Illycaffè: Jack Edwards, President of North America

Coffee company illycaffè has welcomed Jack Edwards as President of its North America division.

Edwards comes to illycaffe after nearly two decades with Diageo. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Sales and National Accounts for The Diageo Beer Company USA, where he led a team of 115 people and a distributor network responsible for Guinness, Smirnoff Ice, and other major and emerging brands. 

Edwards’ career at Diageo started in Chicago in finance, before moving into cross-functional positions spanning portfolio planning, marketing, and sales. He transferred to the company’s Norwalk, CT U.S. headquarters in 2005, where he managed regional sales teams and earned additional responsibilities.   During this time, Jack helped launch several successful new innovations and drove significant growth on brands including Bulleit Bourbon and Ciroc Vodka.

Edwards holds an MBA degree in Business Administration from the Kellogg Business School at Northwestern University. Prior to joining Diageo, he was an auditor at KPMG.