares®

We care about developing, mentoring and building sustainable suppliers with a focus on minority, women, veteran, LGBT, and disability-owned businesses.

ConnXus Cares about philanthropic organizations that give back to their communities, programs that develop HBCU student to reach their fullest potentials, and sharing the success stories of disadvantaged business owners who have found an open door in supplier diversity and sustainable supply chain initiatives.

Learn more about ConnXus Cares initiatives

Awards & Recognition

Spend Matters 3-Part Vendor Snapshot

Spend Matters PRO Vendor Snapshot provides facts and expert analysis to help procurement organizations make informed decisions about ConnXus’ solution offering in the supplier management and supplier diversity markets.

What Our Clients are Saying

The Account Managers have done a great job at setting goals and providing the materials needed to successfully onboard and transition suppliers to the tool.

The team was very helpful in conducting online trainings for our suppliers and to continue to offer it if the suppliers are in need of assistance. The previously recorded training and Dell Quick Start Guide for ConnXus are very helpful and I share them with every supplier.

Samantha BrinkDell Supplier Diversity Advisor

The impact that Brown Forman is striving to make in our supplier diversity program is to really impact the communities in which we live, serve and work. We believe we can do that by increasing spend with minority suppliers. For us to get traction, we needed to roll out our supplier diversity program to all of our employees. ConnXus, being on a desktop and mobile, allows our employees to easily look in the database to find minority suppliers.