Earl G. Graves, Jr. (“Butch”) is President and CEO of Black Enterprise and Earl Graves Publishing Inc. - 2006 BBSA Conference Keynote Speaker Listen to Keynote Address
Earl G. Graves, Jr. (“Butch”) is President and CEO of Black Enterprise and Earl Graves Publishing Inc., publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine. In this capacity, he is responsible for the strategic positioning of the corporation and its overall profitability.
Butch joined Black Enterprise in 1988, after earning his M.B.A. from Harvard University. His first position at the company was as vice president of Advertising and Marketing. In 1991, he was promoted to senior vice president of Advertising and Marketing; and in 1995, he was named the Executive VicePresident and Chief Operating Officer. He was appointed to his current position in 1998. Under his guidance, the magazine has grown rapidly including more than 10 consecutive years of advertising page revenue growth; establishing the strong niche marketing position of Black Enterprise among national business publications; and award winning marketing programs boosting circulation growth as well as ad page revenues. Since 1997, the magazine has been a five-time recipient of the FOLIO: Editorial Excellence Award in the category of Business/Finance consumer magazines. Black Enterprise has a guaranteed circulation of over 500,000 with a readership of more than 3.8 million. Since joining the publication, Butch has achieved tremendous success in establishing many advertising and marketing milestones. He has played a leading role in developing the magazine's popular and successful professional networking events and mapped the outline for the establishment of Black Enterprise/Greenwich Street Growth Partners, a $91 million private equity investment fund where he also serves as a managing partner.
Butch received his B.A. degree in Economics from Yale University in 1984, distinguishing himself both academically and in athletics. As a four-year starter and captain of the Yale Basketball team, Butch became the school's all-time leading scorer, and finished his college basketball career as the second leading scorer in Ivy League history. He was drafted in the third round by the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, and enjoyed a brief professional basketball career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Inducted into the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Hall of Achievement in November 2002, he also was awarded the AAF Jack Averett Volunteer Spirit Award. Mr. Graves serves as a Director to AutoZone, Inc. He is a powerful advocate of the use of minority media and advertising agencies and serves as Chairman of the Madison Avenue Initiative while occasionally lending his support to AAIA, an AAF affiliate. You will find him listed in the Network Journal’s 1998 “40 under 40” listing. He serves on the Board of Advisors of Earl G. Graves Ltd., and Channel Thirteen’s (WNET) Board of Trustees. Other corporate board affiliations include Premier Automotive Group consisting of Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Volvo.
Butch, wife Roberta, twin daughters Erika and Kristin, sons Earl III, and Theodore Daly, reside in New York. Aylwin Lewis, President and CEO, Kmart Holding Corporation - 2005 BBSA Conference Keynote Speaker
Aylwin Lewis, 50, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer on October 18, 2004. Mr. Lewis will also join the Kmart Board of Directors. Mr. Lewis joins Kmart from YUM! Brands, Inc., where he was President, Chief Multi-branding and Operating Officer.
Mr. Lewis is a 13-year veteran of YUM! Brands, and has been in the restaurant industry for 26 years, beginning his career as a Restaurant General Manager and rising through the ranks to his most recent position at YUM!, the world's largest restaurant company with over $8 billion in annual revenue. Mr. Lewis has been responsible for executing YUM!'s global operating platform, multi-branding expansion, and Restaurant Information Systems. He was also responsible for the operation of 2,600 multi-branded restaurants and the company's 1,250 Long John Silver's and 900 A&W All-American Food restaurants.
Mr. Lewis's first job after college was as District Manager of Operations for Jack in the Box, a chain owned by Foodmaker Inc., covering a district in Texas. He advanced in a variety of food retail positions, including those with KFC and Pizza Hut, where he was named Chief Operating Officer in 1996.
Following the spin-off of PepsiCo's Restaurant Division as Tricon Global Restaurants Inc., Mr. Lewis served as Chief Operating Officer of Pizza Hut, and ultimately was put in a new position at Tricon as Executive Vice President of Operations and New Business Development. In June of 2002, Tricon Global Restaurants changed its name to YUM! Brands once it acquired the Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food restaurant chains. These two new brands were purchased to place more than one brand under a single roof, called 'multi-branding.' In January 2003, Mr. Lewis was promoted to President, Chief Multi-branding and Operating Officer at YUM!
Reporting to Mr. Lewis at YUM! were the multi-branding operations team, the President of Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food, and the Chief Operating Officers of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, who dually reported to the Presidents of their respective brands. Also reporting to Lewis were the heads of Quality Assurance, Engineering and Restaurant Information Systems.
Mr. Lewis is a member of the Board of Directors of Halliburton Company and The Walt Disney Company.
Mr. Lewis received dual bachelor degrees from the University of Houston in both Business Management and English Literature and an MBA from the University of Houston.
