Jody Gallagher
President and Chief Executive Officer, AFL Senior Vice President and Member of the Board, Fujikura
Jody Gallagher is president and chief executive officer and has served in this role since 2003. In addition, he serves on the AFL board of directors and in 2018, was appointed to the Fujikura Board of Directors, AFL’s parent company in Tokyo.
Since assuming the role of president and chief executive officer, Jody has navigated AFL through a challenging global economy and global pandemic while posting strong operational and financial results. He has been a steadfast advocate for growing the company both organically and via the following key acquisitions: ITC, Spligitty, ALTA Group, Tier2, Verrillon, Dossert, Northstar, Noyes Fiber Systems and The Light Brigade in North America.; TCC, Optronics and Draka’s OPGW business in Europe; and Optimal Cable Systems and AFC in Australia and New Zealand. Further, Jody has successfully cultivated the business relationship between AFL and its parent company Fujikura, leveraging the strengths and assets of each to improve the business.
With over 40 years with the company, Jody has built an impressive track record of measurable results. He began his career in 1979 with Alcoa as a financial analyst at Alcoa’s Rockdale, Texas, operation. He rapidly progressed through a series of financial and accounting management positions with Alcoa, and in 1988, was selected as accounting manager for AFL, at the time a joint venture between Alcoa and Fujikura. Next, Jody moved into sales where ultimately he served as national sales manager. In addition to these roles in finance and sales, Jody has led the Optical Fiber Systems business and served as general manager for fiber optic cables before being named president in 2003. In 2005, Fujikura assumed full ownership of AFL and named Jody president and chief executive officer. In 2018, Jody was elected to Fujikura Ltd.’s Board of Directors at their Annual Shareholders meeting in Tokyo.
Jody is a graduate of Clarkson University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Outside of AFL, Jody supports several organizations including the Upstate Alliance and United Way. He has participated in the Habitat for Humanity Greenville CEO Builds, 2014-2021, and served on the board for the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics Foundation. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Jospeh's Catholic School and ApellaHealth; the Board of Directors for Vitruvi and Wordplay Networks; and Clemson University's President's Advisory Board. Jody was honored with United Way of the Piedmont’s Chairman’s Award in 2011 and the SC Ambassador for Economic Development in 2015.