An encounter with Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy made Brent Fielder a believer—in the ministry of business.
Fielder witnessed first-hand Cathy’s generosity and authenticity while working at a summer camp. The conversations that followed reinforced the fact that glorifying God and faithfully stewarding resources truly is vital to the Chick-fil-A culture.
“It made me realize that this man is as good as everybody thinks he is—he’s doing really well with his business and giving not only his money to good places but also his time,” Fielder said. “Understanding that reconciled my own love for business—showing you can love business and love Jesus at the same time.”
Brent Fielder, Chick-fil-A’s vice president of global impact, is Samford's Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Year.
Fielder, now 39, has spent the past four years leading Chick-fil-A’s philanthropy and community engagement efforts, though his involvement with the quick-service restaurant stretches back to 2003 when he started working with the WinShape Foundation, also founded by Truett Cathy. While serving at WinShape, Fielder met and married Chick-fil-A founder’s granddaughter, Angela. He also served as a local owner-operator of a Birmingham-area Chick-fil-A franchise for five years—which proved to be anything but a passive investment.
“While operating Chick-fil-A Greystone, I also had the opportunity to serve on the Chick-fil-A Board of Directors as well, but I was the only board member leaving the meeting to go work in a restaurant,” he said. “I essentially had this real-life lab, so to speak, where I could take my formal education, pair it with an unbelievable board experience, and apply it all to practice in my own restaurant.”
A recent promotion to lead Global Impact for Chick-fil-A integrated Fielder’s undergraduate emphasis at Samford. He joined the first cohort of students to participate in the social entrepreneurship program in Brock School of Business.
“Back then, we were all trying to figure out what the program actually was,” he said. “It’s the business school, but we were studying nonprofit management. Now the idea of a company having a social impact has evolved.”
The evolving impact Chick-fil-A provides through its True Inspiration grants has eclipsed $6 million annually. While awards typically range from $25,000 to $200,000, one recipient receives a $350,000 grant. Fielder was on hand last year for the surprise unveiling to a Kansas foster care organization. “There were lots of tears, lots of emotion,” he said, and then came a revelation from the co-founder. The organization previously had been warned that it needed between $300K-$400K by year’s end to continue operating.
“My faith compels me to believe that coincidences just don’t happen,” Fielder said. “The fact we showed up that day with this award—for the exact amount of money they needed—was remarkable. It reminds me the Lord’s hands are in it. He’s in the details, and he’s really using our company to make a positive influence.”
