Leadership

Duke Little

CEO - Founder

The Crew Activation Network was founded by Duke Little, a sports and business executive with more than 30 years of experience developing strategic partnerships, building revenue-generating programs, and delivering large-scale sports and entertainment events across the United States.

Throughout his career, Duke has collaborated with universities, professional sports organizations, national brands, nonprofits, and venue operators to create innovative marketing and experiential programs that produce measurable results. His leadership includes securing multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreements, negotiating naming rights and founding partnerships, managing multimillion-dollar business operations, and leading teams responsible for some of the nation's premier collegiate and professional sporting events.

Having worked with NCAA Division I athletics, major event organizers, sports marketing agencies, technology companies, nonprofit organizations, and emerging sports properties, Duke recognized a common challenge: employers consistently seek graduates with real-world experience, while universities and brands often struggle to create meaningful opportunities at scale.

The Crew Activation Network was created to solve that challenge by connecting education with industry through a structured experiential learning model. By combining decades of experience in sponsorship sales, experiential marketing, event operations, and workforce development, Duke is building a national platform that prepares students for successful careers while helping brands extend their community impact through professionally managed activation programs.

His vision is simple: create the country's leading experiential learning and activation network—one that delivers lasting value for universities, students, brands, and the communities they serve.