Former New Orleans Saints star receiver Marques Colston, who has developed several businesses, is an entrepreneur, speaker and business strategist.

Former New Orleans Saints star receiver and entrepreneur Marques Colston will deliver the Homer Hitt Presidential Lecture on April 19 at the University of New Orleans. Colston’s presentation, “Keys to Unlocking Intentional Performance,” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Sen. Ted Hickey Ballroom in the University Center. It will be a fireside chat-style conversation with WGNO-TV’s Tamica Lee. The event is free and open to the public.

Earlier in the day, Colston will lead a session with UNO students discussing how to operate with intentionality to achieve their professional goals.

Colston is the founder of Marques Colston Enterprises, an executive coaching and development consulting firm, which empowers innovative organizations and growth-minded athletes, entrepreneurs and executives to unlock creativity and possibility to experience sustainable professional success.

A champion for “underestimated and undervalued” talent, Colston launched Venture Investing and Entrepreneurship for Professional Athletes, an executive education program for current and former professional athletes at the Columbia Business School. He partnered with his alma mater, Hofstra University, to create the Marques Colston Fellowship, which provides experiential learning opportunities for student-athletes in health majors. He also taught Entrepreneurship and Leadership to undergraduate students as an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans. In 2019, Colston received an honorary doctorate from UNO.

Additionally, Colston’s community work includes appointment to the board of directors of Son of a Saint and Corporate Internship Leadership Institute and work on the advisory council for the Lemelson Center’s Change Your Game exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute.

Colston is a Super Bowl champion, an inductee in the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame and the sports hall of fame in both Pennsylvania and Louisiana. While playing for the New Orleans Saints, he was the all-time franchise leader in receptions, receiving yards and total touchdowns.