Curtis Walker

Curtis Walker is TurnkeyZRG’s Vice President in charge of corporate partnership recruiting. A partnership practitioner, Mr. Walker has hands-on executive experience selling and servicing in partnerships roles, sell-side & buy-side. He is broadly networked and wired with property sales executives, as well as agency & brand marketing executives.

Before joining TurnkeyZRG, Mr. Walker sold and activated marketing partnerships at the United Soccer League (USL) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) where he led commercial outreach, strategy & new business development across all marketing partnerships, creating innovative, record-setting deals with Nationwide Insurance, Nestlé Stouffer’s, Applegate Farms, Cartoon Network and ECHO Tools. Including other deals, Mr. Walker sold $13 million in COI. Prior to MiLB, Mr. Walker served on the ticket sales side with the Vinik Sports Group/Tampa Bay Lightning (TBL) as well as Learfield. His history building and selling integrated strategic partnership frameworks qualifies him as the most knowledgeable corporate partnership recruiter anywhere.

Mr. Walker has also spent time on the “buy side” with Coca-Cola Beverages of Florida (CCBF). He brings a unique lens to helping buy-side clients fill buy-side roles. A proud alum of HBCU Virginia State University (VSU), Mr. Walker graduated with a degree in Health and Physical Education with a concentration in Sport Management. Mr. Walker co-founded the Black Sport Business Academy (www.thebsba.com) – a 501 (c)(2) non-profit organization which exists to enhance the learning experience and career outcomes for students at HBCUs who are interested in pursuing a career in sports.

Mr. Walker earned his M.B.A. & Master of Sport Business Management from the DeVos Sport Business Management program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). During his time, he served under Dr. Richard Lapchick as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for TIDES: The Institute of Diversity and Ethics and Sports – assessing ethnic and gender hiring practices across sports.