Match these CEOs with the company they currently lead: 

Marvin Ellison                  M&T Bank

Roz Brewer                      Lowes

Rene Jones                     Walgreens

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Answer: 

Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowes

Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreens

Rene Jones, CEO of M&T Bank

Questions: 

• What are the skills that you need to lead a large company?
• Which of these three companies are you familiar with?
• If you had the chance to interview these CEOs, what is one question that you would ask them? 

Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the names (Fortune): 

Marvin Ellison: Ellison holds the distinction of being the only Black CEO to helm two Fortune 500 companies, both retailers: the first, department store company J.C. Penney, the second, home improvement giant Lowe’s. He grew up in tiny Brownsville, Tenn., in poverty, as one of seven children. His parents struggled, but twice a year, they would shop at J.C. Penney, giving him a taste for retail. His career in the industry started almost by accident. To help pay for books and rent in college, he took a part-time job as a security officer at Target, a gig that turned into 15 years, as he climbed the ranks in theft prevention. In 2002, he moved to Home Depot, where made his way to head of U.S. stores.

Rene Jones: Until the George Floyd killing and resulting nationwide unrest last year, René Jones was not a particularly outspoken CEO on social issues. But the chief of Buffalo-based M&T Bank has become vocal about the need for large employers like his to diversify the pool of job candidates. M&T has moved further in that direction by shifting more of its college recruitment to historically black colleges and universities. Jones, the son of a Black World War II vet and the woman he met in Europe, has been at M&T since 1992 and was named CEO three years ago. As CEO he is making workforce diversity a bigger priority. A CPA by training, Jones is also ramping up efforts to hire more from Buffalo’s local talent pool.

Roz Brewer: The announcement last week that Starbucks chief operating officer Roz Brewer would become CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance in mid-March was met with enthusiasm on Wall Street because a massive company was getting a widely admired executive as its CEO. But there was also widespread elation that a new Black CEO would be joining the ranks of those on the Fortune 500, and a woman no less, an all too rare occurrence.

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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