“Lawrence Watkins’s life mission is to organize & facilitate the flow of resources to entities that will ultimately improve the Black community. He is the Head of Tulsa Investments for Atento Capital, a Tulsa-based investment firm focused on returns, quality job creation, and community building through economic development.

A recovering entrepreneur, Lawrence has helped bootstrap multiple 7-figure businesses serving a majority Black customer base. In 2007, he started Great Black Speakers, the most prominent Black-owned speakers’ bureau in the nation that facilitates speaking opportunities to top thought leaders & celebrities. GBS aims to be an information & inspiration disseminator that delivers powerful messages to the masses.

In 2016, Lawrence co-founded The Black Business School, a hybrid education & training platform that helps Black people to obtain a culturally relevant and practical education in all things wealth building at an affordable cost. The platform has educated over 160,000 students and has published over 75 courses on financial topics such as entrepreneurship, stock market investing, real estate investing, and personal finance.

A lover of creating frameworks to simplify people’s lives, Lawrence is the creator of The Black Family Masterplan. It is a model that provides strategic guidance to heads of households on cultivating strong, resilient, and loving families.

Lawrence earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Louisville in 2006 and an MBA in entrepreneurship from Cornell University in 2010. He serves on the boards of 36 Degrees North, and the MetCares Foundation in Tulsa, OK. He also has served as a mentor/advisor for many entrepreneurial ecosystem organizations such as Techstars, BLCK VC, Venture For America, and Black Ambition.

Lawrence is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and the Young Entrepreneur Council.”