Jeff Weedman is the Vice President for External Business Development (EBD) at the Procter & Gamble Company. He leads the EBD team of over 50 professionals who search the globe identifying open innovation opportunities for P&G, helping realize then-CEO A.G. Lafley’s declaration that 50% of P&G’s innovation be sourced externally. P&G calls its version of open innovation “Connect + Develop”. Jeff’s EBD group manages nearly 1,000 active contracts (split approximately 40%-60% out- and in-licensing) and demonstrates P&G’s commitment to “Connect + Develop’s” principles on a daily basis. The work of Jeff’s group has been featured in more than fifty publications, including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, The Korea Economic Times and The Economist. P&G has also received the The Economist’s 2007 Corporate Innovation Award. Jeff’s group is active within the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and P&G is one of only five companies to ever receive that organization’s Licensing Achievement Award for excellence in licensing.

Jeff joined Procter & Gamble in 1977 in marketing/brand management and held various positions in strategic planning, sales, advertising manager, and commercial services products. He is past vice chair-State of Ohio for March of Dimes and past president of the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Speech and Hearing Center.

Jeff received his A.B. (economics/history) from Albion College and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan with a concentration in marketing and finance.