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Gain unique insight into the business of politics with Harold Ford, Jr. and Geoff Duncan, who have found success in both the private and public sectors through their common goal of bipartisan compromise.
Former five-term Democratic Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. spent more than ten years in investment banking with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. Ford Jr.'s politics, as well as his time in office, are characterized by a belief in compromise and working across the aisle to make progress solving problems for businesses, industries, and people. Now the EVP and VC of Corporate and Institutional Banking for PNC, Harold Ford Jr. brings his robust experience as a policy maker and shrewd insights as a business leader to talks that are informative, engaging, and memorable.
Geoff Duncan, Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor (2019-2023), has also been a professional baseball player, CNN contributor, and a strategic advisor to several venture capital firms around the country. Duncan understands politics and media like a true insider, prioritizing a bipartisan approach to navigate the chamber through a global pandemic, civil unrest, and economic tumult. He has established himself as a bold leader, especially in the areas of technology and economic development. Duncan is an expert on how bipartisanship can drive meaningful solutions for the problems impacting our nation.
Ford and Duncan join together to find a clearer perspective on how to offer real solutions to real problems facing our world today, converting their insider knowledge on politics into market and investment insights.
Former five-term Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. is the Executive Vice President and Vice Chair of Corporate and Institutional Banking for PNC. In addition to his work leading critical strategic initiatives, Ford Jr. also served as chairman and chief executive officer of Empowerment & Inclusion Capital I Corp, a PNC-sponsored mission-based special purpose acquisition company. He is also a sought-after commentator, serving as a co-host of FOX News Channel’s The Five as well as a frequent contributor to Special Report with Bret Baier. A Democrat, Ford Jr.'s politics, as well as his time in office, are characterized by a belief in compromise and working across the aisle to make progress solving problems for businesses, industries, and people.
After serving in the House of Representatives, Ford Jr. spent more than ten years in investment banking with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. In addition, he was non-executive Chair of Rx Saver, a patient-directed prescription medication search engine platform. Ford Jr. brings his robust experience as a policy maker and shrewd insights as a business leader to talks that are informative, engaging, and memorable for audiences of all kinds.
A former professional baseball player, CNN contributor and successful entrepreneur, Geoff Duncan served as Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor from 2019-2023. As the state’s second-most powerful Republican and president of the State Senate, Duncan used a bipartisan approach to navigate the chamber through a global pandemic, civil unrest, and economic tumult. Duncan has established himself as a bold leader, especially in the areas of health care, public safety, technology, and economic development. His efforts to spearhead Georgia becoming the “Technology Capital of the East Coast” have been nationally recognized. After rising to national prominence, he authored a book entitled, GOP 2.0: How the 2020 Election Can Lead to a Better Way Forward for America's Conservative Party.
Prior to public service, Duncan enjoyed a successful career in the private sector. In 2001, he founded a marketing company that sold promotional products to mid-size and large corporate clients nationwide. In 2003, he launched a tech-enabled literature fulfillment division for several large corporate clients. In 2016, Duncan was hired as the CEO of a health care company where he successfully raised several rounds of early round growth capital. In 2019, he founded a consulting business to help growth stage private companies work directly with their management teams. Duncan also serves as a strategic advisor to several venture capital firms around the country.
Former five-term Tennessee Congressman, Harold Ford, Jr. is a co host of FNC’s The Five and is a frequent contributor to Special Report with Bret Baier. A Democrat, Ford Jr.’s politics is grounded in a belief that compromise is a lost art in politics that must be rediscovered and pursued if we are to make progress solving problems. “Ideological purity is more important than doing what is right in today’s politics. Both parties too often deem compromise a weakness, not an essential strength,” he believes. “Instead, they [both political parties] spend their time trying to marginalize and cancel each other out, leaving voters disgusted and turned off by the lack of seriousness and results.”
Ford Jr. is currently a Vice Chair and EVP in PNC’s corporate and institutional banking business. He is also the former Chair and CEO of Empowerment & Inclusion Capital I Corporation (NYSE: “EPWR”) - a PNC sponsored mission based special purpose acquisition company. Prior to joining PNC, he spent more than 10 years in investment banking with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. In addition, he was non-executive Chair of Rx Saver, a patient-directed prescription medication search engine platform.
Ford Jr. earned a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from the University of Michigan. He and his wife Emily and their 2 kids - Georgia Walker and Harold III (HEF)- live in New York City.
A former professional baseball player, CNN contributor and successful entrepreneur, Geoff Duncan served as Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor from 2019-2023. As the state’s second-most powerful Republican and president of the State Senate, Duncan used a bipartisan approach to navigate the chamber through a global pandemic, civil unrest and economic tumult. Duncan has established himself as a bold leader, especially in the areas of health care, public safety, technology, and economic development. His efforts to spearhead Georgia becoming the “Technology Capital of the East Coast” have been nationally recognized.
In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Duncan stood up to his party leadership and became an outspoken voice against conspiracy theories and for a peaceful transition of power. After rising to national prominence, he authored a book entitled, GOP 2.0: How the 2020 Election Can Lead to a Better Way Forward for America's Conservative Party. He became one of the most recognizable critics of the political process that led to the failed Senate campaign of Herschel Walker.
During the 2020 legislative session, Duncan built a historic bipartisan coalition to pass Georgia’s Hate Crimes Law in the aftermath of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. In 2021, he authored the LESS Crime Act to empower private citizens to support law enforcement and led successful efforts to defeat the Buckhead secession movement, with the Atlanta Journal Constitution declaring, “Powerful GOP leader delivers blow to Buckhead cityhood.”
Duncan entered public service in 2012 after winning an upstart campaign to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2012. In the House, he served on the Banking, Science & Technology and Ways & Means Committee. Duncan spearheaded the Rural Hospital Tax Credit that created tax credits for donors to rural hospitals, a win-win program that has yielded tens of millions in additional funding to save rural hospitals from closure.
Prior to public service, Duncan enjoyed a successful career in the private sector. In 2001, he founded a marketing company that sold promotional products to mid-size and large corporate clients nationwide. In 2003, he launched a tech-enabled literature fulfillment division for several large corporate clients. In 2006, he founded a design company with the focus of building large contract to build single family homes in the Atlanta metro area. In 2016, Duncan was hired as the CEO of a health care company where he successfully raised several rounds of early round growth capital. In 2019, he founded a consulting business to help growth stage private companies work directly with their management teams, including a 40-year-old construction material company that has more than doubled revenues. Duncan also serves as a strategic advisor to several venture capital firms around the country.
After a successful career as a scholarship pitcher at Georgia Tech, including three straight berths in the NCAA Regionals and the 1994 College World Series, Duncan was drafted by the Florida Marlins’ organization in 1996, where he spent six seasons in their minor league system before a shoulder injury forced his early retirement in 2001.
Duncan is most proud to be a husband to his high school sweetheart, Brooke, and a father of three young men: Parker, Bayler, and Ryder. Duncan is an avid sports fan, an aviation enthusiast and is an instrument rated private pilot.
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