Robert Howard is an accomplished executive sales leader, business builder, teacher, mentor, and community advocate whose career has been defined by his ability to bring people together around a shared mission. Across more than four decades of professional experience, he has combined strategic thinking, commercial discipline, personal energy, and a deep commitment to others to build organizations that consistently exceed expectations. His personal mission is to harness his energy, integrity, passion, and experience as a teacher, team builder, and innovative executive to forge a culture of collaboration and success.
Robert’s leadership journey began in education, where he served as a teacher, coach, and administrator at The Shipley School. He taught English and history, coached soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, and supervised student activities including student council, the school newspaper, and the outing club. Those formative years shaped the leadership philosophy he would carry throughout his career: great leaders teach, listen, challenge, encourage, and create an environment in which others believe they can accomplish more than they initially thought possible.
Robert transitioned from education into business and quickly distinguished himself as a relationship-driven sales professional. At Namico, a long-established manufacturer of soaps, detergents, and specialty chemicals, he managed an extensive network of brokers across the Northeast and Canada. Competing against significantly larger global companies, he earned National Salesperson of the Year honors four times and regularly generated sales results approximately three times higher than the company average.
His work at Namico also demonstrated his ability to transform underperforming markets. After assuming responsibility for New York and Canada, Robert grew annual revenue in those territories from approximately $4 to $75 million in nine years. He collaborated closely with research, development, and operations teams to expand a specialized line of soap-based release agents used in tire manufacturing, building relationships with companies such as Goodyear, Dunlop, and Michelin. His success reflected not only strong sales execution but also a willingness to understand technical products, solve client problems, and unite teams across functional boundaries.
Robert’s approach to leadership has always extended beyond revenue performance. During his years in manufacturing, he built trust with employees throughout the organization by working alongside them, spending time with warehouse and production teams, and treating every contributor with dignity and respect. Whether playing basketball with warehouse employees, sharing meals with truck drivers, or joining plant workers during a flood emergency, he demonstrated that credibility is earned through presence, humility, and action.
Robert later joined HTH Worldwide, which became GeoBlue, and spent seventeen years helping establish the company as a leader in international healthcare and insurance. As Director of Corporate Sales, Student Sales, and Account Management, he led a broad commercial organization that included 35 direct reports, more than 50 Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations, and over 300 independent brokers. His responsibilities encompassed sales, account management, renewals, strategic partnerships, team development, and market expansion.
Under Robert’s leadership, GeoBlue achieved exceptional and sustained growth. From 2008 through 2017, his teams maintained strong close ratios while increasing sales by an average of approximately 52 percent annually. Despite competing against larger and more established insurance carriers, Robert and his team won more than 300 employer groups, including Walmart, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Texas Instruments, Facebook, General Motors, Nissan, and Toyota.
Robert also played a central role in developing and commercializing GeoBlue’s early healthcare technology and data solutions. Before the organization offered insurance products, it marketed a platform known as Global Health and Safety Services. Robert helped design, position, sell, and maintain these offerings, contributing to 22 licensing agreements and strengthening the company’s reputation as a thought leader in international healthcare access, technology, and risk management.
In 2018, Robert joined Revolution Foods as Vice President of Sales. He recruited, trained, and led a collaborative business development team as the organization expanded beyond its presence in 15 states and pursued national growth. He was responsible for identifying new markets, developing sustainable sales strategies, and building a team capable of advancing the company’s mission of making healthy, chef-crafted food more accessible to children and communities.
Robert’s most recent executive role was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Granular Insurance. He joined Granular as one of the original four team members when the company was launched within Verily, part of Alphabet, with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions as an early investor. Granular combined health technology, predictive analytics, and innovative risk-sharing models to help self-funded employers manage healthcare cost volatility more effectively.
Over approximately six years, Robert helped build Granular from an early-stage concept into a company representing roughly $650 million in premium. He developed sales and marketing capabilities, strengthened relationships with national consulting firms, helped position Granular as a leading panel carrier, and built a highly responsive and dependable commercial organization. His work required strategic planning, talent recruitment, broker and consultant relations, product development, market positioning, and consistent execution in a complex and competitive industry.
The culture Robert helped create at Granular stands among his proudest accomplishments. He believes exceptional results are achieved when teams work with focus, generosity, and a shared sense of responsibility. During one critical sales season, a Sales Director took maternity leave, and her colleagues voluntarily covered her opportunities before attending to their own. By the end of the season, the absent team member had achieved the highest sales numbers, a result Robert views as a powerful example of collaboration, selflessness, accountability, and collective commitment.
Robert’s influence extends well beyond the corporate environment. For nearly two decades, he served as a board member and president of A Better Chance of Lower Merion, a residential academic program supporting talented young men from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. He tutored students, recruited participants, raised funds, led the board, and devoted countless weekends to mentoring young people through outdoor activities, college visits, cultural events, and personal guidance.
His dedication to A Better Chance was profiled by The Philadelphia Inquirer, which highlighted the lasting influence he had on students and their families. Robert’s mentorship was grounded in the belief that young people should be challenged to fulfill their potential and later use their success to serve others. The relationships he built through the program continued long after graduation, reflecting his ability to create trust and make a meaningful, enduring difference in people’s lives.
Robert has also contributed significant volunteer leadership to the Philadelphia Flower Show, Mill Dam Tennis and Swim Club, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bowdoin College, Radnor High School, and the Committee of Seventy. He served multiple terms as president of the board of a century-old tennis and swim club, helping it navigate changing demographics, staffing needs, financial pressures, and organizational growth. His community service reflects the same qualities that define his executive career: commitment, curiosity, optimism, accountability, and an eagerness to contribute.
International experience has played an important role in Robert’s development. He studied economics and political science at Trinity College Dublin and has returned to Ireland approximately a dozen times. He has traveled extensively throughout his career and welcomes opportunities requiring domestic or international travel. His personal connection to Ireland is especially meaningful, and he would be enthusiastic about supporting an Irish company seeking to grow, expand internationally, or strengthen its leadership culture.
Robert earned his degree in Government and Economics from Bowdoin College, studied international economics at Trinity College Dublin, and completed an education degree at the University of Maine. This blend of business, political, economic, and educational experience has enabled him to understand organizations from multiple perspectives. He approaches business challenges as both a strategist and a teacher, helping teams understand not only what must be accomplished but why the work matters.
Today, Robert brings a distinctive combination of Fortune 500 sales experience, startup leadership, strategic product development, international healthcare expertise, team building, mentoring, and board service. He is particularly effective in environments that require growth, cultural development, strategic partnerships, organizational alignment, and renewed commercial energy. His career demonstrates that performance and purpose are not competing priorities; when leaders invest in people, establish trust, and create a compelling mission, they can achieve both.
Character:
Robert leads with integrity, humility, generosity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is right for his teams, clients, and communities. His decades of mentorship, board service, and hands-on leadership demonstrate that he measures success not only through financial outcomes but also through the positive impact he has on others.
Knowledge:
He possesses deep expertise in sales leadership, strategic planning, healthcare, insurance, business development, client relations, team building, and market expansion. His experience across education, manufacturing, technology, food services, and international healthcare enables him to evaluate challenges from a broad and highly practical perspective.
Strategic:
Robert excels at identifying growth opportunities, transforming underperforming territories, building commercial organizations, and creating strategies that differentiate smaller companies from larger competitors. He combines long-term vision with detailed execution, ensuring that strategy is translated into measurable, sustainable results.
Communication:
An energetic, engaging, and highly effective communicator who uses storytelling, humor, clarity, and encouragement to motivate people. His background as a teacher and coach allows him to translate complex ideas into meaningful direction while creating strong relationships across every level of an organization.
