Business Leadership Conference
This year’s annual Business Leadership Conference was held on Oct. 24. View recordings of the conference below
View sessions from 2024 Business Leadership Conference
View 2024 Business Leadership Conference Program
The conference brings in local titans of industry to speak to more than 1000 business students. It helps prepare our students for the realities of the business world in a professional conference environment and provides opportunities to interact with ECU’s Business Advisory Council members, esteemed alumni, employers, and community members. The event complements the intensive leadership preparation that students receive during enrollment in the business program.
The Business Leadership Conference is free for all students in the College of Business and made possible by generous donations from conference sponsors.
New in 2024 will be the addition of a Career Fair and networking reception beginning at 12:45.
Conference Presenters and Affiliated Companies
- Tracey Dail, PBMares
- Ricky Brown Jr., Goodyear
- Nick Crabtree, Crabtree Food Group
- Brady Hillhouse, August Hill
- Stormy Flinchum, Governors Club
- Matt Crisp, Gratus Private Capital, LLC
- Steve Eagle, Sterling Seacrest Partners
- Taylor Dixon, Datasite
- Rusty Wiley, Datasite
- Wanda Gispert, MGM Resorts
- Richard Twilley, Spectrum (Retired)
- Jonathan Cook, Cisco
- AP Pinson, RPS Insurance
- Mark Wells, RPS Insurance
- John Abee, Atlantic Packaging
- Kaitlin Keeley-Brake, Primo Water
- Joe Carter, Circana
- Juston Shook, Lenovo
Career Fair Participants
- AAA
- Builders Mutual
- CAPTRUST
- Carolina County Club
- CISCO
- Concord Hospitality
- Crown Hotel & Travel Mgmt.
- NC Dept. of Revenue
- Durham Bulls
- East Coast Hospitality
- Fastenal
- First Carolina Management
- Foster Group
- Hampton Inn & Suites
- Hartsfield & Nash Agency
- Hilton Garden Inn
- Hyster-Yale Materials Handling
- JB Hunt
- Lenovo
- Live Oak Bank
- Marriott
- Opal Hotels Group
- RPS Insurance
- Sanderling Resort
- Stewart & Company, CPA
- The Umstead Hotel & Spa
- Towne Bank & Insurance
- Waffle House
- Winwood Hospitality Group
- WITN Sales
2024 Keynote Speaker: Matt Crisp
Originally from Washington, Matt received his undergraduate degree from East Carolina University in Finance in ‘93 and his MBA in ‘96. Upon graduation, he moved to Atlanta, GA and began working for First Data Investor Services until 1998. He then spent three years as a Research Analyst at Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting, where he conducted manager research for large institutional clients.
In 2000, he Co-Founded an Atlanta-based Financial Technology company called eVestment, a Data & Analytics organization that services the Institutional Investment industry and served as Chief Operating Officer. The company grew from 4 original partners to 400+ employees globally with offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Sydney Australia, Dubai UAE & Tokyo Japan and regional sales offices throughout the United States & Canada. In October 2017, eVestment was acquired by publicly traded NASDAQ and remains a key component of the NASDAQ portfolio of companies to date.
As COO, Matt helped lead eVestment’s global expansion into the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong from 2009-11 and was part of the Executive Team responsible for the strategic direction of the company. He also led the post-acquisition integration of nine companies, acquired by eVestment between 2010-2015, into a common operating environment and culture.
eVestment made the Inc. 5000’s list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for 11 consecutive years from 2007-2017, qualifying it for the Inc. 5000 Hall of Fame. More importantly, eVestment was also selected by the Atlanta Business Chronicle & Atlanta Journal Constitution over multiple years as a Best Place to Work and also by Forbes magazine as a Top Technology Workplace nationally alongside Google and Amazon.
After the sale of eVestment, he now spends his time as a private investor in pre- & post-revenue companies helping fellow entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls of start-ups and growing successful businesses. Through two private investment funds, he has invested nearly $10 million in companies currently valued at approximately $4.7 billion across multiple industries & sectors.
In addition, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Ron Clark Academy (“RCA”), a globally recognized education non-profit organization founded by fellow ECU alum and childhood friend, Ron Clark. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the East Carolina University Foundation and having served as Chair of the Audit Committee and currently on Budget & Finance, as well as the Investment Committee.
View sessions from 2023 Business Leadership Conference.
Past Keynote Speakers
- 2015 – Ruffin McNeil
ECU Head Football Coach - 2016 – Lynn Good
Chairman, President & CEO Duke Energy - 2017 – Robert D. Cabana
Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, Ret.; Director, Kennedy Space Center - 2018 – Janice Bryant Howroyd
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Act•1Group - 2019 – Brian Hamilton Founder, Inmates to Entrepreneurs
- 2020 – Conference Cancelled due to COVID-19
- 2021 – Ken Bouyer
EY Americas Inclusiveness Recruiting Leader - 2022 – John May
Founding and Managing Partner, CORE Industrial Partners - 2023 – Raj Kannan
CEO at I-Mab