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First day of 2024 CEO Summit closes with Hobby Lobby CEO, former NASA administrator at Future CEO Dinner

Liberty University’s Future CEO Dinner: How Champions are Made, held on Monday night, provided an exciting finish to the first day of the 2024 CEO Summit, with students hearing from several high-ranking business and government leaders.

Chris Carneal, CEO of Booster Enterprises (Photo by Jessie Jordan)

The summit, taking place on campus through Wednesday, provides opportunities for CEOs, C-Suite executives and national leaders to network with friends in faith and share insights, challenges, and global opportunities with fellow Christian leaders. Guest speakers will focus on a variety of topics, such as national defense and emerging threats, corporate America, law and policy, healthcare, finance, technology and artificial intelligence, workforce challenges, and entertainment. The summit also includes a Dialogue with the World featuring ambassadors, diplomats, and trade representatives from across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

At Monday’s dinner, students were seated with summit participants and had the unique opportunity to converse with them and gain insights into the realms of leadership and entrepreneurship to better understand how to one day become influential leaders themselves. Keynote speakers for the evening were Chris Carneal, CEO of Booster Enterprises, a leading school fundraising company; Steve Green, CEO of Hobby Lobby and President of the Museum of the Bible; and Jim Bridenstine, 13th NASA Administrator.

Carneal spoke on the importance of combining one’s faith and mission with their occupation. He said his company’s mission is to “cultivate virtuous leaders who change the world,” arguing that doing so requires maintaining a strong organizational culture based on the virtues of gratitude, wisdom, care, courage, grit, and celebration. A company is successful, he said, when employees focus more on the reason behind their work instead of the work itself.

Hobby Lobby CEO and President of Museum of the Bible Steve Green (Photo by Jessie Jordan)

Green shared how his family overcame adversity and trials to build Hobby Lobby. This included suing the United States government in response to legislation that contradicted their family’s beliefs. He also highlighted how the Museum of the Bible works continuously to share the Gospel with everyone who walks through its doors.

Green concluded by noting the entire Bible relies on the true narrative of Christ dying on the cross for the sins of the world. Just as God provided for the Israelites through miracles in the desert, He continues to provide for modern-day believers through his Word.

“It is so easy to chide those Israelites because every day God showed up and they still walked away from Him,” he said. “I have to think they would trade what they had for what God has given us in His Word. It is no less miraculous — a book that tells a story from all these writers. You put it together and it points to Christ.”

In the last keynote address of the evening, former U.S. Representative and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine gave a brief history of the United States’ space exploration, demonstrating the incredible risk that astronauts took to orbit and later land on the moon. He also shared how the members of Apollo 8 read from Genesis 1 while addressing the world on Christmas Eve in 1968, and Buzz Aldrin, member of Apollo 11, took communion on the surface of the moon.

Former NASA Administrator and U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine (Photo by Jessie Jordan)

While the majesty of the cosmos may cause some to doubt the significance of mankind, Bridenstine argued that it should instead result in the opposite conclusion.

“Let me tell you that we are not insignificant,” he said. “The heavens declare His glory. They are the evidence there is a God so none of us are with an excuse (as said in) Romans 1. I just want to take a moment for the young people. Not everyone in this room is a Christian, and if you’re not, I think it’s critically important that you know there is a God who loves you specifically. The heavens are not there to make you feel small, but to make Him look awesome. And He is. It is so awesome that He cares about everyone here very personally.”

Kate Byrd, a second year law student, said the Future CEO Dinner encouraged her to keep her faith at the forefront of her life.

“Learning that there are a ton of Christian successful businessmen and women who have kept those morals and principles is very encouraging as a young individual,” she said. “It empowers you to see these people who are immoveable in their faith. Nowadays, people are fluid with their beliefs and easily swayed. To see all these people in one room who are so strong and so motivated to do something and to change makes you want to do better too.”

The Future CEO Dinner (Photo by Jessie Jordan)

Monday’s events featured several other high-profile guests and panel discussions.

The morning began with a Women’s Leadership Forum, held in the Hancock Welcome Center and featuring various businesswomen and CEOs.

Michele Bachmann, dean of Robertson School of Government at Regent University and former U.S. representative from Minnesota, gave the keynote address. She discussed the ways God called her to obedience in her life, exhorting the women present to follow God’s calling as well.

“When we decide to walk in obedience with the Word of God, then that is when we see miracles take place,” she said.

A panel including CEO of World Help Noel Yeatts, Mayor of Lynchburg Stephanie Reed, Microsoft executive T’Neil Walea, Solmaz Chadwell (wife of Liberty Head Football Coach Jamey Chadwell), and Shari Falwell (wife of Liberty Chancellor Jonathan Falwell). The panelists discussed their love for Liberty, their rise to their respective business positions, and what it looks like to be wives, mothers, and women in business striving to follow the will of God.

Liberty Law held a panel discussion, Navigating the Legal Landscape, in the Supreme Courtroom. (Photo provided)

The event was sponsored by Liberty’s Women in Business club and included a luncheon for women in the Lynchburg area in business.

Earlier in the day, Liberty School of Law held a panel discussion, Navigating the Legal Landscape, in the Supreme Courtroom, focusing on the political and legal sides of the rule of law and lawfare. Panelists included Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Tom Parker, former U.S. Representative and David Horowitz Freedom Center Senior Fellow Louie Gohmert, Of Counsel Matt Krause (’07) of the First Liberty Institute, and McGuireWoods, LLP Partner Abram Pafford.

The panelists dived into the dangers and reach of law enforcement and the Department of Justice. They also talked about the responsibility and benefits of being a Christian attorney, warning the students of the bias that society can have against Christian lawyers.

“You as future attorneys have to remember that you have a commitment to represent a client truthfully and forcefully, no matter what the cost,” Parker said to the law students. “Yet, at the same time, you have to be very aware that any slip of the tongue will be used against you by this left-wing, huge network that’s out there trying to find … some mistake that an attorney has made or just a little emphasis wrong in an argument or something written to use against them.”

Former U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (Photo by Kendall Tidwell)

A Dialogue with the World session on Monday afternoon featured several panel discussions with leaders representing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and offered insight on global politics, trade and development trends, and national and economic security goals. Topics included the opportunities available for U.S. companies to invest in world markets, the importance of supporting nations that will later be able to support themselves, the necessity of securing international peace as a prerequisite for open trade, and more.

The 2024 CEO Summit continues Tuesday with a full day of panels and discussions ranging from artificial intelligence to real estate finance, national security, global competition and foreign policy with China, criminal justice, the financial markets, and the electricity crisis. Tuesday’s keynote dinner will feature Toyota North America Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jack Hollis and Samaritan’s Purse COO Edward Graham. The evening will conclude with the One Hope, One Voice: A Global Mosaic of Praise concert featuring Michael W. Smith. On Wednesday, participants will hear from speakers on the digital workforce, value-based healthcare, missions-driven business (in conjunction with Liberty’s Global Focus Week), and the economic outlook. A panel on Africa will feature His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, The Olu of Warri, CFR, and Her Majesty: Olori Atuwatse III, Queen Consort of Warri Kingdom. Former World Bank President David Malpass will speak at Liberty’s Convocation and former CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder,  head of Enthusiast Brand Management for Ford Motor Company Dave Rivers, and former U.S. Congresswomen Tulsi Gabbard will deliver the closing keynote addresses at dinner.

Dialogue with the World Panel (left to right: moderator Max Primorac, Dominican attorney and sports conglomerate Juliana Ramia Capellan, Rwandan Deputy Ambassador Arthur Asiimwe, Sebastian Ortiz Montaner from the Embassy of Paraguay, Vice Chairman of TD Cowen Frank Dunlevy, Chairman for Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture- Europe Doug Keesling)
The Women in Business Club hosted the Women’s Leadership Forum. (Photo by Kendall Tidwell)
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