The goal of the event was to reconnect young black alumni back to CBC by inviting them to share their stories of success with today’s CBC students. This event is part of CBC’s overall Alumni Engagement efforts.

 

 

Louis Montgomery Jr. '77 leads the firm’s Human Resources and Diversity Officers, Professional Search Practice. He helps organization add diversity to their C-Suites. To date 75% of his placements are women and 50% are people of color.

He has successfully placed leaders in a variety of sectors including; government contracting, industrial, consumer centric, trade associations, healthcare, and in higher education. He leads a team of eight individuals who conduct searches across all sectors from HR Manager to HR VP level.

 

Mr. Montgomery specializes in the placement of Human Resources leaders, their teams and diversity officers.

Before moving into search he held a number of senior human resources roles including SVP, Human Resources – Serco North America, Head of Talent Acquisition – AES and Chief Diversity Officer, Kraft Foods.

 

He is the author of A Years Worth of Inspiration, and several thought leadership articles including HR Goes to School, Starbucks Battle Against Bias and Golden Talent and “Next Generation Diversity Officers” a research study on the leadership competencies of Diversity Officers. He has been quoted in numerous publications including recently in Black Enterprise and American Banker.

Mr. Montgomery graduated from Cornell University where he majored in Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).  

 

Also while at Cornell he was a Varsity letter winner in Football and Track. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.  He is also a member of the Christian Brothers College High School Hall of Fame and of the Cornell ILR Alumni Association Board of Directors.  He is the Chairman of the Senior Human Resources Executive Forum, a senior HR group based in the Washington DC region.  He is an avid golfer, and he coaches youth baseball.

 

 

 

 

Orlando, FL

Weldon Ledbetter '79 is a results-oriented Government Banking, Public Relations, Business Development, Sales  and Sports Management Executive with considerable experience in Commercial Lending, Business Finance, Branch Retail (In-Store and Traditional Sales Leadership), Operations, Management, Training Mortgage Default Servicing and Personnel Development.

 

He is a top performer that consistently achieves record-high sales, top operations performance management and world class customer satisfaction rankings. Weldon has a proven track record of success in process improvement, credit, business relations, revenue generation, valuation analysis, strategic business planning / execution, budget control, client relationship building, and project management. Resourceful problem solver with proven ability to conceptualize and implement effective business and financial solutions. He is a skillful communicator with strong team building skills. He excels in his ability to coordinate cross-functional groups to accomplish objectives and meet critical deadlines in a high growth and diverse environments.

 

Weldon possesses strong communication, interpersonal, organizational, influencing, and writing skills. He possesses core values of Integrity, Compassion, Balance, Excellence, Stewardship, and Teamwork. Weldon is a former collegiate running back at the University of Oklahoma. He also played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers among other teams. Weldon lives in Orlando, FL.

 

 

St. Louis, MO

Keith Hibbler '95 is currently working at World Wide Technology in St. Louis as a Senior Inside Sales Representative supporting the US government. WWT is currently listed #1 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest minority-owned companies. WWT is also ranked in FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.

 

Keith has spent 16 years at WWT and graduated from CBC in 1995. Keith completed his bachelor’s degree in Communications and Business Administration from Eastern Illinois University. Keith was a member of the CBC basketball team where he earned all-conference and all-district honors.

 

In past years, he has volunteered as a coach for the CBC Junior Cadets basketball program, along with being a participating member of the CBC Black Alumni Society. Keith currently resides in St. Louis.

 

 

 

Chicago, IL

 

Will Busch '02 brings over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and leading strategic human capital initiatives that accelerate profitable growth.

 

Prior to joining FMG Leading, Will held a variety of executive roles at Korn Ferry and Gallup, where he developed a unique approach to business transformation that incorporated strategy execution, behavioral economics, change management, and customer analytics to create and capture value. Specializing in growth-focused firms and investors, Will’s expertise leverages human capital and organizational growth levers to drive revenue generation and enhance operational efficiency.

 

Will earned his Master of Business Administration from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his Bachelor of Business Administration from Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

 

 

St. Louis, MO

After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA with Honors (English), Taj Jackson'03 started his  career at the American Council on Education (ACE), a leading higher education public policy organization located in  Washington, DC. At ACE, he worked with college and university presidents, provosts and other academic leaders to design programs that supported ACE’s membership.

 

During his seven years in Washington, DC he also received his Master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University’s Schar School of Public Policy. He also studied European Economic Policy at Oxford University’s Mansfield campus during one summer in graduate school. Deciding he wanted to shift to healthcare, Mr. Jackson got an opportunity to work in Human Resources for a top Federally Qualified Health Center in his hometown of St. Louis.

 

It was at the health center where he expanded his business acumen implementing new HR Systems and leading projects, but he also learned how the healthcare industry operates, while working in an underserved community. After serving in a management capacity in health center, Mr. Jackson has since moved on to work for Centene Corporation as a Senior HR Compliance Analyst. Centene is a top managed-care organization in the United States and currently ranks #43 in Fortune 500’s top companies in the US.

 

Since graduating college, Mr. Jackson has been involved with a number of community organizations such as Better Family Life, CBC Black Alumni Society, The World Bird Sanctuary, The Urban League, Morehouse Alumni Association, and youth basketball coaching. He was also selected to serve on the Board of Directors for Ready Readers, an early childhood education advocacy organization, where he has served on the Board for the last 5 years and is currently the Chair of the Governance Committee. Mr. Jackson tries to use his experiences from Washington, DC and working in community health to teach the next generation of leaders the importance of education and resilience. Service to the community is an essential component of Mr. Jackson’s non-work life and personal ethos.

 

Taj Jackson was a 2003 Honors graduate at CBC High School, where he was also an All-Conference basketball player, member of the Student Council, National Honors Society and OBCA during his time at CBC. He is always a Cadet first. Mr. Jackson enjoys golf, lifting weights and his many volunteer activities.

 

 

 

St. Louis, MO

 

Brad Edwards '04 is an IT account executive with over a decade of supporting existing clients, formulating sales strategies, and communicating product value to clients. As a leader in successful management and relationship building, Brad spec

ializes in fostering and maintaining relationships within the Missouri school districts to help strengthen academic technology capabilities for youth.  

 

An innovative and strong believer in community service, Brad has also established his own non-profit agency, The Talented Tenth.  

 

With a strong passion for community uplift-meant and working for the community, this agency that focuses on Changing Communities through Connections. The Talented Tenth has raised and distributed over $20,000 in relief during the COVID 19 pandemic as well as facilitating many community activities.  As a community activist, Brad understands the need of community involvement and building success within the community.

 

As the community organizer of Dear Fathers, a media-based organization focused on changing the narrative of the black father, Brad has developed and led an initiative that has brought over 400 men to mental health professionals since May of 2020.

 

Brad holds a BS in Business Administration from University of Missouri St. Louis.