Gary M. Callen

Gary M. Callen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Daston Corporation. Mr. Callen has successfully managed and grown large business units for Visa, USA as well as Citigroup. In addition, Mr. Callen has created, grown, managed, and successfully exited companies for many years. After leaving the US Army, Mr. Callen worked as an auditor in Atlanta, Ga. and was subsequently appointed Director of Accounting Services for West Virginia University where he was responsible for all cash in (Bursar) and cash out (Accounts Payable). The annual budget exceeded several billion dollars and Mr. Callen was credited for substantially reorganizing the overall cash flow processes by implementing computer systems and installing financial controls that saved West Virginia University and the state millions of dollars.

In 1981, Mr. Callen founded a consulting firm comprised of 7 WVU MBA’s that was hired to reorganize the United Mine Workers of America, founded the American Coal Foundation, advised the National Bank of Washington of DC, Rocky Mountain Fuels of Denver Colorado, the Crow Indian Nation of Hardin Montana, the Navajo Nation of Window Rock, Arizona, and others. In addition, the firm assisted the lumber industry with applying for licenses to import Central American wood to the United States from the Petén Region of Guatemala.

In 1984, in response to the breakup of AT&T, Mr. Callen founded a private sector company to bid on federal contracts to replace legacy telephone equipment and to provide long–term maintenance and service. The company was awarded contracts to replace all telephone systems and equipment in all federal buildings in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The company grew substantially, and Mr. Callen sold his ownership in 1987.

In 1988, Mr. Callen joined VISA, where he managed the public sector credit card business. Mr. Callen grew the VISA business from $500k in annual card spend to over $75 billion in eight years. This was accomplished by developing and implementing a purchase card program (pCard) for the federal government that is used to this day. Also, in 1994 he was responsible for implementing the credit card acceptance program for the US Postal Service. This was a first, as prior to this the Postal Service did not accept credit cards. Also, Mr. Callen established the first fleet card program for the General Services Administration. This program placed a credit card in over 250,000 federal government cars and trucks that is used to purchase fuel and maintenance services. In addition, he implemented these same programs in over 26 state governments.

In 1996, Mr. Callen was appointed Managing Director of the public sector card services for Citigroup where he grew the business from $1 million in annual card spend to over $45 billion in less than 10 years. In addition, in 2004, Mr. Callen was appointed general manager over all commercial card business for Citigroup, which included Diners Club. In 2006, Mr. Callen was appointed President of The Daston Corporation where he added cloud products and services to their existing product line. Since then the company has grown into a premier provider of IT, Financial, and Cloud products and services to governments and commercial entities throughout North America, the UK, and Australia.

As an avocation, Mr. Callen enjoys farming and has developed one of the largest purebred cattle operations in Northern Virginia (Red Hill Farm, LLC). In addition, Mr. Callen and his wife have placed hundreds of acres in protective easements preserving them from development in one of the most populated areas of the country.

Throughout his career Mr. Callen has been politically active lobbying for various causes, serving on community and HOA boards, and raising funds for political candidates. In addition, he served as a member of the national Democrat Finance Council and served as the labor liaison for Presidential candidates John Glenn and Walter Mondale.

Mr. Callen has been a speaker before many groups discussing business issues related to financial transactions and has served on the boards of Rocky Mountain Fuels, The National Bank of Washington, The American Coal Foundation, Fed-Bid, Inc, and other organizations. In addition, Mr. Callen is active in charity and has served on the boards of the YMCA, Junior Achievement, and others. Mr. Callen and Daston supports St. Judes, The Shriners, The Salvation Army, Wounded Warriors, Tunnel 2 Towers, and other charities such as the Ampersand Project that has fed over 78,000 lunches to folks unemployed by the Coronavirus.