Project Description

LM Class year: 2011

Hometown:  Urbanna, VA

Title/Company: Market President, BB&T Bank

Describe what your company does: Banking, Insurance, Investments and Leadership

Describe what you do in your role at the company: My responsibilities include managing the Commercial Loans Department, integrating the various service lines and managing the financial performance for the 16 branches in Montgomery County.

Describe your community involvement: Mr. Ransom serves as Chair of BB&T’s corporate African American Affinity business resource group. In that role, he works with Executive Management to produce strategies that help the bank retain, advance and recruit diverse associates and clients. Mr. Ransom serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Hearts and Homes for Youth. He sits on the Board and serves as Vice President of both the Bethesda Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce and Imagination Stage.  Mr. Ransom also supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by serving on the Leadership Council for the Ryan Kerrigan Golf Classic. He is a 2011 graduate of the Leadership Montgomery program and currently serves on the Board of Directors. Mr. Ransom serves on the Professional Advisory Council for the University of Phoenix School of Business and works with the U.S. Black Chambers Inc. on access to capital issues for minority owned businesses.  Mr. Ransom worked with the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. to put in place a new education platform to spark business growth in areas hardest hit by the great recession.  He is a former Board member of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and Dulles International Airport Rotary club.  Mr. Ransom is a community advocate and has led many volunteer efforts like feeding underserved children and renovating shelters for boys and girls. On a more personal level, Mr. Ransom serves as President of his neighborhood HOA and he’s the Head Coach for his son’s youth football team.

Favorite LM memory:  Opening retreat during the exercise that highlighted the differences amongst the classmates. It was eye opening to see how different our backgrounds and life experiences were. The best part was the effort that each of us made to better understand those differences and build genuine friendships that will last a lifetime.

Favorite way to spend your free time/recharge: My free time is generally consumed with some sporting event with my sons. I never pass up an opportunity to play golf!

Name a leader that inspires you: President Obama is an inspirational leader to me. No matter your politics, it’s truly remarkable that he can face so many obstacles on a daily basis but remain hopeful and inspirational. As a business leader, I can’t imagine having my associates actively go against my every move while I remain positive and hopeful. I may not agree with all of his policies but I do get inspired by his optimistic and hopeful leadership philosophy.