Jeff Charney is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MKHSTRY. Before, he served as Progressive's CMO, driving marketing for the $60 billion company from 2010-2022. In April 2022, he founded MKHSTRY, a nationwide game-changing collective of marketers/technologists with a simple two-word vision – Make History. In March 2024, he announced the formation of MKHSTRY AI, the first machine to be trained to be creative by a top-tier CMO for national campaigns. The innovative, "invite-only" company sets out to achieve this lofty MKHSTRY goal by combining industry transforming ideas along with the newest technology to complement the more traditional marketing lineup. Prior to forming MKHSTRY, Charney was no stranger to developing breakthrough brand icons. In addition to Progressive’s “Flo,” "Dr. Rick" & a range of other “network” characters that he and his team developed, he was in charge of the iconic “duck” as SVP/CMO for Aflac. He also was a pioneer in internal agency development, forming 96, an award winning internal agency in 2012.He previously held posts as CMO at multi-media retailer, QVC and real estate aggregator Homestore.com and chief creative officer at Fringe Ventures, LLC, an experiential digital marketing/consulting company he founded.For years, his pioneering reputation in disruptive marketing and breakthrough creativity/influence has distinguished him among other marketers. Charney won the “2021 Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the Year” from Advertising Age Magazine; the “Brand Genius: Marketer of the Year” award from Adweek; received the Radio Mercury Award as "Marketer of the Year;" named one of the “Top 40 Brand Innovators” by PR News; received the “Brand Innovator Award” from the American Advertising Federation; and has been named one of the most creative people in business by both Fast Company and Advertising Age. In addition to the individual awards listed above, his driven MarComm teams have won 100+ national/international awards.He is a member of the BoD of Investors Exchange (IEX), an alternative stock exchange; UnifyWork, a new hiring platform; Cann-ade, the only USDA approved CBD-infused beverage, as well as the Mobil Marketing Association. He is on the Dean’s Advisory Council at the University of South Carolina (USC) as well as the Dean's Advisory Board at Ohio State University (OSU). Charney holds a BA in journalism from the USC (summa cum laude) and a MA in communications (highest honors) from OSU. He received the Alumni of the Year Award from USC in 2023 as well as receiving the same award from the OSU in 2022.