Kevin Kurtis O'Connell
Kevin is a true cosmopolite. He grew up living with his family in Venezuela, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, and the United States, and has traveled extensively throughout the world. He is fluent in English and Spanish, and beginning to learn Czech and Hungarian. Kevin has two young sons.
Upon graduating from Arizona State University with degrees in Political Science, and History, he worked for the Arizona-Mexico Commission, managing projects and resources while helping to develop, implement and manage Arizona’s economic and political policies with Mexico.
After graduating with an MBA from Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management, Kevin got to ride the Internet dot-com wave with Phoenix-based Quepasa.com, a bilingual Internet portal for the Hispanic world. As a Content Manager/Producer with this young, dynamic company, he contributed marketing, content development, and business development expertise to the firm’s growth.
Kevin spent two years with the Arizona Department of Commerce, marketing Arizona internationally as the ideal location for high technology companies to locate or expand their North American presence. Within that function, he helped promote high tech business and investment opportunities with Canada, Japan, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
Kevin is the founder and President of Earth 2U Communications, an international marketing and business development company primarily focused on linking the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Current and past clients have included businesses, international trade and policy organizations. An active member of the Phoenix Sister Cities Commission, Kevin serves on the Board of Directors, Co-Chairs the Economic Relations Committee, and is the Past-Chair of the Prague Committee.
G.O. Global Trade & Investments is the exciting new project founded with long time friend Rick Glissendorf (the G.O. in the firm’s name stands for Glissendorf-O’Connell). Kevin had been focused on business opportunities in Central Europe, and introduced Rick to the region while on a trip to Hungary and the Czech Republic. After tasting some great Hungarian wines, and visiting the Villány region, both men understood that these world-class wines needed introducing to the U.S. The company reflects the unique experiences and talents of its founders, and is a vehicle enabling them to pursue their passion for traveling, meeting people, and participating in Hungary’s winemaking renaissance, not to mention drinking some fantastic wines.
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