Joseph R. Zimmel is the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for NCLD and serves on the Audit, Finance, Development and Young Adult Committees. He is a business consultant, private investor and director of several companies.

Mr. Zimmel worked at Goldman, Sachs and Co. from 1979 to 2002. He began in the mergers and acquisitions department, where he specialized first in oil and gas and later moved to technology transactions. He became a partner in 1988. Throughout the 1990s, he started and then led the global communications, media and entertainment group in the investment banking division. He was a managing director and co-head.

Mr. Zimmel formerly served on the board of directors of Modem Media, an early entrant into internet-based interactive marketing. Digitas, Inc., a global brand management firm specializing in internet-based marketing, acquired Modem Media. He later served on the Digitas board of directors. Digitas was subsequently acquired by Publicis. He also served on the board of directors for CenturyLink Communications, the third-largest telecommunications company in the United States.

Mr. Zimmel currently serves on the board of directors of FactSet Research Systems, a leading software provider to investment banking and asset management businesses.

In addition, he helped start and currently serves as a director of four private companies: PURETi, Prizmalite Industries, Spiral Universe and nuTravel Technology Services.

Mr. Zimmel holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University.

Why are you an advocate for individuals with learning disabilities?

“I have two sons with LD and I see how many “bumps in the road” they face. Some just a part of life and some like stigma and federal and state policies. We can help with all of these issues.”