Kevin Gilligan is a business leader with extensive executive experience running complex organizations including a $700 million paper business, a global operations team of 1,800 people, and the Asia Pacific region for a specialty chemical company. Kevin most recently served as Chief Executive Officer and board member of Appvion, a specialty paper company based in Appleton. Prior to that, he served as president of Appvion’s paper division.

Before joining Appvion, Kevin enjoyed a 20-year career with H.B. Fuller, a $2 billion global specialty chemical company focused on adhesives. He served as global operations vice president; region vice president for Asia Pacific businesses; general manager of H.B. Fuller Window; North American operations director; e-business director; product line manager; and plant manager. He began his career as a manufacturing engineer for Texas Instruments. Kevin currently serves on the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Board of Directors where he is a member of the executive and governance committees.  He also serves on the Industrial and Operations Engineering Advisory Board at the University of Michigan on the education committee.

“After I left Appvion, my search for affordable, high quality healthcare led me to Common Ground.  I was especially impressed with the quality of its customer service and member-driven focus.  What I found during the search, however, concerned me: healthcare for small businesses and individuals is not widely offered and is expensive. I view the opportunity to serve on the board of CGHC as a way for me to use my extensive executive and board experience to help make CGHC the most effective provider of health insurance in Wisconsin for its cooperative members.”

Kevin earned a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and operations management from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan. He currently resides in Appleton with his wife and their three teenaged children.