Everette Fortner

Education: B.E. Vanderbilt University; MBA, UVA Darden

Everette Fortner is executive director for Professional Development and adjunct faculty member at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. Everette joined Darden in 2003 after a twenty-year career in consumer products marketing and management. He is a 1987 graduate of the Darden School.

Fortner is a leader in the career management field, having joined Darden as director of the Career Development Center. During his tenure, Fortner focused on student outcomes, reaching and sustaining industry-leading placement rates for students. Fortner wrote and introduced new career management curriculum for both the full-time and executive format programs. In 2004, Fortner created and built curriculum for a Second Year student career coaching course, which teaches Second Year students valuable coaching skills while giving them hands-on practical experience coaching First Year students. The course has grown from a pilot of twelve to over 60 today. For the past year, Fortner has sponsored and led another rewrite of the MBA full-time career education curriculum building on the millennial needs for personalization, flexibility and hands on activity, while leveraging the flipped classroom approach.

In 2012, Fortner launched a new career course entitled Business Development for Career and Personal Success, which helps MBA students link the necessary skills of business development to their career management and career success.

In addition to his work with students in their career pursuits, Fortner has focused much of his career at Darden expanding and building corporate relationships. In 2005, Fortner re-launched the Darden Corporate Advisory Board; increasing membership to 40+ companies and focusing their engagement beyond recruiting to all aspects of the program. The Darden Leadership Speaker Series, led by Fortner for the past five years, has engaged 30+ CEOs at Darden, helping align their business interests with the interests of Darden. In 2008, Fortner led the launch of the University of Virginia Investing Conference which now annually attracts 500+ investment professionals to the Darden grounds each fall.

In 2012, Fortner partnered with Johnson & Johnson''s subsidiary, the Human Performance Institute, to launch a new program for the full-time program called the Corporate Athlete. Fortner taught the inaugural course and subsequent offerings to both students and staff.

A native of Georgia, Fortner received a B.E. from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 1984 and a Master in Business from Darden in 1987. Fortner worked as a sales manager with Frito Lay prior to business school. Post business school, Fortner spent 16 years in consumer products marketing and general management with Kraft, Nabisco and Dun & Bradstreet, including a two-year stint with Nabisco in Singapore. Fortner and his wife Sally have three children and reside in Crozet, Virginia.

Fortner can be found on his blog site, where he enjoys tweeting and blogging about the whacky worlds of careers and running.

MBA Courses

Business Development for Personal and Career Services
Personal Assessment for Career and Leadership Development
Personal Career Assessment Program
Career Management
Corporate Athlete Energy Management
Professional Advancement Course, MBA for Executives
Coaching and Career Management