Daron Gifford

Daron Gifford is managing director of Stellar Alliance LLC.  He has worked extensively throughout the automotive and manufacturing industry with OEMs, suppliers, retailer and service channels in roles ranging from executive management to consultant to investor.  His “hands on” management expertise in industry has provided deep capabilities to support management in assessing the operational, commercial market and financial viability of numerous manufacturing and automotive companies for lenders, investment entities and corporations. Over the past 2+ years, he has worked primarily with the U.S. Department of Energy as the Senior Advisor  on the automotive industry, to assess the commercial capabilities of advanced technologies for supporting alternative energy creation, storage, distribution and mobility (especially in vehicles).
Mr. Gifford has over 35 years of experience in the automotive and manufacturing industries in operating management roles and management consulting.  Over 25 years have been spent in leadership roles with large, global consulting practices including A.T. Kearney, KPMG, Deloitte Consulting, and ABeam Consulting (formerly Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting), where he was responsible for building industry and regional practices from small localized businesses into large consulting services organizations capable to serve complex global companies.
Through his work with the United States Department of Energy, Mr. Gifford has led the assessments of commercial market and financial viability on the over 120 companies who have applied to the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program ($25 billion), developing analytical models to support industry forecasts of advanced technology vehicle growth including alternative fuels, Li-ion batteries, electrification components, electric vehicles and related infrastructure technologies. 
In addition, Mr. Gifford has led strategic restructuring initiatives in a variety of business settings, with an emphasis on financial workouts, operational resizing, manufacturing, supply chain, and retail distribution improvement. 
Over his career, Mr. Gifford has had the opportunity to directly lead sale, merger and divestiture activities.  While at Deloitte, he led the Japanese MNC practice and eventually the spin-off of Tohmatsu Consulting from Deloitte (over 3,000 staff).  As CEO of North America for ABeam Consulting, he led the sale and transition of ABeam NA to NEC Solutions.  While at Volkswagen’s gedas business unit, he led merger integration activities to close its sale to Deutsch Telekom’s T-Systems North America.
Mr. Gifford has also held management leadership roles with General Motors, Gould Electronics, Volkswagen (gedas) and Covisint.
Mr. Gifford is a member of numerous professional organizations including SAE, SME, Engineering Society of Detroit, Turnaround Management Association (TMA), Association for Capital Growth (ACG), and Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA). He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy in Pontiac, Michigan.
Mr. Gifford received an M.B.A. in general management from the University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, a bachelor of industrial administration, production management, General Motors Institute, and a certified in production and inventory management (CPIM), certified in electroplating and surface finishing (CEF).