PhilKirk-P

Connected with

business,

politics,

and education.

Business and Education Advocate

For more than 50 years, Phil has served in leadership roles in government, at educational institutions and within the business community.

Phil Kirk began his career in government in 1970 as the youngest state senator elected in North Carolina history. He then served as chief of staff for Govs. Jim Holshouser and Jim Martin as well as U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill. He also served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for two governors.

In 1989, Phil was named president of N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry (NCCBI), the state’s most powerful business lobby and official state chamber of commerce. During his 16-year tenure, Phil was consistently ranked among the top 25 most effective lobbyists in North Carolina. As former Gov. Jim Hunt said about Phil, “If there’s a single person in this state who is more involved and at the center of every issue, I don’t know who it is.” Read Phil’s full bio …

Experienced and Informative

Phil Kirk has spent five decades informing, entertaining, and persuading audiences across North Carolina.

He has been speaking to groups, friendly and not so friendly, for more than 50 years. As a politician, government official, president of NCCBI and chairman of the State Board of Education, Phil delivered more than 7,000 talks to groups small and large.

Today, Kirk owns his own speaking and consulting business. And as a speaker, he engages audiences with a warm, yet powerful delivery backed with the wisdom of a political “insider.” Whether you need a keynote speaker, panel discussion moderator, after-dinner entertainer or motivational talk, Phil Kirk will tell a story your audience will never forget!

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Popular Speaking Topics

      • The Ten NC Governors I Have Known – humorous insights, as well as observations from inside, about Governors Sanford through Cooper
      • Humor in K-12 classrooms, General Assembly and Governor’s Office and Lessons Learned – true stories and actual experiences in the classroom during Phil’s visits to 750 public schools in North Carolina as the chairman of the State Board of Education, as well as a few from his service in the North Carolina General Assembly and Governors’ offices.
      • Leadership – Phil has presentations on many aspects of leadership and can tailor the speech to the audience’s expectations and needs, including:
            • How Can Business Help Shape Public Policy
            • How to Make Your Business and Local Chamber More Effective

Phil also speaks on education reform, economic development, business involvement in education, North Carolina’s growing wine industry, and North Carolina travel and tourism.

A popular choice for graduations and commencements, Phil has spoken to more than 50 graduating classes including grade, middle and high schools; universities and community colleges; prison culinary classes and leadership programs.

Phil Kirk is the best informed person in North Carolina concerning critical issues facing our state. You can count on his remarks to be factual, up-to-date, and at the same time, entertaining. If your club or group can get him as your speaker, you will be fortunate indeed.

Phil Kirk provides a unique and truly informative speech on North Carolina and the major issues it faces coupled with insightful humor and audience-pleasing delivery. He received our highest praises for his speech at our Annual Forum.

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Phil Kirk appears in the UNC-TV documentary “A Generation of Change”

Bill Friday, Terry Sanford, Jesse Helms, Bill Aycock and many others from North Carolina’s own “Greatest Generation” led a time of dramatic change that established many of today’s institutions. A Generation of Change takes us on a journey through 50 years of North Carolina history with these leaders from the 1920s to the climactic election of 1972 and the birth of the modern two-party state in North Carolina.

UNC-TV presents

A Generation Of Change

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