Jeff Keith

Co-Founder and President

Jeff is the inspiration for the Connecticut Challenge as well as its Co-Founder and Chairman. Jeff is 35 year cancer survivor; he was diagnosed at age 12 with an osteogentic sarcoma.  Two weeks after his diagnosis, Jeff's right leg was amputated above the knee, and he underwent 18 months of chemotherapy. Jeff would go on to be a high school ski team captain and a NCAA lacrosse team goalie at Boston College. However, his athletic and philanthropic career really took off after college, when he became the first amputee to run across the United States.  He raised over $1 million for the American Cancer Society, and covered 3,300 miles in just nine months.  After his run, Jeff didn't stop moving, he re-focused his efforts towards long-distance swimming and cycling.  In addition to the run, Jeff is responsible for founding three non-profit organizations: The Connecticut Challenge, Swim Across America, Swim Across the Sound. Over the last 20 years, these organizations have raised over $50 million with over 1,000 volunteers, 40,000 donors and over 3,000 active participants, and he has started two more organizations dedicated to supporting cancer survivors, Swim Across America and the Connecticut Challenge. 

View the Timeline of Jeff's Survivorship Journey

Soon after Jeff finished his run across America, he began a career in investment banking.  He started this phase of his career by first by completing his MBA at the University of Southern California., and since that point, he has worked in the investment banking industry for 18 years as a high yield bond salesman at Salomon Brothers, Merrill Lynch and UBS.

As a cancer survivor, he has focused on leading initiatives through development and fundraising in the cancer arena that range from discovery research to state-of-the-art cancer survivor programs at institutions like the Yale Cancer Center, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is an advisory board member of the Yale Cancer Center and currently involved with the $450mm capital campaign for the new “green” Smilow Cancer Center building scheduled for completion in 2009. In addition, he is a board member of Swim Across America and advisor to St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT which is currently building a $150 million Cancer Center.

Jeff lives in Fairfield, CT with his wife Karin and their three children.  You can always find him riding the roads of Fairfield County, swimming laps in the local pools, or skiing the slopes of nearby Vermont.

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