Truist Executive, Alumnus: ‘Believe You Can Make a Difference’
Belk College of Business alumnus Dontá Wilson ’97, chief digital and client experience officer for Charlotte-based Truist Financial Corp., shared his “three Ps” for success and answered students’ questions about leadership and financial services as the featured speaker for the Spring 2020 CEO Speaker Series on Jan. 29.
During his speech, Wilson, a member of the Executive Management Team for Truist, focused on “the building blocks to build your destiny”: purpose, passion and people.
“The key word in my life is believe,” Wilson said. “The fundamental driver to success is belief. Believing in your soul that your life is intentional. You can make a difference.”
Over 400 students and guests attended the event at UNC Charlotte’s Popp Martin Student Union to hear Wilson.
During the question and answer portion of the program, students asked Wilson about Truist’s plans for Charlotte. He outlined four strategies: leadership, tackling a lack of economic mobility, creating thriving communities by focusing on housing and health solutions, and financial literacy.
At Truist, Wilson oversees digital banking, digital sales, digital strategy and innovation, experience design, intelligent automation, client experience, client insights and analytics, marketing, corporate communications, Truist ventures, and the Truist Foundation.
Wilson, who earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from UNC Charlotte, began his career at Truist’s predecessor BB&T as a college student in 1995.
Truist, the sixth largest bank and premier financial services company, formed in December after the merger of BB&T and SunTrust. The company serves approximately 10 million households.
In its fifth year, the CEO Speaker Series, features alumni and friends of the Belk College who are business leaders. The series is presented by the Belk College External Relations Team and the Niblock Student Center.
Through their stories, successes and lessons, speakers of the CEO Speaker Series provide a transformational experience for students. Past speakers have included: Belk College alumni Robert A. Niblock ‘84, former president and CEO at Lowe’s Companies; investor and philanthropist Demond T. Martin ’97; Susan DeVore ‘81, CEO at Premier Inc.; and DeAndrea Salvador ’13, founder and CEO of Renewable Energy Transition Initiative (RETI).
The Belk College will continue its public speaker series with Entrepreneurial Decisions at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 at UNC Charlotte Center City. The panel discussion will feature Rishi Bhatnagar, CEO of Syntelli Solutions Inc., and alumnus Keith Haskett ’05, president and CEO of Rebyc Security. They’ll discuss: “Growth: How Much and How Fast?” Visit the Entrepreneurial Decisions page to register.
About the Belk College of Business
The Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s urban research business school. Accredited by AACSB International, the Belk College of Business offers outstanding business education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, along with executive education. The Belk College has been educating future business leaders for nearly 50 years. With more than 4,600 students, almost 100 full-time faculty and more than 32,000 alumni, the Belk College is one of the Carolinas’ largest business schools.
From left: UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip L. Dubois, Dontá Wilson
and Jennifer Troyer, interim dean of the Belk College of Business