A native of Middle Tennessee, Jeff Ballard joined Delta Dental of Tennessee in the role of Chief Financial Officer in 2015. Seven years later, Jeff moved in to his current seat as President and added the CEO role January 1, 2024. In his prior roles at Delta Dental, Ballard led the expansion of the company’s business offerings into vision insurance and has overseen accounting, finance, risk management, sales, and underwriting.
Jeff was recognized as the Joe M. Rodgers Spirit of America Award recipient for 2022 by Middle Tennessee State University’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business. He was also named CFO of the Year in the Nashville Business Journal’s 2021 Health Care Innovation Awards as well as CFO of the Year for Large Private Company in the Nashville Business Journal’s 2020 CFO Awards. He is also a past recipient of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Financial Executive of the Year Award.
Ballard is a native of Middle Tennessee and has worked in the region his entire career. He serves on the boards of directors of the Pinson Hospital Hospitality House, Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation, and the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. He is also a member of the Middle Tennessee State University Accounting Advisory Board, Tennessee Business Leadership Council, Tennessee Business Roundtable and Nashville Rotary.
A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), Jeff earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration - Accounting from Middle Tennessee State University. Before coming to Delta Dental of Tennessee, Mr. Ballard served as CFO at Magazines.com for ten years. From 1998 to 2005, Ballard served as controller for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a publicly traded prison management company with sixty-four facilities located in nineteen states, the District of Columbia and the United Kingdom. Mr. Ballard began his career as an auditor for Arthur Andersen in Nashville for five years.