The 2025 Business and Leadership Conference, hosted by the Joseph Business School, will have more than 50 Globally Recognized Speakers across Main Sessions and Breakout Tracks
The 2nd Annual Illinois Government Contracting Summit will be held prior to the conference.
CHICAGO, Feb. 28, 2025 -- Dr. Bill Winston, a globally renowned pastor, entrepreneur, and business leader, presents the 2025 Business and Leadership Conference (#BLC2025) from Friday, March 21, through Saturday, March 22. The conference will be held at Living Word Christian Center, 7600 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park, Illinois 60130.
The conference theme is Scale Up and reflects the conference's mission to equip entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketplace leaders with innovative strategies and tools to scale their businesses to the next level of creativity, profitability, and impact.
The high-intensity two-day experience is designed to equip entrepreneurs and business professionals to take the lead in business, government, education, media, arts and entertainment, and other areas of influence. Three thousand (3,000) business and faith leaders from around the world are expected to attend in person with many times that number of attendees expected to join online. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.
"At this conference, we will not only be talking about how to start and grow your business but also how to tap your potential to access and execute ideas and strategies the world has yet to see," says Dr. Bill Winston, conference host and the founder of more than 20 companies and organizations.
"There are levels of business success and profitability you can't reach without God. We're equipping leaders with the vision and know-how—the "will and the skill"—to take the lead in creating wealth, transforming the 'waste places' in their communities, and training the next generation of anointed business leaders. We are calling all who are chosen for great business ideas, and such ideas need the right environment to be conceived and brought forth. This year's BLC is the right environment."
BLC is hosted each year by the nationally accredited Joseph Business School (JBS), also founded by Dr. Winston. The school, which has produced 53 millionaires teaches its students how to start businesses and excel in the marketplace using the practical and spiritual principles found in the Bible. JBS is committed to eradicating poverty and closing the wealth gap, particularly in underserved urban communities, through entrepreneurship and business ownership.
"The BLC is a powerful opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect with like-minded individuals who will help them think big, and where they can receive invaluable insights on how to scale their businesses to multi-million dollar and even billion-dollar enterprises," says Dr. Deloris Thomas, president of the Joseph Business School. "This conference is where faith and business intersect – unapologetically!"
This year's power-packed conference will host some of the business world's most compelling global talent across multiple industries, including:
- Keynote Speakers: Dr. Bill Winston, Global Faith Leader & CEO; Dr. Trisha Bailey, Billionaire Businesswoman, Philanthropist & Real Estate Mogul; Charles Payne, Fox Business Network Host and CEO & Principal Analyst, Wall Street Strategies, Inc.; Craig Williams, President, Geographies & Marketplace, NIKE, Inc.; Dia Nichols, President, Illinois Division, Advocate Health
- Venture Capital Showcase: Serial Entrepreneurs – Orville Bailey, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, EqualLevel; Stuart A. Taylor II, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Taylor Group; and Joyce Johnson, Chairman of Pacific Gate Capital Management, LLC (PGC)
- Special Guest Musical Artist: Dr. Adlan Cruz, Pianist, Performer, Director & Musical Producer
- Emcee: Adrienne Bankert, Award-winning Journalist & Author, and weekend anchor, NewsNation
Breakout Session Tracks and Speakers include:
- Finance & Investment: Michelle Renee, Ed Walters, and Joseph Wealth Management team
- Technology & Innovation: Trisha Crudup, Kimberly Johnson, Dr. Olivier Kamanzi, Charles Harrell II, Angela D. Valentine, Diane Gist, and Pierre Dunagan
- Health & Wellness: Advocate Healthcare, Dr. Lawrence Salone, Dr. Ola Kolawole, Sharon Stewart, Melody Winston
- Inventors Showcase: Louis Foreman
- LatinTalks Chicago en Español: Entrepreneur Peter O. Estevez, founder, and Alfonso Gutierrez, Telemundo, official emcee
- Youth Entrepreneurship: Jackie Horbrook and Dwayne Smith
The Joseph Business School Global Alumni Association Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 20. The theme is "Victory: The Making of Champions," with featured speaker former professional basketball player and coach Sylvia Crawley Spann.
The JBS Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award will be presented on Saturday, March 22.
Some pre-conference events prior to the start of BLC include:
- Business Valuation Workshop with Professor Steven Rogers on Thursday, March 6
- The 2nd Annual Government Contracting Summit, hosted by Illinois APEX Accelerator, on Tuesday, March 11, and Wednesday, March 12. This event helps small business owners gain knowledge in securing government contracts.
For more details about these events and other conference information or to register, please visit https://blc.billwinston.org.
About Dr. Bill Winston
Dr. Bill Winston is the founder and senior pastor of Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, Illinois. He is also the founder of the nationally accredited Joseph Business School, which has a global presence on five continents; president of Bill Winston Ministries, a partnership-based global outreach ministry; the Living Word School of Ministry and Missions; and Faith Ministries Alliance (FMA), an organization of more than eight hundred churches and ministries. The ministry also owns and operates two shopping malls, a 71,000-square-foot supermarket, and a sit-down restaurant. He is married to Veronica and is the father of three children and the grandfather of eight.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kayla Tucker Adams; KTA Media Group, 390886@email4pr.com; 214-403-9852
Bonnie Winfrey, Kailen & Kyler Enterprises; 390886@email4pr.com; 815-557-6681
Jerry Thomas, Jerry Thomas Public Relations; 390886@email4pr.com; 312-804-7999
Kim Clay, Director of Communications, Living Word Christian Center and Related Entities; 390886@email4pr.com; 708-697-6180
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