Mike Brenan is a longtime South Carolina business and civic leader whose career spans more than four decades across financial services, economic development and statewide advocacy. He currently serves as President of the University of South Carolina Business Partnership Foundation at the Darla Moore School of Business. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, guiding the organization through a period of strategic growth before retiring following its merger with the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance to form South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce.

Earlier in his career, Mike was Regional President for Truist Financial Corporation, where he led the South Carolina region’s banking platform and oversaw teams serving clients across business banking, commercial banking, middle market banking and regional commercial real estate.

Mike began his banking career in 1975 as a management trainee and went on to become President and Chief Executive Officer of Bank One, Portsmouth, and later Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of MainStreet Financial Corporation. After MainStreet was acquired by BB&T Corporation in 1998, he became Regional President in South Carolina in 1999 and continued in that role through the formation of Truist Financial Corporation in 2019.

Deeply committed to strengthening communities across South Carolina, Mike has served in leadership roles with numerous civic and business organizations, including SCBIO, the Trinity Forum, TransformSC and the South Carolina Collaborative for Race and Reconciliation. He previously served as Chairman of United Way of the Midlands, the United Way Association of South Carolina, the Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics Foundation, the Palmetto Business Forum, the University of South Carolina Business Partnership Foundation at the Darla Moore School of Business, the Central SC Alliance and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and was appointed by the Governor to the South Carolina State Board of Education, where he served as Past Chairman. He also served as a Past Board of Trustee for Claflin University and as a member of the Carolinas Advisory Board for Huntington National Bank. His honors include the Alyce Kemp DeWitt Award from United Way of the Midlands, the Distinguished Service Award from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, the Humanitarian of the Year Award from United Way of the Midlands, Business Leader of the Year from the South Carolina State Chamber of Commerce, Ambassador of the Year from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the Distinguished South Carolina Public Education Impact Award in 2025.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife, Julie, have four children: Erin, Andrew, Rob and Molly.