Programs

Ann Anjali Ramakumaran

Founder & CEO
Ampcus, Inc.

Ann Ramakumaran is the Founder and CEO of Ampcus Inc a technology savvy entrepreneur with more than 10 years of contribution towards the design and development of software services and delivery of Information Technology services. Under her leadership, she has grown Ampcus Inc into a fast-growing consulting and professional services firm.

She has been awarded as the top Asian American owned businesses by USPAACC for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 and 50 fastest growing women owned businesses in the CONUS by the Women Presidents Organization for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Ampcus Inc made the Inc 500/5000 list for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Ampcus Inc has also been recognized as the Top diversity business for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Ann has helped fortune 2000 companies with their enterprise-wide customized solutions. She reports to the board and drives the company to attain its vision of being one of the largest Professional services companies globally. She has been involved in executing a consultative methodology to define, qualify, and quantify the clients’ targeted and strategic IT and business objectives and from this, develop solutions to proactively address current and evolving needs and projects.

Ann holds her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in business and commercial management from India. She has also completed an executive management program from the Robins School of Management, University of Richmond.

Taufeek Shah

Founder & CEO
Lola's Fine Hot Sauce

Taufeek Shah is an entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of Lola's Fine Sauces, Inc a global leader in the CPG space featuring generational family recipe food products & condiments from his mother, Lola. He built, boot strapped, and accomplished significant growth expanding his product portfolios in over 10,000 retailers and restaurants across the US, Canada, and Asia.

Sharp and successful marketing strategist in both domestic and international markets with his strong leadership team. He is an accomplished leader in creating, inspiring, and building successful teams focused on diversity, inclusion, and growth.

Season 1 finalist on Making It With Lowe's featuring Daymond John and the Lowe's executive team.

Howard Hoffman

Founder & CEO
pHresh Products

Howard Hoffman is a Philippine-born American entrepreneur and humanitarian committed to changing the world through proper health and nutrition education. He is the CEO of The Omnium Group, which provides quality private label, co-packing, and bulk supply services for clients in the Dietary Supplement, Nutraceutical, HPP Beverage, Cosmetic, Hair, Body, Skin Care, and OTC industries. He is also the founder and CEO of PHPD; Howard operates two brands - pHresh Products and Dream Nutrition - and is a formulator and creator of the world's first narrow-range pH testing strip, a Class One medical device.

Howard is also the co-founder and CEO of Omnium Canna, the first minority-owned cannabis processor and extractor in the United States and one of the faces of New Yorks's "Why Buy Legal" campaign.

As an executive, Howard has an impressive track record of leading diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success across highly competitive industries, cutting-edge markets, and fast-paced business environments. His technical and business qualifications, paired with hands-on experience in strategic planning, product development, and system engineering strategies, have proven his ability to successfully analyze an organization's critical business requirements to develop highly efficient strategies and cost-effective solutions.

Omnium Canna, which operates in Long Island, NY, is a cGMP-licensed, regulated cannabis extractor and processor with a seasoned management team of over 90 years in the dietary supplement and highly regulated industries. The company operates out of a 45k sqft state-of-the-art facility powered by renewable energy and offers a one-stop supply chain infrastructure solution to support the cannabis industry within New York. The company ensures consistent quality of the highest standards throughout the supply chain process, from the final product to dispensary shelves.

The Hon. Isabella Casillas Guzman

Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration

Isabella Casillas Guzman serves as the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and was sworn in on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Administrator Guzman represents the more than 30 million U.S. small businesses and is committed to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs start, grow and be resilient.

A lifelong proponent of small businesses, Guzman grew up as the daughter of a small business owner and learned at a young age how important small businesses are to the communities they serve, the people they employ, and the economies they help power.

Administrator Guzman previously served as Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, a position she held after being appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in April 2019. In that role, she served as the voice of small businesses and innovative startups in the 5th largest economy in the world. She administered and advocated for programs and initiatives to help small businesses access capital, markets, and networks for stronger outcomes. She and her team helped connect entrepreneurs in every community with the resources needed. As the economic recovery support function coordinator for the state, she focused on resilience and most recently worked to help small businesses access relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In California, Administrator Guzman oversaw a network of small business centers focused on expanding assistance to underserved business groups. She launched new public private partnerships and collaborated to deliver cutting edge resources to small businesses, including through initiatives like Get Digital CA to increase technology and e-commerce adoption and Source Diverse Source Local to strengthen supply chain readiness. She advocated fiercely for financial relief for small businesses, leading to the expansion of state supported lending and the largest COVID-19 grant relief program in the nation at over $2.5 billion. Guzman's office launched the Entrepreneurship Task Force to serve as a bridge to small businesses and create content and programs to help strengthen the competitiveness of startup and small firms.

Administrator Guzman has previously served in leadership at the SBA as the agency’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor during the Obama-Biden Administration, where she oversaw policy and new program implementation. She was a small business entrepreneur herself, and an advisor to fellow founders including in accelerating technology commercialization and in helping small business contractors leverage the federal marketplace. Administrator Guzman earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

Andy Lin

Founder & CEO
Yo-Kai Express

Andy earned his Electrical Engineering Master degree from UC Irvine and has worked in the Semiconductor industry for more than 12 years. Andy is not only focused on developing autonomous restaurant to serve people 24/7 anytime anywhere but also trying to reduce the food waste by ordering as needed. In the meantime, Andy also put lots of effort to develop the green energy to support the future power shortage. He and his team are working on reusable power storage and try to provide zero emission and zero noise power solutions to the public.