My name is Edward McDonnell, and I am the founder and leader of Monroe Hill. I also have a team of advisors and investors with a long history of backing motivated entrepreneurs like me.

Prior to founding Monroe Hill, I worked as a mechanical engineer for Honda R&D, where I designed body structure for the Acura MDX and Honda Pilot, both of which received the highest possible safety ratings from the US Government and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (“IIHS”). Subsequently at Aerojet Rocketdyne, I earned technical lead responsibility for a US Army rocket material replacement program, where I was in charge of identifying sources of materials, motivating a geographically dispersed team, and ensuring that a high quality product was delivered to the customer. I have frequently served as a volunteer mentor for FIRST Robotics and have organized outreach events with Big Brothers Big Sisters. I greatly enjoy working with people and helping them grow in their career.

I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at UVA. Prior to graduating from UVA, I was a leader for the Virginia Baja Off-road Race Team where we built an off-road car to compete against over 100 other teams in 4-hour endurance races on motocross-style tracks. I certainly don’t mind getting my hands dirty.

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I have a wonderful wife, Holly, and we live in North Carolina.