I view everything through a lens of positivity, collaboration and fun. Yes, fun. I seek to connect my passions to help create opportunities for others to grow, promote ideation, encourage collaboration and make a positive impact on the companies and individuals I serve. I find joy in seeing it all come together, witnessing personal transformation and delivering results. And I actively bring that joy to all of my endeavors. Positivity, Productivity, Passion!

Reginald Ponder is an Advertising/Marketing professional, who believes everyone wins when brands truly meet the needs of consumers. Be it on the client or agency side, he has spent the last 30 plus years using consumer insights to increase sales and improve lives.

As the Executive Marketing Lead at The Kaleidoscope Group, he works directly with the CEO developing personal branding strategies and tactics to position the CEO as well as the company as thought leaders in the D&I arena.  In addition, as part of the greater marketing organization within The Kaleidoscope Group, he works alongside the team to increase visibility, awareness and sales leads.

Ponder’s experience includes developing marketing and advertising programs for clients as part of an advertising agency, managing advertising agencies as a client and functioning as a marketing executive within various companies.

He began his career at Leo Burnett Advertising Agency marketing to the general public. He also has extensive experience in market segmentation including gender, race, ethnicity, and age.  Ponder has worked in the automotive, telecommunications, fast food, packaged foods, and retail industries, to name a few.

Ponder is also an Adjunct Professor at North Park University teaching marketing and advertising.  As part of the School of Business and Non-Profit Management, he instructs both graduates and undergraduates in the art and science of marketing.

Finally, Ponder has been a film critic for over 20 years and can be heard discussing film on Chicago’s 91.1Fm/Vocalo.org every Friday.

Ponder currently volunteers with numerous organizations:

  • On the leadership council for Chicago’s Historic Route 66 Class Car Show
  • A board member of BSTEM, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of young girls and women in STEM
  • A member of the Princeton Schools committee where he interviews prospective students
  • A member of The Princeton Diversity Club of Chicago,
  • A Member of The Princeton Prize in Race Relations Committee
  • A volunteer for The Lawndale Christian Fitness Center.

Ponder has an AB from Princeton University in Sociology and an MBA from the University Of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in Marketing and Economics. Ponder is married and he and his wife, Donna, have two children Bobbi and Carri.