PRESIDENT / FOUNDER
Edward E. Gordon
Edward E. Gordon has consulted with leaders in business, education, government and non-profits for 50 years. Ed is a big picture thought leader connecting the employment dots between business, education, and training. As a historical economist he applies inter-disciplinary solutions that address the jobs-skills disconnect and related economic development issues. The culmination of his work can be found in his new White Paper: Job Shock: Solving the Pandemic and 2030 Employment Meltdown (Gordon Reports 2021).
Gordon, the founder and president of Imperial Consulting Corporation in Chicago, is a human capital management expert who is internationally recognized as an authority on how talent delivery systems, career development, and training relate to business and economic growth. As a writer, researcher, speaker, and consultant he has helped shape policy and promote business and talent development at the national level and through regional cross-sector partnerships.
He has helped hundreds of clients including: regional workforce boards, state and regional economic development agencies, talent development agencies across the U.S. and in other nations, professional and trade associations, chambers of commerce, unions, non-profit organizations, universities, community colleges, business schools, school systems, the U.S. Departments of Education, Commerce and Labor, the Federal Reserve Bank, and companies of all sizes ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses. (See client list.)
Gordon is the author or co-author of 21 books including Future Jobs: Solving the Employment and Skills Crisis, Winning the Global Talent Showdown, Divided on D-Day, The 2010 Meltdown, Skill Wars, FutureWork, Closing the Literacy Gap in American Business, Opportunities in Training and Development Careers, Literacy in America, The Tutoring Revolution, Peer Tutoring, and Tutor Quest.
He has been quoted in or written over 300 articles for major newspapers such as USA Today, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Investor’s Business Daily, and popular magazines, business publications, and education journals, including The Futurist, M World, Talent Management, Training, HR Magazine, and Employment Relations Today.
His media experience includes the CBS Network’s The Early Show, The PBS NewsHour, CNN, NBC, Bloomberg TV, WGN, NPR, Time-Warner Cable, USA Radio, YouTube and numerous webinars. As a professional speaker, he has been heard by over 500,000 people and millions on television and radio.
Gordon has taught courses in business, psychology, and history for 20 years at several Chicago-area universities including DePaul, Loyola, and Northwestern. He is currently on the Advisory Boards of Manufacturing Renaissance and Catholic Charities of Chicago. Gordon has served on the Board of Directors of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, the Advisory Board of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (Palm Springs, CA area), the Board of Trustees of Moraine Valley Community College, the Board of Directors of the Illinois Literacy Resource Development Center, and the Youth Policy Committee of the Chicago Workforce Board.
He holds a Ph.D. in History/Psychology, graduating Magna cum Laude from Loyola University in Chicago, and an M.A. in History, graduating Magna cum Laude from DePaul University in Chicago. He also pursued graduate study in history at the University of Chicago.