CEO Series

Join The World Affairs Council of Charlotte on March 14, 2024, for the latest event in our CEO Series, featuring Kent Masters, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Albemarle Corporation.   Albemarle’s former Chief Financial Officer and World Affairs Council of Charlotte Board Member, Scott Tozier, will host this engaging discussion. Together, we will learn how Albemarle’s innovative solutions are addressing some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as helping to ensure the safety of our food and water, supporting life-saving medical devices and pharmaceuticals, enabling an always-on world, and advancing the clean energy transition.

We will have the honor of hosting Mr. Jonathan Dawley, the CEO of KION North America Corporation, for an engaging and insightful discussion into the fascinating world of industrial trucks, material handling solutions, and the visionary leadership behind the organization's global success.

With a fleet of 252 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 1.8 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies, with more than 14,5000 employees and 400 offices in 137 countries. Join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte for the WACC CEO Series luncheon with Stuart Sandlin, the President of Hapag-Lloyd, Region North America, on Thursday, April 13, 2023, as he offers his expert insight into global supply issues and what shipping companies are doing to increase efficiency, accelerate consumer confidence, and reduce inflationary pricing of goods shipped. 

Join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 for a presentation with Fred Whitfield, President and Vice Chairman of the NBA Charlotte Hornets as he offers insight into the Hornets’ impact both regionally and globally. Whitfield will also share his perspective on major  challenges facing the professional basketball and sports industry, and the direction of the Hornets' charitable giving and philanthropic efforts in our region.

Michael Marsicano will share his insight into philanthropy, corporate and individual engagement, and giving trends around the world. In addition, he'll offer his perspective on FFTC's role and impact in the Carolinas and beyond.

Please join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte as we host Chuck Harrington, Executive Chairman and former CEO of Parsons (2008-2021) on Thursday, April 28 as part of the Council's WACC CEO Series. He will offer his perspective on the importance of critical cybersecurity policies for governments and companies and the implementation of global cybersecurity measures to combat foreign actors. In addition, he will touch on the role of public-private partnerships to ensure that infrastructure, data, and networks are upgraded to fight these new technological threats from authoritarian governments and non-state entities.

How will business leaders rise to these urgent challenges? Will they reimagine the role they play in addressing social problems by transforming companies and industries to contribute to social progress? How will redesigned workforces innovate and use technology to create a healthier, sustainable post-COVID world?