Casey Crawford - Common Unity

A glance at his resume and you may think to Movement’s CEO, Casey Crawford, greatness lies in achievements like NFL Super Bowl champion, founder and CEO of a multibillion dollar mortgage company, and becoming a sought-after media guest whose appearances span CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bloomberg and Fox News with print features in The Wall Street Journal and TIME Magazine.

There's no doubt the 2015 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year is ambitious. But what truly drives him is not a championship ring or reaching the top of the corporate ladder. It’s meeting others’ needs.

As a child, Casey watched his father and grandfather use entrepreneurship as outreach. Whether the need was material, employment, friendship or a good example, he saw how business could be used to meet it.

Following his football days during a stint in real estate, Casey became alarmed by glaring inadequacies within the lending industry. The greed and corruption among leadership, the lack of value and care toward employees, and the inattentiveness toward community problems seemed like wide open opportunities.

Casey’s response? Movement Mortgage, established in 2008 on the Christian values he shares with co-founder Toby Harris. Movement was developed as a hope-filled paradox to a dismal reality, with a mission to be a Movement of Change in our Industry, Corporate Cultures and Communities.

Today, the company employs more than 4,500 and has over 650 locations in all 50 states. In 2017, Movement ranked among the top 10 purchase lenders by financing 1 in every 60 home purchases in the country, totaling more than $13 billion in originations. As prosperity increases, so does the overflow into people’s lives. The non-profit Movement Foundation has invested more than $25 million toward community improvement and meeting the needs of the underserved around the globe.

Casey continues to spread this vision of greatness from Charlotte, N.C. where he lives with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters.