WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sept. 17, 2025 — The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) is pleased to announce that Lowe’s will receive the 2025 ELC Corporate Award at the ELC Recognition Gala, held on October 2, 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland.
The Corporate Award honors companies that demonstrate strategic excellence in developing enterprise-ready leadership pipelines, aligning people and culture with business performance. Under the leadership of Chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s has become a national leader in building an inclusive, resilient workforce model, supporting talent across roles, regions, and communities.
“Lowe’s exemplifies the intersection of operational excellence and people-first strategy,” said The ELC President and CEO Michael C. Hyter. “They are building a workforce and a leadership culture that serve as a blueprint for success for every industry.”
Lowe’s strives to cultivate a workplace that best serves the customers and communities where it operates by recruiting and hiring from those very same communities. Since 2018, Lowe’s has invested more than $4 billion in associate wages and share-based compensation. Last year alone, Lowe’s filled over 85% of store leadership positions internally.
Its Track to the Trades associate program and the Lowe’s Foundation are both helping to solve the critical skilled trades labor shortage. Additionally, Lowe’s Hometowns annually funds 100 large-scale community revitalization projects, and each store completes a local community improvement project, spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The company’s leadership pipeline also represents some of the most respected and experienced voices in their fields – leaders with diverse experiences, perspectives and backgrounds.
This year, Lowe’s joins a distinguished group of past Corporate Award recipients, including AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing, Dell Technologies, EcoLab, Exelon Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Merck & Co., PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble.
ELC Gala Week: Advancing Leadership at Every Level
The ELC Recognition Gala concludes ELC Gala Week, a multi-day summit designed to elevate enterprise talent across every stage of the leadership journey. Taking place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Gala Week features six concurrent programs, including the Mid-Level Managers Symposium, Honors Symposium, and executive forums, impacting more than 3,000 professionals, students, and guests.
Gala Week connects corporate leaders with rising talent and underscores ELC’s commitment to growing the pipeline of senior-level executives through education, access, and strategic visibility. The Gala itself celebrates award recipients who exemplify leadership that drives business innovation and sustainable impact.
The 2025 ELC Scholars: Preparing the Next Generation of Business Leaders
Now in its 30th year, The ELC Scholarship Program is one of the organization’s most impactful initiatives. In 2025, The ELC awarded $2 million to 102 undergraduate and graduate students, 70 percent of whom attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Scholars represent a wide range of academic disciplines, with concentrations spanning business and management, technology and computing, health and natural sciences, engineering and innovation, and the arts and humanities. The 2025 class also marks the introduction of the Ronald C. Parker Legacy Scholarship, honoring The ELC’s late President and CEO, whose enduring impact continues to shape future leaders.
ABOUT THE ELC
The Executive Leadership Council is an independent non-profit founded in 1986 that opens channels of opportunity for the development of global executives to positively impact business and our communities.
