Emerging Business Leaders Hero

Preparing tomorrow’s leaders – today

The Emerging Business Leaders (EBL) program at Gies College of Business is a summer program designed for high-achieving Black, African-American, Hispanic, Latinx/a/o, and Native American students entering their senior year of high school.

Program Dates: June 23 - 28, 2024

Apply Now ›

Program Activities

  • Interactive discussions featuring Gies Business staff, students, and alumni around career possibilities in business and the Gies student experience 
  • Work in groups to solve business problems
  • Learn about college admissions
  • Have fun and make new friends

Application Criteria

The EBL Program is open to underrepresented students entering their senior year of high school. You must have:

  • 3.2/4.0 GPA or higher
  • Demonstrated leadership through extracurricular, volunteer, or work experiences
  • Ability to attend the entire program (June 23 - 28, 2024)


Program Benefits 

All students who successfully complete the Emerging Business Leaders Program will receive a University of Illinois application fee waiver. Students who apply, are admitted, and enroll into Gies Business will qualify for a renewable scholarship up to $5000 to help cover their academic costs.

Admission to the Emerging Business Leaders program does not guarantee admission to Gies Business and/or the University of Illinois.

Gies News and Events

Anderson, Scott honored with 2024 GBAA Awards

Apr 22, 2024, 08:30 by Aaron Bennett
Quintin Anderson '94 was chosen for the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and Julie Scott '85, is this year's recipient of the Alumni Appreciation Award.

Two Gies College of Business alumni have been honored by the Gies Business Alumni Association for their contributions to business and to the College. Quintin Anderson '94 was chosen for the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and Julie Scott '85, is this year's recipient of the Alumni Appreciation Award. Their awards will be presented at the 2024 Gies College of Business Spring Luncheon on Friday, May 3, in Chicago. 

Distinguished Alumnus Award
Quintin Anderson '94

After graduating from Illinois, Quintin earned his CPA license and joined Deloitte – audit, followed by management consulting, holding leadership positions on three continents before and after attending Harvard Business School where he earned an MBA in 2001.

In 2005, he left the corporate world and purchased and ran a small manufacturing company along with a graduate school classmate, selling the company to a strategic buyer in 2007. In 2009, he co-founded Granite River Labs (GRL), also with a (different) graduate school classmate. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with labs and R&D centers around the world, GRL has been recognized as a leading engineering services and test automation solutions firm for digital connectivity and smart charging technologies like USB, PCI Express, and Qi wireless charging, and smart home Internet of things (IoT) standards like Thread and Matter. From 2015-2023, he served on the Board of Directors of the HDMI Forum, the standards group driving new developments in and global adoption of HDMI technology.

Quintin lives in Redwood City, California, with his wife Colleen and daughter Isabelle. He remains a proud Illini and enjoys driving around California sporting his alumni license plate holder purchased at the Illini Union in 1994 and yelling at his TV/radio/streaming media device during Illini sporting events – sometimes in tandem!

As a tremendous supporter of Gies Business, he has connected with students as a featured alumni speaker and hosted regional events in California to create awareness and strengthen the Illini network in his area.

Quintin earned a bachelor’s degree in accountancy with highest honors from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois in 1994. At Illinois, Quintin served as director of the Vis-a-Vis volunteer tutoring program at the University YMCA (winner of campus and statewide awards for excellence in 1994) and was a Fred H. Turner Fellow in the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. 

 

Alumni Appreciation Award
Julie Scott '85

Julie Scott founded CTS Impact in 2002 to form a hands-on, non-traditional business consulting firm that assists Fortune 1000 companies undergoing major change. There she leads a team of industry experts in finance, HR, IT, and data analytics who are passionate about their work, and who also want to help others in their community.  CTS Impact advises clients on a wide array of business integration issues, including business transformation, mergers & acquisitions, system implementations, and corporate governance.

Prior to CTS Impact, she held leadership roles with Crate & Barrel; Parson Group, and Montgomery Ward. She began her career as an auditor with Grant Thornton, focused on SEC clients.

As a tireless champion for equal access to high-quality education, Julie serves as a Board member of both the Gies Dean’s Business Council and the Gies Business Alumni Association, where she was Past President of the Board. Along with her husband Tom and son Chris, she established student scholarships in Entrepreneurship for Gies students as well as Illinois Athletics.

Currently, Julie is also Co-Chair of the Smithsonian Institution Board’s Regional Council. She also serves on the Boards of The Chicago Network, St. Ignatius College Prep, and the United Way Audit Committee.

As a fierce advocate for the empowerment of women and elimination of racism, Julie is a Board Director Emeritus for the YWCA. In 2021, she received the Outstanding Entrepreneur award from the YWCA in recognition of her innovative business model, as well as her commitment to social impact.

Julie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy from Gies College of Business, cum laude. She is a CPA and member of the AICPA and the Illinois CPA Society. Julie is also an active member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives Club Advisory Council and the International Women’s Forum. She resides in Chicago with her family.

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