# Ben Kirshner

> Ben Kirshner founded Elite SEM in 2004, building the digital marketing agency that became Tinuiti around employee responsibility, revenue sharing and ownership. He handed the CEO role to Zach Morrison in 2019 and became Pennsylvania’s inaugural Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer in 2023, coordinating business development and permitting. His career also includes online retail and teaching digital marketing at NYU and Harvard Business School.

- **Role:** Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer at Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- **Organizations:** Tinuiti (formerly Elite SEM), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Transformation and Opportunity, Harvard Business School, New York University, CoffeeForLess.com, SendTraffic.com, 24/7 Real Media
- **Education:** BA, George Washington University, Owner/President Management (OPM), executive education, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Founded the agency that became Tinuiti., Elite SEM won Best Agency at the 2013 US Search Awards., Built an agency recognized for workplace culture by Entrepreneur, Crain’s and Ad Age.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Began working in search engine marketing through Coffee for Less, according to his IdeaMensch interview.
- **2000** — Graduated from George Washington University.
- **2004** — Founded Elite SEM in his apartment; SendTraffic, where he was a founding member, was sold to Traffix that May.
- **2007** — Elite SEM established its revenue-sharing and employee equity model, according to Tinuiti’s history.
- **2013** — Elite SEM won Best Agency at the inaugural US Search Awards.
- **2017** — Mountaingate Capital invested in Elite SEM.
- **2019** — Moved from CEO to chairman on January 17; Zach Morrison became CEO. Elite SEM later adopted the Tinuiti name.
- **2020** — New Mountain Capital invested in Tinuiti; Morrison reported employee payments through its equity program.
- **2023** — Named Pennsylvania’s inaugural Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer on January 24.
- **2025** — Named an HBS Executive Fellow for the 2025-2026 academic year, working with Jake Cook.

## Achievements

- Founded the agency that became Tinuiti.
- Elite SEM won Best Agency at the 2013 US Search Awards.
- Built an agency recognized for workplace culture by Entrepreneur, Crain’s and Ad Age.
- Pennsylvania’s official biography reports 50% average compound annual agency growth from inception to 2017.
- Pennsylvania’s official biography reports his 2018 Glassdoor CEO ranking as number 12.
- Appointed the first leader of Pennsylvania’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Discussed Fast Track permitting coordination with PMP Newsroom, saying standards and public comment requirements remain in place amid community opposition to some data center developments.
- **2026-01** — Pennsylvania released OTO’s 2025 results, reporting hands-on support for more than 300 businesses.
- **2025-09** — HBS announced his 2025-2026 Executive Fellowship, collaborating with Jake Cook on the Digital Marketing and AI Workshop.

## Links

- Website: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/oto/about
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-kirshner-087799
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/benkirshner

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ben-kirshner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-20