[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1475970760717{background-image: url(https://www.thelionsden.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/pride-lion-bckgrd-2.jpg?id=2456) !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”The Lion’s Den Panel of Lions” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff” google_fonts=”font_family:Cinzel%3Aregular%2C700%2C900|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1475970721118{margin-top: 50px !important;border-top-width: 20px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”100px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_btn title=”Home” style=”flat” color=”white” size=”lg” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelionsden.us%2F|title:Homepage|”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_btn title=”Subscribe” style=”flat” color=”white” size=”lg” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelionsden.us%2Fsubscribe%2F|title:Subscribe|”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_btn title=”2017″ style=”flat” color=”white” size=”lg” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelionsden.us%2Frecap-2017|title:2017%20recap||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_btn title=”2016″ style=”flat” color=”white” size=”lg” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelionsden.us%2Frecap-2016|title:Recap%202016||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_btn title=”2015″ style=”flat” shape=”square” color=”white” size=”lg” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelionsden.us%2Frecap-2015%2F|||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_btn title=”2014″ style=”flat” shape=”square” color=”white” size=”lg” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelionsden.us%2Frecap-2014%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With 2 Panelists returning (*), we anticipate even more penetrating questions and conversations than last year.  Their collective experience in the corporate world along with their many endeavors in the entrepreneurial arena, international business and development and creative ministry strategies will suit them well as Panelists for this year’s Presenters. The audience should expect to hear a lively exchange as these companies present their business plan along with their plans on how they will achieve a “quadruple bottom line”.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”betsy-holloway”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2458″ img_size=”full” alignment=”right” style=”vc_box_circle_2″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Dr. Betsy Holloway*

Betsy Bugg Holloway serves as Chief Marketing Officer and Professor of Marketing for Samford University. In this role she has responsibility for all marketing and branding initiatives across the operations of Samford University.

Dr. Holloway earned her B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University, an M.B.A. degree from Samford University and her Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Alabama (2003). Prior to her academic career, Dr. Holloway worked and lived in Japan (1992) and was employed from 1993-1999 for a global pharmaceutical firm, Scandipharm Inc. (now Aptalis Pharma) being responsible for the company’s international division and global sales offices over multiple continents.

She has published more than 50 academic articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings and regularly presents her research at academic conferences in the U.S. and abroad. She serves higher education on the national level, including appointment on the editorial review boards of two academic journals. Dr. Holloway is the immediate past president (2010-2012) of Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, which operates on more than 300 college and university campuses today.

Dr. Holloway is engaged in the local community in a variety of capacities serving on the board of directors for the Birmingham Civic Club Foundation, Scholarships for Kids, Omicron Delta Kappa Foundation, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra Endowment and the Estelle Campbell Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA). She serves currently on two corporate boards, the BBVA Compass Birmingham Board of Directors and the McKinney Capital Advisory Board. Due to her extensive travel and experience, she has working knowledge of French, Spanish and Japanese languages.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]
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Chuck Welden*

Chuck holds a B.S. from the University of Alabama in Commerce and Business Administration, Law Degree from George Washington University and Master of Law in Taxation from New York University. After practicing law at the Birmingham law firm of Burr & Forman, Chuck joined WeldenField, a Birmingham based family real estate company.

He has served as a member of the Young Executive Board of Directors of Compass Bank and currently serves on the Board of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and the National Christian Foundation of Alabama. At WeldenField, he focuses on both alternative investments and real estate opportunities which include both acquisition and development opportunities in multifamily, single family, hotel, active adult and land.

Chuck and his wife, Lauren, reside in Birmingham, Alabama and have four children.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]
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Jeri Little

Jeri Little has a background in Wealth Management through starting his own company in 1977. In January of 1993, the Lord led him to move his family to Post-revolution Romania. Using his business experience in retailing and restaurants, he partnered with local Romanian’s to open the first Thrifts stores in Iasi, Romania. This grew to a small chain of stores in three cities. Later Jeri purchased land and with the help of key Romanians, he designed and built the first American owned and operated restaurant and hotel complex in Iasi, called Little Texas. in 2001 Jeri helped to launch Bethel Real Estate, with two key Romanian partners, Ben and Dan Onu. Over the next several years Bethel real estate would purchase land and build single unit housing as small sub-divisions. In 2006, Little Texas and Bethel real estate launched a joint agricultural venture in the neighboring Republic of Moldova. Today this agro-business has over 40 acres of producing apple orchards, as well as a large warehouse and farm equipment. Moldova is the poorest country in Eastern Europe and is still a very agrarian culture. Jeri’s passion is to see Business As Missions projects launched and developed wherever the Lord provides the vision, the people and resources for such ventures.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]
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Luke Roush

Luke is a follower of Jesus, married to Brooke, and has three kids – Sam, Molly, and Annie. He lives on the Left Coast in Silicon Valley, but really misses the Southeast where he grew up. At Sovereign’s Capital, he invests in venture- and growth-stage companies that are led by leaders who are both i) motivated by their faith and ii) unabashed responsible capitalists looking to compete and win in the marketplace. Luke is primarily focused on the fund’s healthcare and consumer product investments. With his partners, he’s made 35 equity investments in the US and SE Asia, where he lived for four years with his family. Luke has 12 years of experience in global commercialization and business development at venture-backed and Fortune 500 companies. He also co-founded 410 Medical (2016 TLD presenting company). Mr. Roush graduated summa cum laude from Duke University, and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business. Luke is passionate about creating asset stewardship options that help investors and entrepreneurs find alignment at the intersection of faith and work. He likes to fish, hunt, and generally spend time outdoors.

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Mats Tunehag (Keynote Luncheon Speaker)

Mats is a speaker, writer and consultant from Sweden who has worked in more than half the countries of the world. For over 20 years he has had a special focus on developing the Business as Mission (BAM) concept as well as national, regional and global strategic alliances of people and BAM initiatives. In 2002 he initiated and co-led the first Global Think Tank on BAM, which produced the Lausanne Paper on BAM as well as the BAM Manifesto (2004). These have been translated into many languages and have become an often-used baseline for leaders in business, church, missions and academia around the world. In 2011 he and Mrs. Jo Plummer developed another much bigger Global Think Tank on Business as Mission. Over 30 national, regional and international working groups were developed. Some were focusing on BAM in and from a region, others on a particular theme or issue related to BAM. This has resulted in the biggest global gathering and sharing of both intellectual and social capital that has ever taken place. 19 ground-breaking reports have been published so far, and more are in the pipeline (www.BAMGlobal.org). These two think tanks have been instrumental in building a global BAM movement, establishing a shared vision, developing common values, and facilitating a global network of BAM practitioners and other key leaders in the overall BAM ecosystem. Tunehag was also the Convener of the Global Consultation on the Role of Wealth Creation for Holistic Transformation of People and Societies. Some tangible outcomes include cutting-edge papers, an educational video and the Wealth Creation Manifesto, available in more than a dozen languages. Tunehag has served for many years as a senior leader on Business as Mission in both the Lausanne Movement and World Evangelical Alliance, and he lectures globally on Business as Mission. His articles and papers on BAM are available in English and 18 other languages on www.MatsTunehag.com. Mats serves part-time with a BAM global investment fund helping SMEs grow in size and holistic impact in the Arab world and Asia, by providing financial, intellectual and human capital (www.transformationalsme.org). He serves on several boards and steering committees of various business associations and marketplace initiatives around the world. Previously, he served on the Global Council of Advocates International (2008–2014), a global network of 30,000 lawyers in over 120 countries. He has lectured for lawyers in Europe, Latin America and North America on Human Rights issues and lessons learned in building strategic and influential alliances shaping public opinion and legislation. Prior to this, Tunehag wrote editorials on international affairs for ten years for a national newspaper in Sweden. Mats is married to Jennifer, who founded and developed the European Freedom Network; today a network of over 220 faith-based NGOs from 40+ countries working to build a bridge to freedom across Europe (www.EuropeanFreedomNetwork.org). Jennifer is also an initiator and board member of the Freedom Business Alliance, a global trade association fighting human trafficking (www.FreedomBusinessAlliance.com)

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Duane Donner

As Managing Partner of Founders Investment Banking, Duane is an accomplished entrepreneur and business advisor leading a team of skilled merger and acquisition advisors and financial analysts across several practice groups.

Duane began his career as a project engineer for Global Industries, an industry-leading oil and gas offshore construction company. His exposure to the tremendous growth and success that Global Industries realized through M&A and its ultimate IPO, encouraged him to pursue entrepreneurism and ultimately a career as an M&A Advisor. In 1995 after completing his MBA, Duane successfully started a branded food manufacturing and distribution company that he expanded through a subsequent strategic acquisition and eventually sold. After selling his company, Duane partnered with a large regional CPA firm to launch a mergers and acquisitions practice group from the ground up. His experiences eventually led him to the opportunity to start Founders in 2003 and focus on M&A advisory by using a comprehensive, relationship-driven approach, defined as the Founders Way.

Duane received his Bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette and his M.B.A. from the University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business. He holds his Series 79 and 63 securities licenses.

Duane also served in the Army Reserves for six years and ended his military service as a 1st Lt. Infantry officer in a Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

Currently, Duane is a member of the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors and the Association for Corporate Growth, and he serves on the boards of several operating companies including: Louisiana Marine Operators, Lakehomes.com, Plantation Patterns LLC, Atchafalaya Measurement, Inc., and Spartan Energy LLC, an oil and gas services company headquartered in Lafayette, La., that he also cofounded.

Duane serves on several community-based civic and ministry boards including The Rotary Club of Birmingham and Highlands College. He also serves on the Young Life Outdoor Advisory Team for Tudor Farms and is actively involved with Bridge to Rwanda, Church of the Highlands and Cornerstone Christian Schools.

A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, he is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys wing shooting and coastal fishing. He resides in Birmingham with his wife, Amy, and their three daughters, Mary Kathryn, Saige and Isabella.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]
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