Outstanding Alumni 2022

Monte Beck

With over 25 years of experience in the software, technology, and communications industries, Monte Beck has achieved success launching high-growth start-ups as well as leading multi-billion dollar organizations. He is an expert at driving business results in both turn-around and high-growth environments, and has established a track record of growing profits, increasing market share, and building brand equity for some of America's most recognized brands.

In his current position, Beck is the CEO of Tabulate, Inc., a technology company delivering financial services to the hospitality market. In this role, Beck oversees the strategic direction of the business with a primary focus on product development, financial performance, and national expansion.

Prior to Tabulate, Beck was Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sellers Shield, a software start-up serving the real estate industry. At Sellers Shield, he led overall business planning, product development, and early-series fundraising. Sellers Shield has quickly grown to national prominence with over 500,000 home sale listings processed through the platform annually.

Before Sellers Shield, Beck was a Management Consultant with ADT, where he advised on business innovation and digital best practices. He also served as Co-Owner and Partner of Ascend Marketing, a digital marketing agency serving large enterprise clients. While with Ascend, Beck created the marketing technology practice and oversaw all client relations.

Preceding Ascend Marketing, Beck was the Chief Marketing Officer of Direct Energy, a $20 billion retail energy and home services firm serving over 6 million customers. As CMO, Beck oversaw enterprise-wide brand and marketing strategies, tech product introductions, digital strategy, and data analytics.

Earlier in his career, Beck spent 15 years with Verizon in a variety of senior executive roles. In his last role with the company, Beck served as Vice President/General Manager of the Small-Medium Business Division, overseeing a $6 billion profit & loss. Earlier at Verizon, Monte oversaw all advertising agency relationships, which encompassed annual advertising spend of $1 billion annually. He also led Verizon's national sponsorship programs, where he negotiated over $200 million in deals with the NFL, NBA, NCAA, MLB, Grammys and other sports and entertainment properties.

Beck began his career in the advertising agency business, where he worked with clients such as Campbell Soup Company, General Motors, Suzuki Motorcycles, Popeyes Chicken, among other interesting brands.

Beck is a proud graduate of Texas Tech University. He lives in Austin, Texas and is married to Jennifer, another proud Red Raider. He also has two children, Larson (Junior at Texas Tech) and Landon (Junior in high school).

 

Lynn Gilmore

Lynn Gilmore leads the Corporate Citizenship enterprise community strategy for Northrop Grumman Corporation, a technology company of 90,000 employees focused on global security and human discovery. The company's pioneering solutions equip its customers with the capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Gilmore is responsible for providing strategic direction, developing and implementing philanthropy and volunteer programs in the company's focus areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) K-12 education, military and veterans, health and human services and the environment in 80 Northrop Grumman communities across the U.S.

She joined TRW (which was acquired by Northrop Grumman) in 1997 as a senior human resources manager in the TRW Systems & Information Technology Group in Fairfax, Virginia. She moved out of HR into communications in 1999 where she managed internal communications for TRW Systems and then Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. In 2004 she added Corporate Citizenship to her role and managed both functions until 2008 when she could then devote all her energies to Corporate Citizenship. She was director of Corporate Citizenship for the Information Systems sector in McLean, Virginia until Northrop Grumman centralized the function in 2013 when the company relocated her back to Texas and she became part of Corporate.

Gilmore began her career in 1982 as the director of public relations for California Baptist College in Riverside, California. In 1984, she returned to Texas to work at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor as director of public relations. Prior to joining TRW, Ms. Gilmore was a human resources manager for Texas Instruments from 1988 to 1997, working in Temple and Plano, Texas and in Falls Church, Virginia.

She graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications and from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary with a masters degree in religious education. She has earned a certificate in Corporate Citizenship Involvement from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and a certificate in Corporate Citizenship Leadership from the Boston College Carroll School of Management. She is a member of the National Professional Advisory Board for the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication.

 

Brett Gray

Brett Gray graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelors degree in Advertising. After graduation, Gray served as deputy press secretary for U.S. Senator Pete Domenici in Washington, D.C., before parlaying his policy and communications experience into a career with international public relations firms Fleishman-Hillard and Weber Shandwick, managing high-profile accounts for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurial startups. He later entered the nonprofit sector, serving as Chief Marketing Officer of the North Texas Food Bank before forming Brett Gray Public Relations LLC five years ago.

After nearly 30 years in Dallas, he recently returned to Lubbock where he continues to work as an independent communications consultant with a portfolio of clients representing the legal, banking, entertainment, and not-for-profit sectors. He is the recipient of several industry honors, including the PRSA Silver Anvil Award, and sits on the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communications Advisory board.