About
Tony Parham, Founder & Managing Director
Tony Parham leads TKG Management Consulting, which provides a variety of services, including corporate strategy, process optimization and fractional leadership. In his most recent executive role, he has led sales optimization and AI enablement at a Fortune 500 financial services firm.
A corporate innovator, he served as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' first Chief Innovation Officer and has been featured several times in Innovation Leader (InnoLead). Tony's functional leadership has spanned product marketing, product management, software development, strategic planning, new venture launch, management consulting, government affairs, ecosystem development, sales operations enablement, and corporate innovation.
Earlier, he was CTO of a SaaS firm in the pharma sector and directed a $42M, 27-initiative global technology portfolio at IBM (about 310 professionals, addressing e-commerce and digital modernization).
TKG brings in senior consultants and subject matter experts from Tony's extensive talent network to match the needs of each engagement.
For additional details, and for presentations, articles, and his personal profile, please visit TonyParham.com.
Where Tony has led
- IBM
- Lotus Development Corporation
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- CrossTech Ventures
- A Fortune 500 financial services firm
Prior leadership roles (employers).
Education and boards
- MIT: B.S., Computer Science · USC: M.S., Computer Science · MIT Sloan: M.S., Management
- MIT Sloan Board of Governors
- William Peace University Board of Trustees: Executive Committee (Secretary); Chair, Nominating & Governance; Business Operations; Presidential Search
- NCCU School of Business Board of Visitors; Council for Entrepreneurial Development board; health center board (turnaround); chaired the Massachusetts Governor's Innovation Council
KEYNOTE SPEAKING AND PUBLICATIONS
- MIT Sloan School of Management, keynote speaker (2025)
- Featured several times in Innovation Leader (InnoLead); also GovTech (2014)
- 2014 StateScoop 50 State Leadership Award
- Subject of an Arizona State University doctoral study, “Fostering Innovation DNA”
In the press
Putting innovation to work.
Innovation Leader
Member Spotlight: Tony Parham
"Start from the company's priorities and customers' needs, then work backward. Ideas are plentiful; the real work is persistence in iterating until the idea fits market, product, and company."
Feb. 2021Read the article
Innovation Leader
Government exec on quick hits and innovating procurement
"Creating an innovation DNA, per Clayton Christensen: the ability to connect seemingly unconnected dots."
Dec. 2014Read the article
GovTech
Tony Parham on Starting Up the Massachusetts Government Innovation Office
"A listening tour where I talked to agency leaders about their customers and where there might be opportunities for innovation."
Oct. 2014Read the article
StateScoop 50 coverage
Parham brings innovation to Massachusetts government
"Working with the agencies to find where innovation could quickly make things better, then building on that progress."
2014Read the article
Arizona State University
Tony Parham: Fostering Innovation DNA in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
"Every organization has change-ready, change-resistant, and in-between people; the “resistant” are often just too busy to explore new methods. Part of the role is to bring a fresh eye to status-quo thinking."
Aug. 2014Read the article
About the name
TKG was founded in 1999 as The Koinonia Group, an entrepreneurial think tank.
"Koinonia" is Greek for "joined together for a common purpose," which still describes how we work with clients.