Digital DAVOS Speaker/Moderator, Global Economist and Investment Advisor with a specialty in Urban Development

Influencer, Book author, and Motivational Speaker

Dr. E. Lance McCarthy aka Dr. Lance is an internationally recognized Faith Based Economist and Investment Advisor, with a specialty in urban development. He kicked off 2023 as the Panel Speaker and Moderator for the Digital.DAVOS conference to discuss global economic empowerment to those of African descent.

Dr. Lance has assisted non-profit organizations, churches, corporations, professional athletes and cities with economic development and financing plans. His public policy research, Fortune 100 experience, entrepreneurial endeavors and non-profit initiatives give him insight into our nation’s most pressing problems. Dr. Lance has been appointed National Economic Advisor for Faith Driven Consumer, the organization which represents more than 41 million Faith Driven Consumers in the United States, who collectively spend $2 trillion annually. Dr. Lance will be working with corporations to assist them in working with the Faith Driven Consumer. He also represents faith-based funding sources that have provided $1 billion dollars in investments for churches nationwide. 

In 2014, Dr. Lance co-founded Ferguson 1000 Jobs, an initiative that is developing a platform of coordinated efforts to create 1000 jobs in Ferguson, Missouri, and surrounding municipalities as a solution so that area’s widespread racial unrest. The initiative includes corporate job development, minority business development, faith-based strategies and youth technology training. Ferguson 1000 Jobs has in one year partnered with more than 100 companies to offer local hiring events and was invited to the White House to discuss Ferguson 1000, STEM projects and host a lecture in conjunction with the White House Technology Diversity Advisor, leading tech guru billionaires and the largest consulting firm in the world, Accenture. Ferguson 1000 has evolved to Global 1000 with a special emphasis on Black Tech.

Dr. Lance partnered with NFL Great Ray Lewis, Co-Founder of Priceline Jeff Hoffman, Real Estate Guru Richmond McCoy, Cyber Security Specialist Phyllis Newhouse and Entertainment Mogul Alki David. Global 1000 has expanded to Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. They have over 200 corporate partners, 100 Black Tech firms and 5,000 diverse candidates in their talent pool. Most recently Dr. Lance has launched Reveal Global 1000 Consulting an 8a Innovation Tech firm with emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, Drone Development, Cyber Warfare and Defense Technology Innovation.

Dr. Lance delivered his TED TALK entitled, “African Americans and Technology-Empowerment or Exclusion.” The premise shared how leveraging the hidden talent of African Americans in the technology industry can help the economy.

He was appointed to National Director of Corporate Relations for the National Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a lay organization of the Catholic Church. The Society, founded in Paris in 1833 and in the United States in 1844, is one of the largest charities in the world. With one million direct workers, The Society is located in more than 140 countries on five continents and delivers nearly $1 billion dollars in direct and in-kind services to 15 million people annually.

Dr. Lance’s theme for urban enlightenment and prosperity—Wall Street to Main Street—is profiled in his best-selling book, "Wall Street to the Hood: Economic Solutions for Ferguson and for Urban America." The book evaluates sectors of the American economy based on past successes and gives concrete solutions to changing the philosophical economic mindset of African Americans. In it, he tells of his appointment as Land Clearance Director, and how he led the effort to create an urban technology park with a training center. In addition, Dr. Lance profiles testimonials of his faith-based clients, for whom he leveraged millions of dollars for urban development projects.

Beyond this book project, Dr. Lance has extensive economic and community development experience in a wide variety of sectors. As President and CEO of the Orlando Urban League, he tripled the fiscal budget in 18 months, created a for-profit division, and planned the first National Urban League Conference in Orlando’s history which hosted President Obama.

In 2012, Dr. Lance created Venture Draft, a conference for professional athletes, technology companies and venture capital firms at St. Louis University. Daymond John of Shark Tank was the host for this historic event in which more than 200 technology firms, professional athletes and venture capital firms from Silicon Valley, New York, and Las Vegas attended. Beyond this, Dr. Lance is an advisor for the top Silicon Valley Equity Fund.

Significantly, it was Dr. Lance’s ground-breaking essay “A Proposal to Get F.I.T. Economic Empowerment through the African American Church” (a State of Black America Public Policy Institute Report) that prompted him to move into investment banking from traditional research. His research in defense economics, which began in defense conversion, later became instrumental in developing an industrial policy for the St. Louis Economic Conversion Project and the Catholic Church to establish a more peaceful economy. Subsequently, Dr. Lance was asked to testify before a congressional committee on financing technology and was named to the White House Task Force on Economic Defense Conversion under President Clinton.

In addition, Dr. Lance has performed extensive research on private financing via pension funds and venture capital and has appeared on numerous talk and radio shows—due in large part to his Project 21 commentaries focusing on capital formation in urban communities. His research findings and lectures have been associated with: Harvard University, Howard University, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Southern California, St. Louis University, University of Central Florida, Washington University of St. Louis, University of North Dakota, Rutgers University, University of Texas, Clark -Atlanta University, St. Louis Economic Conversion Think Tank, Amherst International Economics Institute and Cornell University’s Urban Planning Journal. 

Dr. Lance has numerous published articles in newspapers across the country, including being featured in USA Today. And in his role as the economist for the California African American Business Summit, Dr. Lance was responsible for developing the $100 Million Procurement Diversity Project as a roadmap for minority businesses and corporate America.

In the confluence in music and fundraising, Dr. Lance served as Investment Advisor for the Western Region of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, where he procured funding for the Rhino Records CD project, “The Man, The Movement and The Music.” This effort successfully raised funds for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.

Beyond these leadership roles, Dr. Lance serves as an Adjunct Professor of Economics, Faith-Based Financing, and Economic Consultant to All Nations University in Canada and Ghana, West Africa. He also has clients in Australia, Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar and other countries. Dr. Lance recently launched the Faith-Based Economic Empowerment Institute to assist pastors and faith-based leaders in their economic and business training.

As a sports economist, Dr. Lance was Vice President of Economic Development for the Sports Agents Association. In this role, he was responsible for developing economic development plans for the association—with more than 3,000 members representing $3 billion in annual revenues. Dr. Lance was appointed USA Sports Economist for Qatar.

Dr. Lance also assisted by providing research and coordinating political and business meetings for the Moscow City Council Defense Conversion Consultation as a means of sharing defense conversion technologies to assist both the United States and Moscow.



Dr. Lance appeared in the 2013 documentary, “Saving St. Louis.” This documentary interviews gang members, CEOs, the superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools, and community stakeholders about how to rebuild a distressed city. Dr. Lance discusses the economics of a city and how education has a direct effect. The documentary aired on PBS.

Honors

• Capital Formation Award from the Institute for Strategic Thinking and Technology Development at UCLA.

• Listed in the International Who’s Who of Intellectuals

• Listed in “2000 Most Notable Men in America”

• Named to the Inaugural class of Leadership U.S.A.

• Outstanding Leader Award, National Association of Black Architects

• White House Lecture

• TED Talk Lecture

• Harvard Lecture

• Current and Past Board Memberships & Affiliations

• Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors

• Orlando Performing Arts Alliance

• Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission

• Leadership Orlando Class

• University of Central Florida Diversity Alliance Board.

• Leadership St. Louis

• Leadership Orlando

• Leadership USA

• Mayor’s Advisory Board on Crime, Orlando

• Urban Theater Board, Los Angeles

• Workforce Advisory Board, Orlando

• President Clinton’s Economic Conversion Task Force

• Congressional Committee on Financing Technology

• Urban Technologies, Alberta, Canada

• INROADS Alumni

• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

• United Way Diversity Cabinet, St. Louis

• Governing Council of the National Forum on Science and Technology

• The Board of Directors of United Nations, Affiliate Chapter St. Louis

• The Board of Directors Federation of Industrial Retention and Renewal

• National Congress of Community Economic Development Task Force for Religious Institutions

• Board of Directors Urban Technologies, Alberta, Canada