Jeff Bartel

Jeff Bartel is an American business and civic leader, venture capitalist, board director, and philanthropist. He is chairman and managing director of Hamptons Group LLC, a global alternative investment and strategic advisory firm with principal offices in Miami, New York, Palo Alto, and London. Its business segments include venture capital and private credit spanning multiple industries, real estate investment and finance across commercial property types, and advisory in strategy, innovation, and executive management for companies, governments, educational institutions, and nonprofits. Jeff and his firm invest in the planet, people, projects, and positions consistent with social responsibility, sustainability, best practices, ethical investment principles, and public integrity. He and his team have collaborated with over 500 private, public, institutional, and social sector entities and have founded, funded, managed, sold, and advised over 250 companies, transactions, and projects, including numerous start-ups and IPOs. The Hamptons Group family of companies has created over $10 billion in asset value, spans five continents, and touches more than 15,000 employees. At Harvard, Jeff is deeply engaged in teaching, mentorship, and advisory leadership. He is a visiting lecturer in several courses at the College and Faculty of Arts and Sciences, where he teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students on strategy, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, and life design through a liberal arts and sciences lens. He has co-created and developed several academic and co-curricular Harvard programs and initiatives, partnering with faculty and University leadership to design, launch, and scale their impact. These include the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship and the Harvard Grid, where he serves as a senior advisor and mentor in both programs. He serves as an Expert-in-Residence at the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab), a senior advisor and mentor at Harvard Student Agencies, and on the inaugural Steering Committee of the Applied AI Incubator (a flagship co-curricular program advancing undergraduate innovation in artificial intelligence), where he helps guide student teams advancing applied AI ventures from concept to commercialization. Through Harvard Business School, he is a guest lecturer on organizational leadership, change management, and enterprise transformation, and is a senior faculty member of the Aspire Institute, founded by Harvard scholars, where he teaches virtually to over 20,000 students in developing regions across 40 countries. Through these myriad roles, he contributes to shaping and serving Harvard’s stewardship in higher education and its teaching, learning, and research pathways in innovation, leadership development, and social impact. Jeff also serves Harvard through a variety of alumni volunteer and philanthropic leadership roles beyond the classroom. At the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE), he is a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council, where he has helped advance and expand the School’s professional development programs for educators. In the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), he conceived and, as a member of a faculty working group, is co-developing Harvard Edge, a groundbreaking leadership development and life strategy program for graduate and undergraduate students. He sits on the Harvard Alumni Association’s (HAA) board of directors and executive committee, where he co-chaired the Strategic Review Working Group to craft and communicate a new strategic framework for the HAA. He has also served as a regional chair for Clubs & Shared Interest Groups, and is the immediate past president and a current officer of the Harvard Club of Miami, where he tripled the club’s membership and doubled both financial resources and programming within four years. In recognition of his Club service and accomplishments, he received the HAA’s Clubs & SIGs Outstanding Volunteer Leadership Award in 2019. In addition, he is a John Harvard Society class chair, a President’s Associate, a Harvard College Fund Class Co-Chair and Associates Committee member, a lifetime member of the Harvard Varsity Club, and, for four decades, has been a local Schools & Scholarships Committee alumni interviewer. He has served on each of his College class’s reunion, gift, and class executive committees. Jeff has authored and been featured in over 200 published articles, including pieces in The New York Times, The Business Journals, and Forbes, where he contributes regularly. He is completing a learning suite and book series pending publication called LifeWorksTM, focused on professional and personal leadership and strategic life design. Jeff has chaired and served on the boards of major public and private companies, educational institutions, including Gulliver Preparatory School, and leading nonprofits, including Leadership Florida, United Way, the Orange Bowl Committee, the Super Bowl Host Committee, the Florida and Greater Miami chambers of commerce, and several business and economic development organizations. He has been honored on dozens of occasions for his contributions, leadership, and impact, receiving the Keys to the City of Miami, Humanitarian of the Year presented by the March of Dimes, the inaugural Florida Ethics in Leadership Award, Business Leader of the Year, the University of Florida Law School Distinguished Alumnus Award, and the Congressional Award Medal, the highest award bestowed by Congress to a civilian. In 2023, the President of the United States presented Jeff with the Lifetime Achievement Award for “lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service.” Before founding Hamptons Group, Jeff was a senior executive and corporate officer at two Fortune 200 companies in the energy and utilities sector, overseeing and directing 14,000 employees across 28 states, three countries, and managing operations and capital expenditures exceeding $20 billion. He began his career in private law practice and served in government, first as the top aide to the mayor of Miami and later as the youngest chief of staff in the history of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. Jeff graduated cum laude in government from Harvard College in 1988, with a secondary in music and a language citation in Spanish. Named a John Harvard Scholar for academic excellence, he was a course assistant and researcher, served on the student board of the Institute of Politics, worked as a sportswriter and new music editor for The Independent, served on the Undergraduate Admissions Council, was a member of the Crimson Key Society, played in the Harvard Jazz Band, was a Harvard Student Agencies manager overseeing Let’s Go Travel, co-led the Eliot House Council and Eliot Music Society, and played football, residing in Eliot House. Jeff holds a law degree with high honors from the University of Florida (UF), where he won the Darrey Davis Scholarship for superlative academics, leadership, and commitment to public service, was a research assistant and Council of 10 Fellow, led the Spanish American Law Students Association, and was inducted into Florida Blue Key and the University of Florida Hall of Fame. He also completed Harvard Business School’s advanced finance program for senior executives and Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation and is a lifetime member of the Harvard Varsity Club. A dedicated philanthropist, Jeff established the Bartel Program on Leadership & Integrity at the University of Florida and has made transformative gifts to several Miami-area universities and schools, hospitals, and arts programs. Jeff and his family reside in Coral Gables, Florida. Fluent in Spanish and Italian, his hobbies include playing and performing classical piano (including performances at the Virginia Arts Festival), performing as a keyboardist and vocalist in a classic rock garage band for corporate and charity events, cooking and Mediterranean cuisine, attending concerts, sports, and performing arts events, field photography, wellness and active sports (including football, snow skiing, sailing, horseback riding, and camping), and traveling the world, particularly UNESCO sites and national parks.