Issuu

JULY 10, 2026 FRIDAY

DEE DIXON CEO/PUBLISHER

The future is now with generative AI.

Pride Awards 2026 is set to focus on how artificial intelligence is shaping how we live, work and play ----right here in the Charlotte community and beyond. This year’s program will be a highly nuanced luncheon exploring issues related to why AI is unlike any technology ever developed before, and whether machines can or will outperform human judgment and decision-making. Keynote speaker Sunil Erevelles, PhD, from UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business, will tackle these issues and more, including how AI is already influencing nearly every aspect of our lives. Ultimately, you will leave this luncheon with this question in mind:

Because food insecurity remains a critical issue for the Queen City, Pride Awards 2026 will shine the spotlight on three local nonprofits and their efforts to fight this problem with a “real-time” competition. Attendees will vote, and the winning organization will receive a $20,000 grant underwritten by Wells Fargo.

Pride will present two prestigious awards this year. (TBD) Email

SUNIL EREVELLES, PHD

ABOUT DR. EREVELLES

RESEARCH FOCUS

Dr. Erevelles is on the faculty of marketing at the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He served as Chair of the Department of Marketing from 2010-2018. Prior to that, he was on the faculty of Marketing and the Marketing Area Coordinator (marketing head) at the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Riverside. He received his PhD in business from The Ohio State University His research focus is non-linear innovation, and includes Big Data, blockchain, genomics and artificial intelligence in marketing.

PUBLICATIONS

His research has been published in various journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Advertising, the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, the Journal of Marketing Management, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Marketing Management Journal, the Journal of Database Marketing, and the Journal of Information Technology and Management

GLOBAL IMPACT

He has consulted for, and delivered seminars to CEOs and senior managers, as well as to senior government officials in almost every part of the world, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. In the United States, he has delivered seminars or annual company retreats to executives at leading organizations with varied business interests, such as Boeing, Allstate, Compass, Hyundai, Illumina, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Prudential, Atrium Healthcare, Coca Cola, Illumina Genomics, MetLife, St. Jude’s Medical, Lowes, TIAA-CREF, Hino Motors, Mercedes-Benz, the World President’s Organization (WPO), the Young President’s Organization (YPO), the NCACPA, the Charlotte Business Alliance, etc.