Category: Past Speakers

Stephen McNair is Director of External Affairs for the City of Mobile with a focus on legislative and governmental affairs and policy initiatives. McNair is the former owner of McNair Historic Preservation, Inc., a national consulting firm with a focus on economic development, government relations, and historic incentives. Prior to establishing the firm in 2015, Stephen served in various government and non-profit roles in Montgomery, New Orleans, and the United Kingdom with a focus on policy and advocacy. McNair received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama, a master’s degree from Tulane University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. McNair serves on the Board of Wilmer Hall, the History Museum of Mobile, and the Mobile Area Boy Scouts of America. McNair is also a member of the Alabama World Affairs Council, the Small Business Commission of Alabama, and a former member of the Southern Rail Commission.

 

Bryan Crabb, Project Development Manager, Tenaska Inc.

With over 20 years of project development and government affairs experience, Bryan is Tenaska’s lead developer on the Longleaf CCS Hub in north Mobile County, which will utilize state-of-the-art technology to safely store carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes to prevent them from entering the atmosphere. Bryan also serves as Tenaska’s point person on the U.S. Department of Energy’s carbon storage efforts. Prior to joining Tenaska, he served as a Director at First Solar, Inc., and as legislative and regulatory staff where he wrote, staffed, and helped to enact significant pieces of legislation and regulation.

Consistently ranked among Forbes’ List of America’s Largest Private Companies, Tenaska is a leading energy company with business operations that span the energy value chain.

Tenaska Marketing Ventures (TMV) and Tenaska Power Services Co. (TPS) are among the largest natural gas and electric power marketing companies in North America. The company has an operating fleet of 7,700 megawatts (MW) of natural gas and renewable generating facilities and throughout its history has developed, managed and/or operated approximately 22,128 MW of natural gas-fueled and renewable generation. Tenaska’s development services portfolio includes more than 28,887 MW of solar, wind and energy storage projects and 10 carbon sequestration projects capable of storing 50 million metric tons of CO₂ per year.

 

Philip Burton is the CEO of Burton Property Group (BPG), a private regional commercial real estate investment, development, and management firm.  A leader in real estate development in the southeast, BPG is focused on value creation through both ground-up projects and value-add opportunities. With established institutional and client relationships, BPG has the capacity to tackle large-scale projects in a broad spectrum of real estate classes.

Since 2012, Burton Property Group has executed nearly $1 billion in real estate projects around the southeast and has established a $1+ billion pipeline of future projects. BPG’s track record over the last decade has cemented the firm’s reputation as a market expert and industry leader.

In 2021, Burton Property Group announced its largest project to date, the South Alabama Logistics Park (SALP). A 1,300 acre master-planned industrial park that can contain as much as 12 million square feet of industrial space, SALP is the largest warehousing and distribution facility between Texas and Georgia.

Burton Property Group is also developing River Walk Plaza in downtown Mobile. River Walk Plaza will be Mobile’s only riverfront mixed-use hospitality, hotel, office, and residential development.

A Mobile native, Philip attended the University of South Alabama. He is a founding board member of the Beverly Burton Scholarship Trust, board member of the University of South Alabama’s Foundation for Research and Commercialization, and board member of YPO Southern Sands Chapter.

He lives in Mobile with his wife, Rachel, and their two sons.

 

U.S. Senator Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.)

In 2023, Senator Katie Boyd Britt was sworn in as Alabama’s first elected female Senator, the
youngest Republican woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and the only current Republican
mom of school-aged kids serving in the Senate. She is proud to champion hardworking families
as she fights to grow opportunity and preserve the American Dream for generations to come.
In the 118th Congress, Senator Britt serves on the Committee on Appropriations, where she is
ranking member of the Homeland Security subcommittee; the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs; and the Committee on Rules and Administration. Her committee portfolio
strongly positions her to fight effectively for Alabama’s people, interests, and values as she
continues to identify and achieve tangible, meaningful solutions to the pressing challenges
facing Alabama and America.
The proud daughter of two small business owners in Enterprise, Alabama, the foundational
values of faith, family, and freedom were instilled in Senator Britt from an early age. Most
recently, Senator Britt worked to grow good-paying jobs and opportunity for all Alabamians as
President and CEO of Alabama’s business council. A practicing attorney by trade, Senator Britt is
a graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama School of Law. She
previously served as the chief of staff to Alabama’s then-senior U.S. Senator and has served on
numerous boards and committees. She now resides in Montgomery with her husband, Wesley,
and their two children.

Bradley Byrne has been named the next president and chief executive
officer of the Mobile Chamber. He has more than 30 years of experience
as an attorney in private practice and more than two decades of public
service. He is widely regarded as a thought and action leader who gets
things done.
Bradley spent four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives serving on
the Armed Services Committee and the Education and Labor Committee,
where he chaired the Workforce Protections Subcommittee. He was
appointed by two Speakers to the prestigious Rules Committee.
In Congress, Bradley was known as a fierce supporter of business and
industry, often leading on important issues where his experience in labor
law, workforce training, and education policy gave him a unique
perspective. Bradley has led initiatives that have increased access to
education and job training, benefiting Alabama’s workforce and
businesses alike.
Prior to serving in Congress, Bradley was an elected member of the Alabama State Board of Education and the
Alabama State Senate and was appointed as the Chancellor of Alabama’s two-year college system. He also chaired
Alabama’s Workforce Planning Council.
As a lawyer, Bradley has represented numerous clients before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). As a
member of Congress, he frequently dealt with these agencies and with the Department of Labor, including its Wage
and Hour Division.
Bradley is married to Rebecca Byrne, who is the president and CEO of the Community Foundation of South Alabama,
and together they have four adult children.

Portia Green’s Bio:

Portia brightens the halls of Prichard Preparatory School every day with her optimism, energy, faith, and contagious smile. Portia’s journey began as a school parent, volunteer, teacher, executive director, and now principal.

Portia’s path to the school’s leading role was a natural progression, as students and colleagues fell in love with her leadership style and genuine affection and compassion for her students and staff. Aside from increasing the school’s enrollment, Portia had led the initiative to get Prichard Prep accredited through the Alabama Independent School Association, an accreditation that must be renewed every five years. Under Portia’s leadership, Prichard Preparatory School was recognized as a 2023-2024 Blue Ribbon School with the Alabama Independent School Association. Portia is a graduate of the  University of Mobile, and Columbia Southern University.

Portia has received numerous awards and recognition including Mobile Bay’s 40 Under 40, and the 2024 Nappies Best Private School Principal Award, and the YASS Prize National Award. Portia serves on the Alabama Independent School Association board, and volunteers with the Girls Scouts of Southern Alabama and her church.

Portia has been married to D’Alo Green for 20 years, and they have three children together.

 

 

 

Chris Stewart has been a broadcaster since 1988, and has been the Alabama’s men’s basketball play-by-play announcer for the Crimson Tide Sports Network since 2002.

In addition to that role, Stewart also serves as the play by play announcer for CTSN’s radio coverage of Crimson Tide Football and as the television host of “The Kalen DeBoer Show” and “The Nate Oats Show”.

Stewart also served as the radio play-by-play announcer for Bama Baseball for 24 seasons.

Prior to taking over the Alabama basketball play-by-play job, the Fairfield native spent eight seasons as the radio announcer for Birmingham-Southern College. He described the action for two NAIA national championships won by the Panthers – the 1995 men’s basketball title, as well as the 2001 baseball championship.

Stewart also has extensive television play-by-play experience throughout his career, including past stints on various broadcast platforms covering high school and college football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and volleyball.

A 1992 graduate of the University of Montevallo, Stewart was honored with the school’s 2009 Alumni Achievement Award, and was a 2021 inductee into the UM Athletics Hall of Fame.

On six occasions he has also been named “Alabama Sportscaster of the Year” by the National Sports Media Association (https://nationalsportsmedia.org/).

Chris has three children, Anne, Parker, & Hudson.

Rebecca Byrne bio

Rebecca Byrne has been serving as the President & CEO for the Community Foundation of South Alabama for ten years, leading the foundation in its mission to bring together and direct philanthropic assets to make southwest Alabama a better place.  The Foundation has grown to over 500 funds and has awarded over $98 million in grants and scholarships throughout the eight counties of southwest Alabama since its inception in downtown Mobile over 45 years ago. To support community dialogue and connect organizations, CFSA offers its community center as a convening place for nonprofits, businesses, and civic groups and hosts community events.

Rebecca has served in leadership roles for numerous civic, cultural and church organizations, including serving as Chair of the Mobile Public Library, Downtown Mobile Alliance, Beckwith Camp and Conference Center, and Baldwin County Trailblazers. A member of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy, a graduate of Leadership Alabama and Leadership Mobile, Rebecca is a member of Mobile Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow.

Rebecca and her husband Bradley enjoy their involvement in the community but most of all their time with their four children and three grandchildren.

 

Colin Harris bio

Colin Harris, a dedicated advocate for quality addiction treatment, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Longleaf Recovery and Wellness. With a deeply personal connection to the challenges faced by individuals and families grappling with addiction, Colin’s journey in recovery has fueled his commitment to making a meaningful impact in the field.

Recognizing the limited options for substance use treatment in Alabama early in his own recovery journey, Colin became acutely aware of the need for accessible and effective programs. Throughout his twenties, he engaged with various addiction programs across the southeast, encountering both exemplary care and subpar treatment. It is from this firsthand experience that Colin channels a profound passion for quality treatment into his role, overseeing the daily operations of Longleaf Recovery & Wellness.

As a native Alabamian, Colin is unwavering in his dedication to developing programs tailored to the unique needs of those in the state who, like him, have struggled with addiction. His vision extends beyond personal triumph to the broader mission of enhancing addiction treatment options and outcomes for individuals and families in Alabama and beyond.

Longleaf Recovery Baldwin opened earlier this summer in Spanish Fort and provides much needed recovery resources surrounding substance use disorder. Learn more about the facility at LongleafCenters.com.

Becki Connally Bio

Becki Connally has dedicated the past 12 years of her career to the Alabama Kidney Foundation, where she has been a driving force in advancing the organization’s mission, making significant contributions along the way.

Becki’s journey at the Alabama Kidney Foundation is a testament to her commitment and hard work. Starting as a part-time employee in the role of Regional Director for Mobile, her drive and dedication quickly elevated her through various roles within the foundation.

Her understanding of the challenges faced by kidney patients, coupled with her ability to forge meaningful relationships, led her to her current position.

As the State Director of Corporate & Community Partnership, Becki oversees the foundation’s corporate outreach and community engagement efforts, building strong partnerships that enhance the foundation’s impact across Alabama.

Her work is driven by a genuine desire to improve the lives of those affected by kidney disease, and she continues to be a vital asset to the organization.

The Alabama Kidney Foundation is the only state-based nonprofit whose mission is to provide financial assistance, education, and support services to kidney patients, their families, and the community.

Each year, the foundation hosts its annual Kidney Walk and Celebration throughout the State. All funds raised stay in Alabama to support the kidney population. This year, the Alabama Kidney Foundation will celebrate its 50th anniversary.