Griff Lynch

Executive Director

Georgia Ports Authority

As the Executive Director of the Georgia Ports Authority, Griff has the great privilege of leading 1,800 employees in Savannah, Brunswick, Bainbridge and Chatsworth, Georgia.

During his 34-year career in the industry, he has been blessed to have had many great team members and mentors who have inspired and guided him throughout his career.

After graduating Maritime College, Griff began his career with TFL. He then joined the Sea-land Elizabeth Marine Department in 1992. He takes great pride in those first years at Berth-88, working with phenomenal people in management and the ILA, where he learned the importance of teamwork and partnership, which would shape the rest of his career.

Maersk Line acquired Sea-Land in late 1999 and Griff stayed on, moving his family to Virginia as Port Manager for APM Terminals. During his nine years in Virginia, Griff had the awesome responsibility of leading an incredible project team which designed and developed the APM Terminals Virginia facility. He ultimately became the Director of the new terminal before being named VP of Sales for APM Terminals North America.

After 16 years with the Sea-Land/APM organization, Griff came back to the Port of NY/NJ as VP of Operations for Global Container Terminals. During his tenure at GCT, Griff worked at New York Container Terminal and built the project team for the GCT Bayonne terminal expansion.

The highlight of his career came in 2011, when Griff joined the Georgia Ports Authority as Chief Operating Officer. He held this position for five years before being named Executive Director in 2016. During his tenure, the world-class GPA team has experienced record cargo volumes and invested $2.7 billion in capital projects, leading them to be recognized as one the most successful ports in the country.

In 2021, Griff was recognized “Alumnus of the Year” by his alma mater, the State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY). Then, in 2022 he was named Georgia Trend Magazine’s “Georgian of the Year.”

Griff is currently a board member of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and the National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE).

He holds a Bachelor of Science from SUNY Maritime and has undertaken executive development courses at Cranfield University in England, and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland. Griff and his wife Denise are proud graduates of the Leadership Georgia class of 2018 –Best Class Ever!

(This profile was submitted by the recipient.)