I am the ROI: Ivan Gilreath

The following profile is part of the “I am the ROI” series. With seven stories on seven Mavericks, "I am the ROI" will introduce you to alumni who are leaders, change makers and innovators.

Ivan Gilreath’s journey through the corporate world to his current role as President & CEO of Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands started at the University of Nebraska at at Omaha (UNO).

He developed an interest in business as a teenager working part-time at an area McDonald’s. The fast food restaurant was all he knew at the time, which led to his dream to own multiple locations. From there, he earned his undergraduate degree in business.

“The good thing about a business degree is that [it] really teaches you a lot of different skills: Accounting, marketing, management, MIS [or management information systems], economics,” Gilreath said. “It allows you to really go wherever your career takes you.”

Gilreath completed his MBA at a time when graduate coursework wasn’t as flexible as it is today. With a wife and newborn son at home, he juggled family life with evening classes, a basketball and mentoring program for kids, and his professional career — not a small task considering the academic rigor of UNO’s MBA program.

“I really can’t remember a bad professor that I had when I was doing my MBA – not because they were easy – it’s because they were rigorous, they were hard, yet they were fair and they helped you in whatever you needed,” Gilreath said.

His passion for business intersected with his heart for children as he came to the Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands. Gilreath’s father left home soon after he was born. His upbringing in a single parent household led to his passion for those he calls “underdog kids.”

“I’ve always sought those kids out,” he said. “Everybody knows the really bad kids, and everybody really knows the athletic kids. Everybody ignores the kids in between.”