Dr. Lori Kendall

Dr. Kendall has over 30 years as a serial entrepreneur and technology executive for venture-backed and publicly traded firms in B2B software, hardware, and networking. Dr. Kendall has held VP and senior leadership responsibilities for new product development, portfolio management, and cloud services. She concurrently serves as faculty at The Ohio State University and is an operating partner at Orchid Black. At Ohio State, Dr. Kendall teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship, leadership & professional development, and experiential learning problem solving. At Orchid Black, she advises early stage and mid-stage firms on strategy, growth, and innovation. Previously Dr. Kendall held executive leadership positions for voice and video communications and contact center industry leaders and co-founded several firms, including a multiple award-winning call center technology company.

Dr. Kendall's consulting and research centers on firms undergoing dynamic shifts in business contexts, such as entrepreneurial ventures and firms undergoing strategic pivots. She is a mixed-methods researcher focused on organizational dynamics in innovation and sensemaking. Her publications include works on entrepreneurial cognition, relational dynamics influencing contextual ambidexterity, and mental model shifts driving paradigm change with social benefit firms. She was the 2021 Recipient of the Fisher College of Business Pace Setters Daniel Westerbeck Graduate Teaching Excellence Award.

Formerly as Distinguished Fellow at the Weatherhead Fowler Center, she led researchers on behalf of the Goi Peace Foundation to show performative shifts in the evolution from shareholder models towards becoming positive impact firms.