Economic Club of Oklahoma

For more than sixty years, The Economic Club of Oklahoma (ECoO) has been a cornerstone for meaningful dialogue and thought leadership within the business community. The ECoO is an assembly of Oklahoma’s top influencers meeting to discuss important economic and social issues. Members not only benefit from access to local experts, but national speakers purposefully selected for their industry knowledge, relevancy and timeliness.

Club objective: To aid in the creation and expression of an enlightened public opinion of the important economic and social questions of the day.

In the winter of 1955, at the suggestion of Hardin W. Masters, a group of businessmen met to discuss forming a club. The principle purpose was a forum for public discussion of current economic and social subjects.

Twelve notable businessmen were selected to form the organization modeled after the well-respected Chicago and New York clubs, and tentatively adopted a constitution and by-laws. Each member suggested five distinguished persons for the original charter membership and began building the organization now known as the Economic Club of Oklahoma.

The ECoO exceeded expectations in its first full year and grew in membership, stature and importance, just as its founders had anticipated.

January 27, 2025: Dr. Russell Evans, Partner & Chief Economist

Dr. Russell Evans serves as Partner and Chief Economist for Thorberg Collectorate and President of the Collectorate’s Regional Economic Advisers division, providing a suite of chief economist services to the City of Oklahoma City and clients ranging from industry trade groups to tribes and nonprofits.

As chief economist, Dr. Evans is highly regarded as an analyst and communicator. His analysis of national and regional economic performance, economic policy, and financial markets is widely respected and delivered to a broad audience through dozens of speeches annually. As chief economist, he specializes in making complex economic principles accessible to engaged audiences.

Dr. Evans previously served as professor of economics and interim dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University and currently serves as a Visiting Professor of Business Analytics and the University of Central Oklahoma. He is a Trustee of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and chair of the investment committee.

Dr. Evans enjoys spending time with his wife, Amanda, and their five kids as well as soccer, golf, and fly fishing and serves actively in his church and community.

February 24, 2025: Brent Ragsdale, EVP & CFO, Chick-fil-A

Brent Ragsdale

EVP, Chief Financial Officer

Brent Ragsdale is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc. and is a member of the company’s Executive Committee. In his current role, Brent oversees financial services and supply chain.

Brent began his career at Chick-fil-A during high school as a team member and was later afforded the opportunity to become a member of the first WinShape® class at Berry College, a scholarship program founded by S. Truett Cathy.

Upon graduation, he worked for accounting firm Arthur Young (now Ernst and Young) for two years. He then joined Chick-fil-A as a business intern, during which he served as the Operator of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in South Florida. He later moved back to Atlanta, working with the company as a business consultant before transitioning to the financial services department, where he has held multiple leadership positions.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from Mercer University and is both a certified public accountant and a graduate of Harvard Business School’s advanced management program.

Brent serves on the Berry College board of trustees, the board of directors of Fellowship of Christian Athletes Atlanta and serves on the board of Southwest Christian Care.

Brent and his wife, Gigi, have three children.

March 24, 2025: Alan Marcum & Eric Wenger, The Chickasaw Nation

R. Alan Marcum serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Chickasaw Nation Department of Commerce and is the President of Sovereign Native Holdco, a wholly owned subsidiary. The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe with headquarters in Oklahoma. The Nation serves over 80,000 citizens across the United States. The tribe operates over 23 gaming and hospitality facilities, own and operates two racetracks, and investments in a portfolio of investments to support it diversification efforts.

Mr. Marcum is involved in corporate development, information technology, strategic planning and assisting in diversification efforts of the Chickasaw Nation. He was instrumental in the creation of Good Springs Capital located in New York City and more recently Pennington Creek Capital located in Dallas. The tribe has now established its own private equity investment offices and vehicles to deploy capital into competitively advantaged middle-market platform businesses run by entrepreneurial management teams in services, industrial, and consumer sectors. In addition, the Funds will look to companies that can accelerate organic initiatives and grow through add-on mergers and acquisitions.

He attended East Central University on a football scholarship and graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance. A certified public accountant, Mr. Marcum began working for KPMG Peat Marwick, a national accounting firm. He left the accounting firm to join Devon Energy Corporation and assisted in the growth of the company from an enterprise value of $200 million to over $30 billion at its peak. While working with Devon, Mr. Marcum had daily responsibilities for information technology, project management, real estate services, and was part of the project team for the construction of the Devon Energy Tower located in downtown Oklahoma City. In addition, he was part of over 20 mergers or acquisitions over the course of his career.

He has served on numerous boards supporting arts, education and philanthropy including, President of the Civic Center Foundation, which manages the performing arts of the Oklahoma City area. He also serves on the board of the International Bank of Commerce and Dreamscape Entertainment.

Eric Wenger is the Under Secretary of Construction Services for the Chickasaw Nation Department of Commerce. He leads the tribal construction program valued at more than $1.5 billion. Facilities include commercial, health, wellness, educational and cultural projects in support of the mission to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people.

Prior to his career with the Chickasaw Nation, Eric served as the City Engineer and Public Works Director for the City of Oklahoma City, retiring after 28 years of service. During this time, he oversaw many of the city’s major capital improvement projects, construction programs and general obligation bond initiatives. He also served in leadership roles on several boards within the organization.

Eric earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Oklahoma, is a registered professional engineer, is married and has two daughters.

April 28, 2025: Jennifer Hillman, Senior Fellow for Trade and International Political Economy, Council on Foreign Relations

Jennifer A. Hillman is a senior fellow for trade and international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), specializing in U.S. trade policy, the law and politics of the World Trade Organization (WTO), international organizations, and Brexit.

Hillman is a professor of practice at the Georgetown University Law Center, teaching the lead courses in international business and international trade, along with a practicum on international trade and investment law that gave students the opportunity to resolve real-world problems for developing country governments and a wide variety of NGOs. She recently published Getting to Brexit: Legal Aspects of the Process of the UK’s Withdrawal from the EU (IIEL 2018) and Legal Aspects of Brexit: Implications of the United Kingdom’s Decision to Withdraw from the European Union (IIEL 2017). She also co-authored the leading casebook on trade, International Trade Law, 3^rd ed., Wolters Kluwer (2016). Additional writings have covered climate change, carbon taxes, the trade war with China, and reforms to the WTO.

Hillman has had a distinguished career in public service. In 2012, she completed her term as one of seven members serving on the WTO's highest court, its Appellate Body. Hillman also has in-depth experience adjudicating antidumping, countervailing duty, patent and safeguards cases along with conducting numerous studies of the economics of trade policy and trade agreements as a result of her service as a Commissioner at the United States International Trade Commission. Through her work as the General Counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Hillman was involved in all litigation matters in which the United States was a party or third party in disputes before panels of the NAFTA or the WTO and in addressing the intersection between trade policy, trade law, and foreign policy. She negotiated bilateral agreements with forty-five countries while serving as USTR’s Ambassador and Chief Textiles Negotiator and was the legislative director and counsel to U.S. Senator Terry Sanford of North Carolina before joining USTR.

Hillman was a partner in the law firm of Cassidy Levy Kent, a senior transatlantic fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, president of the Trade Policy Forum, and a member of the selection panel for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. She serves on the board of visitors at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and Duke University. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Women in International Trade.

October 28, 2024: Toby Baldwin, Executive Associate A.D., The University of Oklahoma - NIL

Toby Baldwin (“Baldwin”) began his career in NCAA compliance in 1990, while working for the University of Oklahoma as a compliance assistant in the Athletics Department, with an emphasis in rules education. Following his five (5) years with the University, Baldwin served as the Assistant Athletic Director at Oral Roberts University for four (4) years where he supervised all aspects of compliance, student-athlete academics, initial and continuing eligibility and financial aid. He also managed personnel, budgets, travel and scheduling for twelve (12) sports, while completing his law degree.

Baldwin has an extensive educational and legal background. Baldwin’s accomplishments include a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Tulsa (1999) as well as a Master’s degree in Sports Administration from United States Sports Academy (1991). Prior to accepting the Director of Compliance position with the University of Oklahoma, Baldwin practiced law for nine (9) years and was the principal partner in his law firm, Baldwin & Associates, PLLC, specializing in sports law, oil and gas law, and real estate law. He has represented numerous institutions, coaches and student-athletes who were under investigation by the NCAA, including appearances before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and has also assisted with eligibility appeals. Baldwin has been back with OU since 2008 and served as the Director of Compliance until the summer of 2022 when he was appointed Executive Associate Athletic Director for Name, Image, Likeness and Operational Advancement.

November 18, 2024: KaLeigh Long, Founder & CEO, Westwin Elements

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Westwin Elements, Inc. KaLeigh Long has started and operated several small businesses including an advertising firm that regularly employs nearly 300 contractors and serves dozens of clients, a subscription box meat company, and a cattle company. Her expertise extends to mass communications and advertising campaigns. KaLeigh holds an undergraduate degree from the College of the Ozarks, and a professional master’s degree in strategic and international studies from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC.

PEER ENGAGEMENT

This non-competitive environment is a platform for discussing the economic and social health of the state, as well as the nation.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The ECoO provides, on an annual basis, scholarship awards based in the fields of economics and finance to graduating students from nine universities in and around central Oklahoma.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The ECoO is an assembly of Oklahoma’s top influencers meeting to discuss important economic and social issues through a series of local and national speakers.