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.

2024-2025 SPEAKERS
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.
 
 
 
 
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.
 

Jennifer A. Hillman is currently a professor of practice at the Georgetown University Law Center, teaching the lead courses in international business and international trade, while serving as a fellow of Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL). She is also co-director of the Center for Inclusive Trade and Development and served as a panelist for the second dispute under the USMCA (updated NAFTA)–a dispute between the United States and Canada over the application of US safeguard measures to imports of solar panels. She recently published Legal Aspects of Brexit:Implications of the United Kingdom’s Decision to Withdraw from the European Union (IIEL 2017), drawn from a seminar she co-taught in the fall of 2016.She has also written extensively about international trade law and the WTO, including a 2017 IIEL Policy Brief on the WTO consistency of the Ryan-Brady “A Better Way” tax proposal, co-authoring the leading casebook on trade, International Trade Law, 3rd ed., Wolters Kluwer (2016), papers on recent WTO cases on sanitary and phytosanitary measures (World Trade Review) and “Changing Climate for Carbon Taxes” (GMFUS.org).

Hillman has had a distinguished career in public service, both nationally and internationally. She recently completed her term as one of seven members from around the world serving on the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body. Prior to that, she served for nine years as a commissioner at the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), rendering decisions in more than six hundred investigations regarding injury to U.S. industries caused by imports that were dumped or subsidized, along with making numerous decisions in cases involving alleged patent or trademark infringement. Before her appointment to the USITC, Hillman served as general counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), where she had previously been an ambassador and chief textiles negotiator. She also served as legislative director and counsel to U.S. Senator Terry Sanford of North Carolina.

Hillman formerly served as a partner in the law firm of Cassidy Levy Kent, a senior transatlantic fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, as president of the Trade Policy Forum and on the selection panel for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of visitors at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.She is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and Duke University.

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.
 
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.