Roger Cheng

Senior Supplier Diversity Sourcing Manager
AT&T

Roger Cheng recently joined AT&T as a Sr. Supplier Diversity Sourcing Manager. Prior to AT&T, Roger spent the previous 14+ years with M/WBEs in the technology space leading business development through Supplier Diversity.

Roger, also known as “The Voice,” has served as emcee or VOG for a number of organizations across the country. In 2017, Roger was recognized as the #Hes4Shes Champion at the WBENC National Conference.

Ellen Valencia

Assistant Vice President - Planning & Logistics
AT&T

Ellen leads an organization of 100+ employees that provide the Planning and Logistics support for AT&T’s Consumer Mobility operations. Ellen has responsibility for the Strategy and Execution of Demand and Supply Planning, Inventory Procurement and Management, Distribution Center and Transportation Logistics, Retail and Customer Order Fulfillment, and Recovery and Reverse Logistics – both through internal operations and external vendor management.

In Ellen’s sixteen-year career at AT&T she has experienced a diverse set of roles – having held ten different positions at four levels of management across five business units. The majority of Ellen’s contributions have been in Supply Chain, with experience across Network Mobility, Network Wireline, Consumer Broadband, and currently Consumer Mobility.

Ellen is a graduate of AT&T’s Leadership Development Program. And AT&T has recognized her as a champion of customer service, awarded twice with the corporate Service Excellence Award. Ellen also has a passion for community service. She is in an active leader within the AT&T Employee Group – FACES, Filipino-American Communication Employees. She was recognized as an AT&T Champion of Diversity in 2015, awarded by the Chief Diversity Officer for her work in supporting AT&T’s diversity and inclusion values.

Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She also studied Business and Economics at the Universiteit Maastricht in the Netherlands, where she discovered her love of travelling.

Sundari Pai

Senior Manager, Global Supplier Diversity
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)

Sundari Pai Luts is the Senior Manager, Global Supplier Diversity at Bristol Myers Squibb and supports the development, expansion and execution of the corporate wide global supplier diversity strategy, program, policies and procedures working with internal and external business partners to ensure alignment with BMS's Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) strategy. Sundari's efforts across BMS enterprise also include collaborating with, People Business & Resource Group (PBRG), D&I, corporate affairs and government affairs. She is strong proponent of diversity and inclusion and currently is the community co-lead for Disability Advancement Workforce Network (DAWN) PBRG promoting disability inclusion in the workplace and community. Her previous role included leading all strategic communications as well as Power2Impact community outreach program for supplier diversity. Sundari brings a unique perspective, working previously for diverse businesses and now at Bristol Myers Squibb within the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement organization for the last 4 years.

Sundari has over 16 years of experience in supplier diversity and strategic communications in both commercial and government sectors. She has previously worked in leadership positions for woman and minority business entrepreneurs where she managed their supplier diversity programs and led strategic communications and marketing strategies. Sundari has a passion for supplier diversity and cultivates this passion through her active engagement with various Minority Business Councils, State Offices, Chambers of Commerce and other institutions, like Disability:IN, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) where she is a currently a member of WBENC’s NextGEN Advisory board. She is also past board of directors' member of US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC) NorthEast chapter and has also worked on various committees at the NY&NJ Minority Supplier Development Council (The Council). Sundari is also a mentor, coach and advocate to many small & diverse businesses, and community partners playing a strategic role in growth of many of them. She was recently named 2021 Top 25 Diversity Change Leader by DiversityPlus publication.

Sundari has a Master’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Maine and a Bachelor’s degree in Print and Media Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, India. She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and two young children.

Jennifer Rasing

Global Lead of Pan Asian Network (PAN)
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)

Jennifer Rasing is a passionate scientist and leader who has spent a career of over 20 years dedicated to the biopharmaceutical industry. She currently leads the Pan Asian Network (PAN) People & Business Resource Group for Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).

As Global PAN Lead, Jennifer is committed to championing an inclusive workplace that welcomes, values, and elevates diverse voices.

Beginning her journey at BMS in 2004 as a research scientist, Jennifer’s extensive experience in cell-based and immunological assays was key to the approval of multiple marketed products. Since then, she has held various roles in the clinical trial space, managing key global Immuno-Oncology clinical trial studies as a Senior Project Manager and Senior Auditor.

Throughout her tenure at BMS, Jennifer has taken meaningful steps to drive equitable advancement and outcomes for all. To provide a safe culture where colleagues can bring their authentic selves to work and fostering inclusion and ensure every colleague — across diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences — is valued, respected and feels a sense of belonging.

Spending many years as a scientist in clinical trials, Jennifer recognizes that to drive a more just and equitable society, we must address health disparities and the social determinants of health in communities around the world.

Jennifer is a change champion, promoting PAN and awareness of Asian and Pacific Islander issues by speaking and driving the development of groundbreaking programs throughout the organization. Her commitment to an inclusive workplace that values diverse viewpoints has led to key initiatives, spanning across many facets of BMS culture. She has spoken on behalf of Bristol Myers Squibb on topics on Inclusion & Diversity, health equity and social justice in the AANHPI community and led initiatives to elevate and advance Asian talent across BMS. In addition, Jennifer has mentored aspiring future Asian leaders in the company.

Jennifer holds a BS degree in biotechnology from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Alan Gartrell

Vice President of Procurement
Caesars Entertainment, Inc.

Alan has over 20+ years of experience in Purchasing & Warehousing Management in the Entertainment & Hospitality Industry. Alan joined Caesars Entertainment in June 2011 and is currently the Vice President of Procurement responsible for overseeing Regional Procurement, Warehousing, Supplier Diversity and Sustainability for all Caesars’ properties. Prior to this role, Alan has held multiple Regional Director positions throughout the country most recently the Senior Director of the Western Region. Before coming to Caesars, Alan spent 4 years as the Purchasing Manager at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC and 10 years as the Purchasing and Warehouse Manager at Six Flags America in Maryland.

Egwu Nwankpah

Head of Supplier Diversity
Cushman & Wakefield

Egwu Nwankpah is the Head of Supplier Diversity at Cushman & Wakefield. Egwu is responsible for establishing and maintaining the Global Supplier Diversity Strategy. Egwu is a key part of both the Procurement function as well as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. In this role he is an advocate for diverse suppliers, provides critical information related to current and potential diverse suppliers, leads engagement with external organizations aligned to supplier diversity, and promotes utilization of diverse suppliers globally to both internal and external stakeholders.

Before coming to Cushman & Wakefield, Egwu was a Vice President at Bank of America as he served as part of the Supplier Diversity and Responsible Sourcing team. Egwu is noted by several supplier diversity councils and organizations for his work in the field of Supplier Diversity. Prior to his work at Bank of America, Egwu was a Manager in the Financial Services group of Deloitte & Touché LLP. In that role, he provided auditing, accounting and advisory services to both public and private clients, inclusive of banks, broker dealers and mortgage banks. Egwu has more than 23 years of combined relevant experience in the realms of internal audit and advisory services, vendor management, supplier diversity/development, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Egwu earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Accounting from Andrews University where he graduated as a member of the prestigious J. N. Andrews Honors Program. He holds an MBA from the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where his focus area was Global Strategy. He is a Certified Public Accountant (NY, MD,and CA), Certified Auditor (IIA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (AICPA).

In his spare time Egwu is very involved in local and national civic activities, church activities, cheering for various sports teams, and most importantly spending quality time with his beautiful wife and three daughters.

Axel Adams

Manager - Supplier Diversity and Inclusion
Delta Air Lines

Axel D. Adams is employed with Delta Air Lines as a Manager in Supplier Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion where he and his colleagues are responsible for ensuring diverse businesses have an opportunity to secure contracts for business with Delta. Prior to Delta, he had a brief stint as National Director of African American Outreach with 2020 Presidential Candidate Tom Steyer’s Campaign. His overall responsibility keeping the campaign focused on AA voters, issues, concerns and what is most important to them.

Axel’s most noted employment was noted with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (RPC) where the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. is the Founder and President. Axel served in a many roles such as the Chief Operations Officer in the Chicago Headquarters managing all operations/departments of the organization. staff, finance, education, trade bureau, press, finding, national and regional conventions, and cooperate relationships, emerging markets, and regional offices to name a few. He also held the positions of Bureau Chief, and National Youth Director.

Prior to RPC, Axel was with Westinghouse Savannah River Company as a supervisor in the Nuclear Materials Processing Division. During his employment there, he was the first African American to receive the Community Service Award.

Axel is a recipient of many awards/honors such as the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama; The Georgia Assembly passed House Bill 1984 for his dedication to the betterment of the citizens of the State of Georgia; South Carolina Senate recognized Axel Adams and passed Resolution 1118 for his significant contributions and outstanding achievements in the fields of politics, business, and community outreach. He is the author of “The Journey”, a book detailing his life experiences in politics, community service, and social activism. He is President of the Axel Adams Foundation (www.axeladamsfoundation.com), which is committed to making long-term improvements in education, health and wellness, and combating socioeconomic issues in the Central Savannah River Area. Axel has the honor of being the first African American elected to serve on City Council in New Ellenton South Carolina at the early age of 22 years old, serving two-four-year elected terms on city council. And he was Acting-Mayor and Police commissioner for three years, and the first African American to serve in this capacity as well.

He has a master’s in business administration, and bachelor’s degree in business management. Axel says that God is first and foremost in his life.

April-Kelly Drummond

Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Denny's

Nearly 25 years ago, April Kelly-Drummond began her professional career as a wide-eyed, ambitious executive assistant to corporate diversity and community relations. Now, she’s leading “America’s Diner” diversity initiatives, playing a significant role in transforming the company’s image and forging lasting relationships with a who’s who in diverse national organizations.

April serves as the Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for Denny’s Inc., the nation’s largest family dining restaurant operator with more than $2 billion in annual sales. She has been an integral player in championing the company’s “Bold Way Forward,” a company-wide ongoing effort to create diversity at all levels, improve corporate culture and strengthen and expand relationships with community partners. The award-winning executive has been named to Savoy’s Top 100 Influential Women in Corporate America.

Among her many accomplishments, she established and chairs Denny's first DEI Council chair, sponsored by CEO and Denny's board member. This includes seven business resource groups that impact the local and national community. She also played a pivotal role in and negotiated Denny’s title sponsorship of the Orange Blossom Classic, an event that had not occurred in 43 years.

April is an experienced executive in corporate diversity and multicultural affairs who currently works directly with all members of the company’s C-Suite and marketing team to create effective programs and partnerships with major national organizations.

She has become known as an effective collaborator in the company, coordinating messaging and program implementation with corporate board members, the executive team, and the media to help strengthen and raise the profile of Denny’s work in diversity, its core products, and services. She has become a key team member in helping to roll out the company’s outreach for its major Hungry for Education program.

As part of this major corporate initiative, the company has awarded more than $1.3 million in scholarships, recognizing academic achievement and students in elementary, high school and college who have worked in their communities to help end hunger. April has forged relationships with nine diverse organizations including, the Tom Joyner Foundation, the U.S. Pan American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation, the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI), the Urban League of the Upstate of South Carolina, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and the Magic Johnson Foundation to create the “Hungry for Education” Scholarship program.

April also has helped raised Denny’s profile with many organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Civil Rights Museum, The King Center, the National Urban League, the National Action Network, the Step Up Foundation, and the Hispanic College Fund. She has worked tirelessly to help the company gain significant national media attention from civil rights groups for becoming a corporate example of increasing diversity among its workforce, its franchisees and its vendors. She has received numerous awards and coverage on TV (60 Minutes), Fortune, Black Enterprise, and Essence. Other recognition for April and Denny’s efforts have appeared in Hispanic Business, Savoy Magazine, Family Digest, and Latino Magazine. She has been acknowledged at the beginning of the book, titled “Denny’s Turnaround Story” by Jim Adamson for the contributions made to Denny’s Brand Acknowledged in the book, titled “Managing for Diversity for a Global Inclusive Workforce” by Michalle E. Mor Barak.

Additionally, she was named South Carolina Women of the Year /Human and Community Relations Award by the Governor of South Carolina; was named Minority Advocate of the Year by Asian Enterprise Magazine for two consecutive years. In her community, April is a corporate board member of the League of United Latin American Citizen Multicultural Foodservice Hospitality Alliance, the Southern Area Links, Incorporated, and a former board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate. She is currently president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated chapter and president of the Lambda Rho Omega chapter of Gaffney, SC.

April believes that you must continuously learn, putting knowledge into practice. She demonstrated that philosophy while working on her B.A. in Professional Studies with a concentration in organizational leadership and development at the College of Charleston. As an example of her ability to bring disparate groups together to rally around a common cause, April and Denny’s co-sponsored with the college “Advancing Diversity and Inclusion: Building Successful Organizations and Communities,” a conference that attracted over 200 attendees. In an interview, April later said, “My goal was to apply my learnings to impact my job and the community … I was able to achieve this goal by participating in the evolution of the CofC’s (diversity) event.”

Randy Brown

Sr. Manager, Supplier Diversity
Denny's

Randy Brown is the Sr. Manager, Supplier Diversity for Denny’s. The award-winning executive i charged with managing and expanding the company’s supplier diversity program. Brown works closely to identify procurement opportunities around the country with certified diverse companies, including small disadvantaged, minority business enterprises, veteran-owned, woman business enterprises, LGBTQ+owned, disabled veteran-owned or disabled-owned. Prior to joining Denny’s, he played an instrumental role at Emory University in winning the Jesse L.Moore's2021 Supplier Diversity Award from Insight into Diversity.

The Georgia Minority Supplier Diversity Council also awarded Emory its George Lottier Rising Star Award during Brown’s tenure at the university. Brown has served on Emory University’s Business Diversity Council, National Minority Supplier Diversity Council Mentor Program, and the Georgia Minority Supplier Diversity Council’s Executive Council. He is currently aboard advisor for Spectrum Autism, a board member of Encourage Men Ministries Inc., and a member of the Georgia State University Entrepreneurship & Innovation Institute Strategic Planning Ecosystem Subcommittee. Brown received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson School of Business.

Allen Reddick

Executive Director of Economic Impact & Workforce Inclusion
Drexel University

Allen is the Executive Director of Economic Impact and Workforce Inclusion at Drexel University. Allen oversees Drexel’s Accounts Payable and Procurement Services supplier and workforce inclusion efforts. In his role, Allen is responsible for ensuring equal and open purchasing and hiring opportunity. Allen works alongside Drexel’s Strategic Sourcing team and serves as a resource to all University departments for increasing spend with Small, Minority, Women, Veteran, Service Disabled and LGBTQ+ owned businesses. In addition, Allen and his team work to provide 191XX zips code residents with equal and open access to job opportunities, skills training, and construction trade development.

From 2015 to 2018, Allen served as the Category Manager of Supplier Diversity for Ricoh Americas Corporation, a global technology. From 2007 to 2015, Allen worked as the Director of Operations for Alpha Enterprise Group, a national consumable goods distribution company voted Black Enterprise Largest Top 100 Black Owned Businesses. In 2014, Allen was recognized as the President’s Award Winner, an award given to employees that successfully demonstrate collaborative efforts that improve efficiency Externally, Allen is involved with key organizations geared toward supplier inclusion, procurement, work force development, and civic engagement. Allen is a current Board member for the Women’s Business Enterprise Council East and Vice President of Black Employees At Drexel (BEAD) colleague resource group. He serves as co-chair on West Philadelphia’s Promise Zone Workforce and Economic Development Committee, national strategic leader for Drexel University’s Women 100 VisionForward program, and former board member of The Institute of Supply Chain Management of Philadelphia. In 2022, Allen was the recipient of the City of Philadelphia Citation Award during Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week, for his valuable contributions to the city’s growing minority business community. He most recently was acknowledged in ISM Magazine in the Members Making News section.

Allen is a graduate of the University of Delaware, a Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity

through the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) and a Certified Professional in Diversity & Inclusion through Cornell University. Currently he is study for his Masters in Business Administration at Drexel University with a concentration in Sustainability & Social Im pac

Maria Prince

Global Procurement ESG Leader
DuPont

Maria is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience inStrategic Sourcing, Product Development Supplier Diversity, Sustainabilityand Supply Chain, working forwell-known companies like Walmart,PepsiCo, Sysco Foods, Academy Sports & Outdoors and LBrands.Maria has spent her career leading and developing people, managingsuccessful cross functional teams, building relationships and gettingresults that improve profitability.

She has multiple industry experience infood and beverage, consumer packaged goods, technology, and retail.Shehasabreadth ofDE&I, sustainability,sourcing knowledge and bestpractice experience she has leveraged throughout her career. Her international experience hasallowed her to travel the globe working with diverse teams and supply chain partners.As the Global Procurement ESG Leader, MarialeadsSupplier Diversity and Sustainability,DE&Iand Supply Chain RiskManagement.She will lead these efforts across a procurementorganization thatsupports40 countries,90 manufacturing sites and 10 global R&D centers.Before joining DuPont, Maria was Vice President at NMSDC (National Minority SupplierDevelopment Council), the largest organization certifying minority owned businesses (MBEs) anddedicated to the development and growth of MBEs working with member corporations toprovide business opportunities.

In her role, she developed programs that provided training,business opportunities and capital investment for minority business owners. She has also beenkey executive of aminority business which gives her a unique perspective on what it’s like to bea business owner.Maria earned her MBA from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University ofTexas at Dallas. She volunteers for several charities that support women, is a 25-year memberof Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and a member of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) aprofessional organization for sourcing and procurement practitioners.

She is a frequent guestspeaker and panelist on the topics ofESG,DE&I, Supplier Diversity and Strategic Sourcing.She has earned numerous awards and recognition for her work in developing minority andwomen owned businesses and has servedon several nonprofit boards.Her most recent awardwas being nameda top 25 Diversity Change Leader by Diversity Plus magazine.She currentlyserves on the Tuck Business School Diversity Board at Dartmouth College andrecently joinedthe board of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerceand theGlobal Diversity AdvisoryCouncil for the World Trade Center ofPhiladelphia

Dipali Hunjan

Director, Indirect Sourcing
Edwards Lifesciences

Bruce Mizokami

VP, Indirect Sourcing
Edwards Lifesciences

Kimberley Thompson

Global Diversity & Inclusion Leader
Edwards Lifesciences

Inclusion thought leader, diversity, inclusion and equity strategist, culture changer, influencer, internal and relationship architect with over 15 + years related experience in diversity and inclusion design, management and community engagement.

Currently practicing D&I in the healthcare industry. Prior to that spent 12 years at Starbucks Coffee Company, providing D&I subject matter expertise, best practices, tools and strategic consultation across the corporate and retail businesses.

Kimberley has a Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Sociology (Race Relations and Education) from University of California, Los Angeles. She holds several certifications: D&I from eCornell, Unconscious Bias and Cultural Intelligence training.

Outside of work, Kimberley enjoys listening to podcasts and running, spending time with her husband, George, and children George, Alexander (twins) and Grace.

Dwayne Norris

Corporate Supplier Diversity Manager
Enterprise Holdings

Dwayne Norris has worked for Enterprise Holdings for the past 17 years. During his time he has served on the North American DE&I Team for Enterprise Holdings for two years from 2018-2020 and the Southeast Region DE&I Team for Enterprise Holdings two years from 2020-2022. He managed daily rental operations as an Area Manager with Enterprise in Orlando FL, including the Orlando International Airport (Largest car rental facility in the world). He is an Alumni of the University of Florida where he earned a BA in History w/ concentration on General Business. He was also a student athlete, playing football at the University of Florida from 2001-2004 (Defensive Tackle). Dwayne was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.

Hoda Hawa

Civil Rights Policy Lead
Google

Hoda Hawa is the Civil Rights Policy Lead at Google where she engages civil rights and multicultural organizations to build internal and external expertise on the ways in which technology and public policy impact BIPOC and vulnerable communities. Prior to joining Google, she was VP of Social Impact at Participant Media, the leading media company dedicated to entertainment that inspired audiences to engage in positive social change, and was the Director of the Washington DC Office for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a national policy advocacy organization working to promote and strengthen American pluralism by increasing understanding and improving policies that impact American Muslims.

Hoda has an M.A. in Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs from American University and a B.A. in Political Science from the George Washington University.

Maria Elena Duron

Professional Trainer
Google

Maria is a speaker for the Grow with Google partner program. She helps businesses profitably harness their personal brand, content, and referral marketing. Her wide range of clients includes hotels, restaurants, inventors, authors, and web series creators.

Maria is a guest lecturer at the University of Texas SBDC, editor-in-chief of the award winning Personal Branding Blog, and a contributing columnist for publications like Business Insider, American Business Journal, Fox Business, US News & World Report, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post, and The Young Entrepreneurs Council. Maria was awarded the Texas Governor’s Excellence in Small Business Award and is the founder of #brandchat, a recognized online chat focused on marketing and branding. She earned her B.B.A. in marketing from Texas Tech University and graduate work at Cornell University, University of California in Davis, and University of Phoenix.

Erin Timmerman

Director, Global Supplier Diversity
GSK

Simone Ray

Director, Corporate Procurement & Supplier Diversity
Hilton

Simone Ray leads Hiltons award-winning Supplier Diversity program, advancing their commitment to increase diversity in supply chain. She partners with HSM category leaders to identify, develop, and mentor minority suppliers. Simone also collaborates closely with Hilton’s D&I team and is always looking for a referral to small and minority business owners!  She is originally from Orlando, Florida and attended Florida State University with a concentration on Merchandising. She’s worked with leading retail companies such as Macy’s and JC Penney, holding positions in buying, planning and product development. For her work at Hilton, she was named Buyer of the Year in 2020 by Minority Business News USA. In her free time Simone enjoys hosting events and meeting like-minded creative and community leaders.

Anita Ramdhani

Manager - Program Delivery and Analysis
JP Morgan Chase

In her role as Program Manager for the Office of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs – a DEI Center of Excellence – Anita oversees programming for the team’s Business Growth and Entrepreneurship pillar and supports overall infrastructure and operations.

Since joining the firm in 2013, Anita has held multiple roles with the Consumer Bank’s Client & Employee Experience team and the Market Expansion Field Strategy & Support Program Management team, supporting Chase’s retail expansion into 25 new states. Anita served as chair of NextGen, the firm’s early career professional Business Resource Group, from 2020-2022 and currently serves as an advisor.

Anita is very closely tied to her Indo-Caribbean & South Asian roots and is actively involved in celebrating both communities in the Tampa Bay area, particularly through her involvement in Delta Phi Omega, a South Asian Interest Sorority.

Vivian Young

Global Head of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs
JPMorgan Chase

Vivian Young has over 15 years of leadership experience in the financial services industry. In her current role as global head of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs for JPMorgan Chase, Vivian is responsible for developing a leading a global, unified strategy to advance equity and inclusion for the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community. Key focus areas include driving opportunity and progress through increased cultural understanding and collaboration; raising awareness about cultural identity and the challenges faced by underserved individuals and communities; supporting API communities globally through public advocacy, economic inclusion and community development.

Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Vivian spent 7 years at Charles Schwab Advisor Services, where she was responsible for strategy, execution and management of the Family Office and Investment Consultant client segment. She also served as business lead on new product initiatives for trust products, ETFs, mutual funds and separately managed accounts. Previous to Charles Schwab, Vivian was a relationship manager and team lead at U.S. Trust Company of New York providing financial planning services to high net worth individuals and families in the Wealth Management division.

Vivian Joined JPMorgan Chase in 2012 leading strategic initiatives for the Product and Platform team in the Private Bank and J.P.Morgan Wealth Management. She was responsible for product management, development and expansion of Trusts & Estates services, donor advised fund, and financial planning tools. She most recently was global head of Bank Product Marketing in Asset & Wealth Management, developing strategies to deepen client relationships and drive business growth. Working in partnership with Product leadership in banking, lending, mortgage, annuities, trusts and estates, and cyber and fraud, Vivian lead the content development and implementation of strategic marketing programs.

Vivian received a BA in Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.

She resides in New York City with her husband and two children.

Learn more about Vivian:

⦁ Office of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs at JPMorgan Chase https://www.jpmorganchase.com/...

⦁ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vi...

⦁ Bringing a cultural lens to her community: Women on the Move podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episo...

Debra Quade

Supplier Diversity Manager
Kellogg's

Debra Quade is the Supplier Diversity Manager at Kellogg Company. Prior to joining Kellogg, she served as Supplier Diversity Specialist at Toyota Boshoku America in Erlanger, Kentucky and Magna Donnelly in Holland, Michigan.

Debra serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in addition to leading a MiDiCo module for supplier inclusion and opportunity. She represents Kellogg Company on the National Minority Supplier Development Council Working Group, and the Corporate Advisory Council for the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in addition to participating on the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Programs Committee, the Food Marketing Institute Group Supplier Diversity Committee, WEConnect International Agricultural Industry Group and the Food & Beverage Industry Group.

Quinae J. Ewing

Supplier Diversity Manager
MassMutual

Doing Business with Corporations & Government Agencies Roundtables

Quinae J. Ewing is a MassMutual Supplier Diversity manager, supporting the company’s innovative supplier diversity strategy that aligns with MassMutual's core values, and was appointed to this position in July 2022. With more than two decades of manufacturing, engineering, global procurement and supplier diversity management experience at Xerox Corporation, Quinae has managed significant corporate initiatives across North America, Asia, and Europe.

Quinae is an active and visible member of his community. He has worked as an adjunct professor of Mathematics at Monroe Community College (Rochester, NY) and also served on the Board of Directors at the Carlson Metro Center YMCA (Rochester, NY). Quinae represented Xerox Corporation as a corporate member of the Portland Black Business Association (Portland, OR) and over the past ten years, has attended various Supplier Diversity and Sustainability conferences and activities nationwide.

Quinae holds a Master of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Business from Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). He earned Bachelor of Science degrees in both Interdisciplinary Science and Mechanical Engineering from Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA) and North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, NC) respectively. Quinae is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated (Gamma Kappa Chapter) and Pi Tau Sigma National Mechanical Engineering Honor Society

Naina Patel

Head of Supplier Management
MassMutual

Naina Patel has over 20 years of experience as a leader in all areas of global procurement within pharma and insurance industries. Leading operations strategic sourcing, Category, and supplier management as well as manufacturing and supply chain strategy. Naina is results-driven and drives maximum value by leading change, creating vision, collaboration, inclusive approach, and inspiring people to achieve goals. Throughout her career Naina has focused on driving simplicity, process improvement, operational excellence, relationship management and organizational transformation.

In her current Executive leadership role at MassMutual life Insurance company as Head of Supplier Management Naina is focused on aligning and working closely with MassMutual leadership and cross-functional stakeholders across all business units to ensure that the management of MassMutual suppliers is executed consistently and efficiently across all levels while driving diversity and inclusion within the process and with supplier partners

Naina is an Avid runner, loves cooking and traveling.

Andrea Arce

Specialist, Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity
Merck

Andrea Arce is a Specialist, Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity at Merck. Joining the company in 2019, as part of the Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity Team, Andrea has been responsible for supporting Research Development Sourcing & Procurement category when it pertains to sourcing diverse suppliers. Andrea also leads the Merck Drexel Advanced Leadership Program for Diverse Suppliers, along with external and internal communications. Prior to joining Merck, Andrea was the Site Manager at Express Employment Professionals, where she was responsible for large clients and their staffing needs. Andrea has a Bachelor of Arts from William Paterson University.

Eric Toda

Head of Meta Prosper & Global Head of Social Marketing
Meta

James Czarnecki

SVP & Chief Procurement Officer
MGM Resorts International

Chuck White

Vice President of Procurement, Nationwide
Chair, CPO Forum & CPO Council

Chief Procurement Officers Forum

Charles White leads the Procurement group at Nationwide covering all source to pay functions, corporate travel, supplier diversity and risk management. Charles has over two decades of experience in diverse sectors including, financial services, high tech, and consumer electronics manufacturing. He has covered a wide range of direct and indirect categories while working for some of the largest companies in the Technology and Financial Services. He recently joined Nationwide in December 2018 from Charles Schwab and prior to that was with Fidelity, Deutsche Bank and Microsoft. He is a US Navy Veteran and former aircraft carrier based jet pilot. He graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Saima Cardwell

Certified Supplier Diversity Specialist
SAS Institute

Saima has had a lifelong passion for helping others for the past 8 years and is the supplier diversity specialist. Her current role allows her to use this passion and energy by engaging with diverse business owners, and SAS to increase utilization of minority, women, veteran, LGBTQ and disabled-owned businesses. Currently she serves on the ISM-Carolina Virginia-Triangle Chapter- President, HarmonyNC - Board of Directors. Disability-IN-NC- Board of Directors.

Saima has held various positions in her 24+ years at SAS, Finance, Licensing & Contracts, Strategic Sourcing & Procurement. Her experience has given her an in-depth knowledge of business development, contracts and sourcing & procurement. She has a Bachelor's from Campbell University.

Purvee Kondal

Vice President, Strategic Sourcing, Indirect Procurement, & Supplier Diversity
Sephora 

Dennis Thurston

Supplier Diversity Manager
Southern California Edison

Dennis J. Thurston, a 36-year employee of Southern California Edison (SCE), beginning in August of 1987 serving in his current capacity as a Supplier Diversity Program Manager for 25 years assisting small and diverse businesses understand the Company’s general procurement practices and procedures.

Prior to SCE, Mr. Thurston worked at Consolidated Edison in New York bringing 12 years of experience with him.

In 2021, Dennis received the 2021 Corporate Advocate of the Year Award from the Southern California Minority Development Council.

In 2018, Dennis received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California for outstanding work within the Native American business community and tribal leaders.

The U.S. Small Business Administration, Santa Ana District Office selected Dennis as the 2017 Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for his devotion to the success and advancement of Veterans in business in his professional capacity at SCE and his personal life.

During the 2017 Inaugural Veterans In Business (VIB) Network National Conference, Dennis Thurston received the Above & Beyond Bravo Zulu Award recognizing Veteran Business Advocates that go Above & Beyond to help the Veteran business community grow and succeed.

In 2016 Dennis was nominated for the State Agency Recognition Awards (SARA) given by the Department of General Services.

In recognition of his contributions as a role model of Edison International’s values and guiding behaviors of integrity, continuous growth and improvement, excellence, respect, and teamwork, Dennis was awarded the Chairman’s Award, now the Edison Award in 2009. Edison selects only 40 employees out of over 15,000 for the first of the prestigious award.

Mr. Thurston still volunteers for many community activities geared toward mentorship and guidance of small and diverse businesses in the areas of career, jobs, and starting businesses.

For the past 27 years, served as an off-ice official for the National Hockey League (NHL) assigned to the Anaheim Ducks and Dennis represented the NHL at the first ever game played outside North America in Japan, Helsinki, and Berlin.

Joyce Christanio

Senior Program Manager, Supplier Diversity
T-Mobile

Doing Business with Corporations & Government Agencies Roundtables

Accomplished leader with over 20 year's experience managing Supplier Diversity, Contract Negotiations and leading cross-functional teams of an organization to achieve cost savings. Write policy language, programs and processes to advance a corporation's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals. Joyce recently developed T-Mobile’s workforce development program - NextTech Diversity to nationally fund training and job placement for women and men of color to become network technicians and network equipment drivers.

Author of "Dressing Classy Doesn't Change" which provides women an overview of the do's and don'ts of proper workplace attire. Information that Corporate America doesn’t share with women is included in this book. One Reader Commented: The author has hit the "nail on the head" as she mixes humor, personal experiences and concrete advice regarding proper attire for women in any setting and at any income level. Women buy this fun and easy to read book for you and all the young girls you know. Men buy it for all the women in your life. It is a keepsake.

Dan Edwards

Vice President, Direct Procurement
Trane Technologies

Dan Edwads has been the Vice President of Direct Procurement since August 2022. He joined Trane Technologies (Formerly Ingersoll Rand) in 2002 and has over 15 years experience in strategic sourcing and category management.

Prior to joining Trane Technologies, Dan worked with FreeMarkets and Authur Andersen LLP, both located in Pittsburgh, PA. Dan holds an NMBA from Indiana University, as well as a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon. University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Lisbeth Lundstedt

Director, Supplier Diversity and Sustainability
Nationwide

Jackie LaJoie

Retired Diversity Supplier Manager

Jackie LaJoie joined Ingersoll Rand in September 2012. She has overall leadership responsibility for Supplier Diversity and Supplier Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand. In this role, she is responsible for building world class programs and driving results around supplier diversity strategy throughout the enterprise as well as supplier sustainability in areas such as conflict minerals and environmental initiatives.

In her supplier diversity leadership role, Jackie created a strategic plan for Ingersoll Rand based on NMSDC Best Practices to ensure a successful and sustainable program that creates jobs for supplier partners, economic growth for local communities, and customers for life for Ingersoll Rand. Specifically, to ensure sustainability and future growth of the program, she created a robust program and various supplier development initiatives to equip 41 direct and indirect commodity teams to identify and document supplier requirements and opportunities.

Under Jackie’s leadership, Ingersoll Rand spend with minority-owned businesses has increased 228% over the past three years. Jackie’s work also resulted in a $50,000 grant from the Ingersoll Rand Foundation to support an NMSDC Center of Excellence with the TriState MSDC, which launched in August 2016. As a result, 10 corporations and 20+ minority-owned businesses are spending 18 months working together to improve the corporations’ supplier diversity programs, and build capacity and increase business opportunities for the MBEs.

Prior to joining Ingersoll Rand, she served as vice president of the Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council, director of Supplier Diversity at Merck and manager of Supplier Diversity at legacy AT&T.

Jackie is also the co-founder of Diversity Alliance for Science in 2007, a non-profit organization focused on supplier diversity in the life science and healthcare industries. Under the leadership of Jackie and Leah Brown, her co-founder, the organization unites healthcare, pharmaceutical, academic and government entities with industry diversity leaders, such as NMSDC, to promote economic growth of small and diverse companies.

Jackie has been recognized nationally for her leadership and service in the Supplier Diversity field with multiple awards and recognitions across her 28-year career, including:

· Co-founder and past president of Diversity Alliance for Science

· Best of the Decade and Women Who Mean Business – Minority Business News

· Top 25 Women of Power Impacting Diversity – Diversity Plus Magazine

· Supplier Diversity Advocate of the Year – U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce

· Chairman’s Award – PA-NJ-DE Minority Supplier Development Council (MSDC)

· YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry Award – YWCA of Central New Jersey

· First Ladies of Supplier Diversity – MBNUSA and Women Business Enterprise USA Magazine

· Champions of Supplier Diversity – Diversity Plus Magazine

· Women Who Mean Business – MBNUSA

· First Ladies of Supplier Diversity – MBNUSA / WEUSA

· Supplier Diversity Advocate – AT&T CEO

· El Paso Trade Conference – Keys to City of El Paso

· AT&T Creating Excellence Award

She has a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration and a B.S. in Economics from High Point University and an MBA from Wake Forest University. She and Ed, her husband, reside in Mooresville, N.C. Jackie enjoys spending time with her son and daughter and spoiling Franklin, her first grandchild and pride and joy.

Edkedsha (KeeKee) Mathis

Supplier Sustainability & Diversity Senior Leader
Trane Technologies

KeeKee joined Trane Technologies in April 2021, before joining Trane Technologies, she worked in the automotive industry for thirteen years at Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. where she was the Supplier Diversity Manager. Her accolades include an array of awards, acknowledgements, and nationwide recognitions including but not limited to 2017 and 2022 Corporation of the Year and Corporate Representative of the Year for (TSMSDC) TriState Minority Supplier Development Council and 2022 USPAACC Corporation of the Year. She has been recognized for many years as one of the Top 30 Diversity Professionals and Women Leading Diversity on a national level as a leader in the Supplier Diversity community. She has held many board seats and has chaired many boards across the nation. She is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, Urban League’s Inclusion by Design, YALP, and is a part of the current cohort of Leadership Tennessee. KeeKee brings more has more than 26+ years within purchasing which includes supporting as a regional buyer, service buyer, supply chain support, key user for all the purchasing systems and continuous improvement such as (TPM) Total Planned Maintenance, QCDSM, and Lean Management. She is committed to mentor diverse suppliers but also to build strategic “partnerships” and “alliances” with diverse suppliers. Now, also leading supplier sustainability within her organization her role is the integration of social, ethical, and environmental performance factors into the process of selecting suppliers. The goal is to build strong, long term relationships with suppliers as we “Boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world.”

KeeKee holds has a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from University of Phoenix, Chattanooga, TN.

Donna Ruff

Director, Supplier Diversity and Development
U.S. Bank

Donna Ruff joined the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team, managing Supplier Diversity & Development at Union Bank in 2018, where the bank was committed to promoting economic vitality in the communities they serve and increasing the number of diverse business enterprises from which they purchase goods and services.

Donna brings a unique perspective to Supplier Diversity, having sat on both sides of the table as a prime supplier and as a large corporation that prime suppliers seek to partner with. She works diligently to help diverse businesses do business with the bank and find other growth opportunities for those businesses. Donna brings her knowledge and experiences to continue building on strong, sustainable, and inclusive initiatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA. Before joining the Union Bank family, Donna brings more than 15 years of experience, jointly supporting business development and managing supplier diversity for a non-diverse private corporation, where she was successful at bringing new revenue streams to the company and creating/implementing the company-wide supplier diversity program.

Donna is a committee participant with the Financial Services Roundtable for Supplier Diversity, Western Regional Supplier Development Council Board Member and Board Secretary, Advisory Council Co-Chairperson for the Asian Business Association – Los Angeles, Advisory Council Member with the UC Small and Diverse Business Advisory Council, Veterans in Business Network Corporate Advisory Board Member, California Commanders Veteran Council Member, Council for Supplier Diversity San Diego Board Member and Vermont Slauson Educational Development Corporation Board Member

Tom Lutz

Senior Vice President Enterprise Procurement Partners
U.S. Bank

Tom Lutz joined U.S. Bancorp as Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer in April 2008. He has been responsible for strategic sourcing, acquisitions, and supplier diversity. Since joining U.S. Bancorp 15 years ago, Tom has focused on delivering significantly greater value across the enterprise through more effective internal alignment, risk management, improved vendor relationships, strategic talent management, and a shareholder-centric view of operating costs and business practices.

Tom has thirty eight years of experience in the areas of procurement, supply chain management, and information systems. Tom serves as board member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council effective. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Tom spent twenty years with General Mills in a variety of roles, and three years with Pulte Homes as national vice president of procurement. Tom currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Bethlehem College & Seminary.

Tom is a native of Minnesota, and received a bachelor’s degree in business and systems analysis from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Tom and his wife Heather have six children and three grandchildren.

Eloisa Hubilla-Reus

DEI Asian and Indigenous People Segment Manager
U.S. Bank

Leads in creating the long-term vision for the Asian and Indigenous Peoples segment and developing growth business plans. Partners with business lines to provide segment-specific cultural insights, and consults on internal and external programs. Provides segment specific strategy and insights to inform business activity and market engagement for employees, customers and communities.

Pafoua Xiong

Procurement Supplier Diversity Specialist
U.S. Bank

Pafoua Xiong joined the Supplier Diversity team at U.S. Bank in 2021 as the Procurement Supplier Diversity Specialist, where her work is focused on enhancing the Supplier Diversity program by actively working to grow relationships with diverse-owned businesses and partners. Shortly after joining the Bank, Pafoua became a board member for the Asian Heritage Business Resource Group (BRG).

Pafoua founded her way into this industry after working as a Merchandiser Assistant at The Scoular Company managing the inventory of pet food ingredients. She later moved on to support the non-retail side of supply chain at Target for 3 years.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota where she majored in Journalism and Communication Studies.

Outside of the office, you can find her hiking around state parks with her Pitbull, listening to supernatural podcasts, and spending time with her family.

Sherry Singh

Senior Director, Supplier Diversity Sourcing
Walmart

As of January 2023, Sherry leads the strategy and team responsible for building an inclusive supply chain at Walmart that is reflective of Walmart’s customer base. She is tasked with helping to grow Walmart’s direct and indirect spend with certified diverse owned businesses. Her team works as business partners to help build diverse supplier connections, drive internal engagement, and support external stakeholder collaborations all in service of helping to level the playing field for diverse owned businesses to grow with Walmart.

Prior to taking on this role Sherry was Director, Sustainability Walmart.Org from October 2016 where she led several commitments and programs. Sherry began her Walmart career in 2012 at Massmart in South Africa, where she was responsible for accelerating Massmart’s flagship supplier development program with a focus on diverse suppliers, women owned suppliers and small and medium-sized businesses. Prior to Walmart, Sherry had a career in international development, international trade, and management consulting. Sherry holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford where she was a Rhodes Scholar and a BA (Hons) Political Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal where she was a Ronald H. Brown Foundation for Commercial Diplomacy fellow.

Ruben Barrales

Senior Vice President, External Engagement, Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion
Wells Fargo

Jerome Flores

Senior Consultant - Diversity & Inclusion
Wells Fargo

Jerome Flores is a Senior Diversity & Inclusion consultant focused on enhancing the employee resource network program to grow leadership capabilities, bench strength and serve as a diverse resource to influence business outcomes. Jerome has always been passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging helping to stand up the Washington, DC chapter of Pride Connections, and forming relationships through community outreach and engagement.

As a highly skilled and experienced professional, Jerome has spent 19+ years working in the financial services industry. With a proven track record of success. Jerome is become known for their thought leadership, creativity, problem-solving, and attention to detail. Jerome has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Certificate from University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, Office of Executive Education, and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Pennsylvania State University and is committed to staying up to date with the latest industry trends and best practices.

And is based in Washington, DC

Barbara Kubicki-Hicks

Chief Procurement Officer
Wells Fargo

Barbara Kubicki-Hicks is a seasoned executive with over 25 years’ experience in supply chain management and global procurement operations in the financial services industry. She is the chief procurement officer at Well Fargo, responsible for leading Supply Chain Management, which is comprised of strategic sourcing, procure-to-pay, supplier diversity, and

third-party risk management functions. Her team executes end-to-end supply chain activities and third-party initiatives that align with business priorities and leads strategic, enterprise-wide programs with focus on third- party expense optimization.

Previously, Barb was a senior procurement executive at Bank of America responsible for end-to-end procurement, associated risk management and third party program adherence for all eight lines of business, and led a procurement transformation initiative to simplify the end-to-end third- party process, reduce connections, restructure roles to gain economies of scale, and replace current technology solutions.

Barb serves on the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee as board chairperson. During her 10- year tenure on the WBENC Board of Directors, she was also Corporate Membership and Revenue Generation Committee chairperson, co- chairperson of the Strategic Planning Resources Committee, and active member of the Marketing Committee.

Over the course of her career, Barb has held a variety of supply chain management, procurement, and technology roles with a proven track record for developing procurement professionals, delivering consistent results by balancing business needs, risk and value, as well as leading business transformation enabled by technology.

Lester Romero

Vice President - Regional Business Relationship Banking
Wells Fargo

Lester Romero now serves as the Business Growth Strategy Senior Manager for Wells Fargo. In his role, he is directly responsible for managing small business banking managers and bankers who support business customers with revenue between $100m - $5mm.

In his previous roles, he functioned as the Small Business Leader for NV/UT since 2012. He also led a team of seven payroll representatives and partnered with retail and business banking for the Wells Fargo Business Payroll Service in Nevada, Southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Romero has been with the bank for more than 27 years, starting as a Teller, then as a Personal Banker before becoming a Business Specialist and a Branch Manager. He has also worked as a Sales Development Consultant in Las Vegas where he was responsible for creating business partner relationships.

Romero has resided in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada for more than 44 year

Marleitha Williams

Supplier Diversity Program Manager
Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Board System

Doing Business with Government Panel

Marleitha G. Williams is the supplier diversity program manager for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In this capacity, she is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as it relates to the inclusion of minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises in the Board’s acquisition process.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Board in 2011, Ms. Williams worked at Alabama’s largest electric utility corporation, Alabama Power Company, where she provided leadership and strategic direction to corporate business units in delivering results toward defined supplier diversity goals.

Throughout her career in Supplier Diversity and Supplier Relations, she has been affiliated with various organizations that focus on minority and women business development, including the U. S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, National Minority Supplier Development Council and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. She has been recognized in local and national publications such as Women Enterprise USA for her work in Supplier Diversity. Ms. Williams received her bachelor’s degree from Birmingham Southern College.

Dana Greer

Deputy Chief Procurement Officer
City of Atlanta

With over 20 years of procurement experience using tactical and strategic sourcing methodologies, Dana MJ Greer demonstrates expertise in end-to-end procurement as a problem solver and servant leader while inspiring transformational change.

Having a career start in private sector supply chain management while earning undergrad and graduate degrees in Public Administration and national credentials as a certified procurement officer and project manager, she is relied upon by top levels of leadership to leverage her exposure and experience to improve operations at various levels of government including State, County, District and Local Municipalities.

Brian Horn

Chief Operating Officer
Disability:IN

Brian Horn is Chief Operating Officer at Disability:IN, the leading global nonprofit organization for advancing business disability inclusion and equality. Brian leads the organization’s operations, corporate relations, annual conference, ESG policy engagement, government affairs and other efforts.

Prior to joining Disability:IN, Brian was Legislative Assistant at the Council on Foundations. Working on the public policy and legal affairs team, he represented the Council on Capitol Hill and with executive branch departments and assisted Council members in planning and executing their policy advocacy strategies. Previously, he worked at GYMR Public Relations advising clients on strategic communications, media relations and social media. He began his career working on congressional campaigns, and in the office of U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer.

Brian serves on the advisory council of the NextGen Chamber of Commerce and previously served on the board of directors of the Capital Pride Alliance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and American studies from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Jonathan Brady

Business Development Specialist
Export - Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)

Jonathan Brady is a Business Development Specialist with the Minority and Women-Owned Business (MWOB) Outreach Group at the Export- Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). Based in Washington, DC, his business development role with the MWOB Outreach Group is to serve as the primary liaison for Hispanic business organizations and Veteran business organizations at the national, state, and local levels.

Jonathan possesses a strong background in international relations and economics from having worked for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the U.S. Treasury Department (International Banking Office), and ten years with the Ohio Department of Development’s International Trade Division.

Before joining EXIM, Jonathan worked at ExportDC, a division of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD). Promoted to Program Manager in 2015, his primary responsibilities consisted of administering business support grants for DC-based exporters, organizing trade missions, providing export counseling services, conducting international business seminars, and coordinating special projects with the foreign embassies located in the District of Columbia.

Jonathan holds a B.A. and Master of Financial Economics (MFE) from Ohio University, and is a 2009 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, with a Master of International Public Policy (MIPP).

David Longoria

Program Officer
LISC Phoenix

David Longoria is a Program Officer for Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Phoenix and the Arizona Partnership for Healthy Communities. In this role, he is responsible for the economic development efforts of the local LISC office through building capacity for local, BIPOC, minority, and women entrepreneurs; and coordinating and managing Transit-Oriented and Community Development efforts for underserved and disadvantaged areas along key business corridors throughout Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa.

David is a lifelong, native Arizonan with a background in Grassroots Organizing and Neighborhood Revitalization; and before joining LISC served for 20 years in the public sector at the County, City, and Federal government levels throughout the State.

Karla Smith Jackson

Senior Procurement Executive, Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer & Assistant Administrator for the Office of Procurement
NASA

Robert Medina

Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP)
NASA

Mr. Robert Medina is the Deputy Associate Administrator, for the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) at NASA Headquarters (HQ), since January 2023. Prior to this position, he served as a Small Business Program Manager, at NASA HQ OSBP, from September 2019 to December 2022. Mr. Medina was a Senior Procurement Analyst and Small Business Specialist at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Edwards, California from March 1994 through September 2019.

Mr. Medina is a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico and graduated from New Mexico State University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Accounting degree. After graduation he continued to work with NASA. He began his career with NASA in 1977 as a cooperative education student.

During his forty-five years with NASA, Mr. Medina has worked in many different procurement positions and at different NASA Centers. He has worked as a purchasing agent, price analyst, contract specialist, contracting officer, procurement analyst, and small business specialist. In addition to his procurement background, he worked three years at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, as an Institutional Program Manager, having oversight over NASA’s three Research Centers (Ames, Langley, and Glenn). Most recently, Mr. Medina served on a detail at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Small Business Programs, from December 2016 through December 2017, serving as a Small Business Program Manager with oversight of the small business programs at NASA Stennis Space Center, NASA Shared Services Center, and NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Mr. Medina has been a long-time supporter and member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). He is a NCMA Fellow and has held a number of NCMA chapter office positions, as well as national functional positions. Mr. Medina also is a member of the Department of Defense (DoD) Western Regional Council for Small Business Education and Advocacy and has served on the Executive Board for the council, as well as a chairperson of the council’s Interface Committee. In 2008 and 2013, he was selected as NASA’s Small Business Specialist of the Year

Justin Nelson

Co-Founder & President
National LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Justin Nelson is the Co-Founder & President of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), the business voice of the LGBT community and the largest LGBT economic advocacy and business development organization in the world.

In addition to over 50 LGBT affiliate chambers in the United States representing America's 1.4 million LGBT business owners, NGLCC leads economic development opportunities at over 20 international affiliates. NGLCC is responsible for major victories for the LGBT business community, among them the first-in-the-nation inclusion of LGBT suppliers in statewide contracting opportunities with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Justin regularly advises senior leaders at the White House, in Congress, and corporations throughout the world to build business opportunities through commitments to LGBT-inclusive supplier diversity programs. He is a sought-after speaker at conferences and meetings around the globe promoting the business case for LGBT inclusion and creating equity for the LGBT business community.

Justin and Team NGLCC are also responsible for the creation of the National Business Inclusion Consortium (NBIC), advocating the business interests of a diverse range of people, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, ethnic minority, disability, and women-owned business communities, representing a total of over $9 trillion in annual consumer spending power and significant contributions to the marketplace and workplace.

For his efforts in establishing the NGLCC, Justin was named to OUT Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Gay Success Stories. Justin was also named to the 25 Leading Men of 2006 list by Instinct Magazine, SmartCEO Magazine's 2012 Top 20 Leaders We Admire, and the 2012 Global LGBT Power 100 from the Guardian Newspaper in Great Britain. In 2010 Justin received the Outstanding Collaborative Partner Award from the U.S. Business Leadership Network for his partnership work on disability issues and is the recipient of the 2014 Vanguard Award from the Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to launching the NGLCC, Justin was the Director of Federal Affairs and External Relations for the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Washington, DC. During his tenure, the organization was named one of the top 100 lobbying organizations in Washington, DC by Forbes Magazine. Prior to lobbying Congress and the White House, Justin spent five years as an aide in the United States Senate. He has served as a past volunteer coordinator for the Wyoming Special Olympics, a Capitol Hill Chair for the March of Dimes Walk America and on the advisory board for the First Wyoming Race for the Cure. Justin holds a BA in political science from the University of Wyoming.

Ying McGuire

President & CEO
National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)

Ying McGuire is the Vice President of International Operations and Business Development at Technology Integration Group (TIG), a premier minority owned IT products, solutions and services provider based in San Diego, California with 24 offices in US, China, and a global partner network. In this role, she oversees TIG’s existing international operations and expansion of global business.

She also leads TIG’s corporate business development and supplier diversity initiative. Prior to TIG, Ying was the Global Supplier Diversity Officer at Dell Inc. She was responsible for driving three billion dollar procurement spend with diverse suppliers and she was a leading voice in the supplier diversity industry. Ying holds a variety of community leadership role. She serves on an advisory board of the International Trade Center, a United Nation agency based in Switzerland, and is currently a board member of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce.

She also served as the board chair of the Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council in Texas, a global committee member of the Woman Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), an International Committee member of the National Minority Supplier Development council (NMSDC), and a board member of the Billion Dollar Round Table.

DiversityBusiness.com named Ying as an “America’s Top Diversity Advocate”. Minority Business USA recognized Ying as one of its “Best of The Decade”. DiversityPlus Magazine named Ying as a “Champion of Diversity”.

Dick Miller

President
National Veteran Business Development Council

Matthew Pavelek

President & CEO
National Veteran-Owned Business Associations (NAVOBA)

Marcus Benefield

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI)
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

Marcus graduated from Bowie State University with a degree in Communications and concentration in Broadcast Journalism. After graduating, Marcus worked for companies such as Digital, EDS and MCI Worldcom and has 30 years of acquisitions and small business experience. Marcus previously worked at the Federal Aviation Administration for 20 years as a senior contracting officer in acquisitions and senior program analyst in the small business office, while also serving as the Program Manager for FAA’s Mentor-Protégé Program responsible for over 70 mentor-protégé and joint venture partnerships.

Marcus joined The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2018 and is currently the Business Procurement Analyst and Small Business Specialist leading the Small Business Program in the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Marcus is passionate about working with small businesses and assisting in their growth. He believes small businesses are the backbone of society and there is a renewed energy around Supplier Diversity and Inclusion in today’s workplace which should pave the way for incredible growth in the small business community.

Alisa S. Joseph

Director of Programs
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC)

Ms. Joseph has a proven record of accomplishment in leadership, strategic planning, grant writing, marketing communications and program design strategies and implementation. With over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, she brings a wealth of knowledge in financial products including those providing access to capital, supply chain management, diversity initiatives, multicultural marketing, and management. She has leveraged her expertise to help for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations achieve their goals and objectives to scale for growth, stability, and wealth, creating initiativesthat connect and leverage government contracting opportunities, certification, operations management, financing, and communications.

She currently serves as the Director of Programs for the US Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), leading with counsel, guidance, andmanagement expertise indesigning and implementing programs for Black and minority businesses to help them scale and grow. Her work has enabled USBC to serve thousands of Black businesses with digital/virtual programs and support Black chambers in the past two years. Ms. Joseph launched specialized programs like the USBC credit card, emerging loan/grant programs and financial education programs. She manages key relationships with corporate partners like American Express, Google, Facebook, JP Morgan Chase, Truist, Wells Fargo and government agencies including the US Small Business Administration (SBA), Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Businesses (OSDBU) divisions in federal government agencies.

Ms. Joseph is a graduate of Fordham University with a B.S. degree in Psychology and received her M.S. degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and has served on nonprofit boards

Ronald Busby Jr.

Head of Product, ByBlack Platform
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC)

Ron Busby Jr. is one of the cofounders of ByBlack. He leads the product team’s efforts around new features and external partnerships. Currently based in California, his primary focus is as a liaison between the engineering team and various business owners and corporate partners. He is an alumnus of Columbia University and a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Ron Uba

Acting Supervisor for the Office of Business Development
U.S. Department of Commerce

Ron Uba grew up and attended Public Schools in Denver, CO (during US Court Ordered Busing for De-Segregation.) While earning a BA at the University of Colorado, Boulder in Ground Water Trace Metal Analytics in Bio-Chemistry, where Ron was selected to participate in an Advanced Chemistry R&D Government Workforce Develpoment Program at the U.S. Department of Interior/ US Geological Survey Water Quality Resources Lab to build C-14 Geiger Counters , LAMDSAT IV Remote Satellite Ge-Mapping of Minerals, Petroleum, Gas and Water I data and Aqua-cultural Fish Tank Circular Systems, Ron was detailed to the US & Foreign Commercial Trade Service ITA at the Denver District / Regional Office at US DOC, focused on rare earth commodities purchases and international irrigation water technology for agri-business, mining, and hydroponics before joining a Remote Geo-Mapping Satellite Detection Oil, Gad and Water Colorado tech firm. At the University of Southern California, Ton received an MSC in Artificial Intelligence Modeling for Computer statistics and Artificial Intelligence I Operations Management System.

In his current role as a Senior Business Development Specialist, Ron was instrumental in identifying to scale data analytics for Strategic Growth Initiative’ (SGI) Million Dollar Sale Revenue MBE’s the Office of Business Development and participating in the DOC’s interagency Committees to Integrate Executive Orders (E.O.’s) #13985, #14008, and #14036 for preparing recommended policy practices for Aquaculture – Hydroponics Fish Farming with NOAA, USDA, and EPA, DLA and DOD/DLA Defense Logistics and Military Base Rapid Response Set Asides for Underserved Serviced Disabled Vets, Native Indigenous Alaskan Native 8 (a***’s) AIANNHPI’s GWAC’s and (HUB Zone / WOSB) SDB’s SBIR Roundtables, and B2G Matchmakers for the Infrastructure Investment in Transportation Construction, EDA / FEMA Emergency Resilience Support Function for Disasters, EPA Clen Water, GSA Green Energy Summit, Weather and Climate Diversity Equity Inclusion and Justice and has served as an Acting Supervisor in 2021 and 2022 for sharing the Lead Access role in promoting Contracts Acquisition Opportunity (Category Management and OTA’s Other Transactional Authorities) during his Team rotation detail in the Office of Business Development and Office if Native American Business Development.. Ron oversaw management of 14 NE states w. MBDA Centers prior to the 2012 move to US Department of Commerce HQ in Washington, DC during “9-11”, Ron advocated Business Data Use, Mining and Community Partnership Office at the NY Regional US Bureau of the Census / USDOC from 1998 to 2003 before joining MBDA Prudential Financial Services, and North American Corporate Business Operations to deploy Global and US Market Francise Strategic Market Development and Multimedia Technology Training while working for KUMON USA –KUMON multi- Ethnic Education in Franchise Markets to North America, 5 continents and NJ, NY, DC, and Toronto. Contributed to STEM Training with US National Teacher’s Training Institute/Public Broadcasting Stations at WNET Channel 13 NYC.

Among his achievements, Ron was recognized with the NJ Statewide AAPI Governor's Award by Governor James Mc Greever in 2003 and in 2016 Government Advocate of the Year by the National and NY-NJ Minority Supplier Diversity Council for trailblazing MBDA Government-Corporate Mentor - Protégé Advocacy to the Pharmaceutical and Bio—Life Medical by join lunching the Diversity Alliance for Science Diversity Supplier’s Conference from 2005 – 2015. Ron advanced Policy Compliance with the Westerner Pacific School and Colleges Regional Credentialing Board to revise outdated Curriculum and Test Placement Assessment for Undeterred and Minority Students involved in STEM/STEM and Advanced Placement Test Assessments to better align with California Stat Instructional and Financial / Business Technology Curriculum Design while Acting HS Principal at Stoneridge Precatory High School in San Fernando Valley ( Stage Screen Actor’s Guild). Later, Ron was selected to launch the Interdisciplinary Advanced Assessment for School-Careers in Global Environmental Ecosystem impact and Commercial Innovation Curriculum for Math, Science and Computer NGO’s by the Camogie Foundation Endowment with the International Schools of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programs in New York.

Michelle E. Warren

Deputy Director Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU)
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Doing Business with Corporations & Government Agencies Roundtables

Michelle Warren began her federal career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1988, as a Federal Market News Reporter within the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Agency, then later served as the Contracting Officer for the Commodity Procurement Branch, responsible for the supervision of purchasing teams which administers contracts for commodities for distribution to the National School Lunch Program and other Food Assistance Programs.

By 2010, Michelle was assigned Program Manager in the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). In December 2015, Michelle was appointed Deputy Director in OSDBU and still holds that position. It is her responsibility to provide maximum opportunities for small businesses to participate in USDA contracting activities. Michelle served in the Acting Director’s capacity from December 2016-May 2022.

Educating, and Supporting the Buyer and the Seller is OSDBU’s core value.

Michelle’s philosophy is, “Think about what you want to do, DO IT, then think about what you have done!”

Michelle is a graduate of Virginia State University located in Petersburg, VA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business and Economics.

Kyungsoo Dan Kim

Director, U.S. Commercial Service Illinois
U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration

Kyungsoo “Dan” Kim currently serves as the Director overseeing the State of Illinois for the U.S. Commercial Service. He joined the US Commercial Service in October 2015 as a Trade Specialist after working for the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Since then, he has worked on nation-wide projects such as Hannover Messe, 232/301 tariffs, and most recently he served as the Global Asia Team Leader.

His has grown relationships with those from various communities, working with the Asian American Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian communities to raise the awareness of the Global Diversity Export Initiative and EO 13985 and 14031. He has been a speaker and panelist at conferences highlighting the resources of the US Commercial Service and outreach to underrepresented and underserved groups.

He has considerable hands-on knowledge dealing with the challenges of exporting and has leveraged his enthusiasm and technical skills to increase the impact of the US Commercial Service to deliver to clients. In addition to his leadership of the Global Asia Team and now the US Commercial Service Illinois, he has been a leading force in the Commerce Department’s largest annual trade mission, Trade Winds, which in 2023 focused on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region of Asia including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Singapore

Frances Selema

Global Asia Team Leader
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Commercial Service

Frances Selema is the Global Asia Team Leader with the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Commercial Service based in Central North Carolina. The Global Asia Team is represented by Trade Specialists from the U.S. Commercial Service's field offices throughout the country and headquarters unit in DC, and spans 18 U.S. Commercial Service countries and 5 U.S. State Department Partner Posts throughout the region. As the Global Asia Team Leader, Frances’ responsibilities include promoting Asia as an export destination for U.S. businesses, delivering value-added programming and coordinated market information that helps U.S. companies succeed throughout the region, and ensuring the Asian-American business community has access to the tools and resources to succeed globally.

In addition to serving as the Global Asia Team Leader, Frances dually serves as a Senior International Trade Specialist in her local area, providing one-on-one counseling and guidance to North Carolina businesses to successfully export around the world. Having worked in this capacity for over 17 years, Frances has a wealth of experience in helping companies build a global strategy, executing international trade programs, and developing meaningful partnerships and relationships. Although she works with companies across several industry sectors in North Carolina, Frances specializes in the Energy, Environmental, and Clean Tech industries, and is also currently serving as the Civil Nuclear Deputy for the Global Energy Team within the U.S. Commercial Service.

Frances received her Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Auburn University and a Master of International Studies from North Carolina State University. Frances resides with her husband and three young children in Raleigh and has a passion for living an active lifestyle and exploring the outdoors.

Calvin Mitchell

Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Education

In 2020, Calvin J. Mitchell Jr. joined the U.S. Department of Education leadership team as the Acting Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). In 2021, Mr. Mitchell transitioned to Director of OSDBU. As Director, Mr. Mitchell provides executive leadership and policy direction for developing and implementing policies and initiatives throughout the Department to ensure that all socioeconomic categories of small business are afforded opportunities to compete for contracts. Prior to the Acting OSDBU, Mr. Mitchell was the Deputy Director of Contracts and Acquisitions Management (CAM). As CAM Deputy Director, in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for overseeing the work of four contracting divisions that provide operational procurement services to the Department of Education. Prior to joining the Department, Mitchell served as the Branch Chief of the Accounts Management Division at the General Services Administration. Mitchell led the organization toward meeting the Government-wide strategic goals to support all 24 CFO Act agency vision, mission, and strategic goals. Separately, Mr. Mitchell served as a Congressional Fellow for the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. In this position he served as the Principal Procurement Advisor to Committee leadership and provided guidance and oversight to Members and Committee staff on procurement, small business programs, and related acquisition issues within the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Mitchell has also held leadership positions at the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

Darlene Bullock

Executive Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Doing Business with Government Panel

E. Darlene Bullock’s January 2020 appointment as the Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is in succession to her service as the OSDBU Deputy Director from 2015 to late 2019. As the Executive Director, Ms. Bullock implements the Department’s small business procurement programs across DHS’s $23 billion procurement operation, which awards over $8 billion each year to small businesses. Ms. Bullock’s various roles and work in the OSDBU, has helped DHS achieve consecutive scores of an “A” or “A+”, since Fiscal Year 2009, making DHS the largest federal agency to have such a consistent success record on Small Business Administration’s annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard.

Before joining the OSDBU, Ms. Bullock was a Division Director and Contracting Officer in the DHS, Office of Procurement Operations (OPO). OPO is one of the largest procurement divisions in DHS obligating about $5 billion a year. Her division supported the Office of the Secretary and other high-visibility DHS Headquarters offices. Ms. Bullock oversaw and managed the award process of the first DHS-wide Program Management, Administrative, Clerical, and Technical Services (PACTS) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contracts which were set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). PACTS had an estimated value of $1.5 billion. The creation and award of the PACTS vehicles has enabled DHS to meet and exceed the 3% SDVOSB goal since Fiscal Year 2010.

With over 32 years of experience in procurement, federal assistance, and acquisitions management, Ms. Bullock has held leadership positions at several Federal and local agencies including DHS, U.S. Agency for International Development, U. S. Department of Commerce, District of Columbia Government, and the U.S. Army.

Ms. Bullock began her acquisition career with the U.S. Army, successfully completing the Department of Defense contract specialist intern program. She was a Certified Federal Contract Manager (CFCM) with the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and maintains her FAC-C Level III Certification in Contracting. She has completed various Federal Executive leadership courses in her career. She has an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Business and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MBA in International Management from Southeastern University

Jean Lin Pao

Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Jean Lin Pao is the Director for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), serving as the principal advocate for utilizing small and disadvantaged businesses in federal contracting to meet HUD’s mission. As a member of the Senior Executive Service in a cabinet-level department, Ms. Pao has over twenty-five years of federal experience in small business advocacy, enterprise human capital management, employee engagement and training, budgeting and acquisitions, information technology planning, administration, business management, strategic planning, program evaluation, and policy development. Previously, she served as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research and Chief Management Officer/Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Management and Administration in HUD’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer. Ms. Pao holds a Bachelor of Arts in urban studies from Barnard College, Columbia University and a Master of Public Policy from the Harris School, University of Chicago. She is an Excellence in Government Senior Fellow and a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award. She is also a certified executive and leadership coach.

Leonardo San Román

Manager, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s Procurement Assistance Division
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

Leonardo San Roman currently serves as the Manager for the DOT Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s Procurement Assistance Division. In this capacity, Mr. San Roman is responsible for ensuring the Department of Transportation's compliance with Federal statutes and initiatives as they relate to small business development and other disadvantaged groups.

Prior to joining DOT, Mr. San Roman served as Project Manager for the Plans, Policy, and Resources Directorate with the Naval Audit Service. Previously he served as the Finance Director for the Senate of Puerto Rico. He has also served as the Deputy Director for Administration, Budget and Finance for the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico at the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington, D.C.

Mr. San Roman earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, and obtained a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Donna Ragucci

Executive Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Treasury

Ms. Donna Ragucci serves as Director for the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) and assumed her duties in March 2018. She is responsible for Small Business Programs that include mission, compliance, outreach, and training for a 5,000 member organization obligating over $6.7 billion annually. Her office ensures compliance with the federally directed Category Management Initiative and meeting the Small Business Administration statutory socio-economic small business prime and subcontracting goals. Ms. Ragucci aligns best business practices with other OSDBUs throughout the federal government. In her tenure, her office received national recognition from the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Association and the National HUBZone Association. Her office is a Core Cluster member of the White House Initiatives Group on HBCUs, championing the awareness of and increasing federal contracting opportunities for HBCUs and the underserved communities and the White House Initiatives Group on Advancing Racial Equity in Federal Procurement. Ms. Ragucci also chairs the 93-member Federal OSDBU Council that assists SBA by influencing small business policy and legislation.

Ms. Ragucci’s held numerous leadership and public trust positions during her 35 years with the federal government. She was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in March 2018. She graduated from the Senior Service College in May 2015. Ms. Ragucci has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Athens State University, and she earned a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Florida Institute of Technology.

Her awards include the Secretary of the Army Excellence in Contracting Award, Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award, Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Excellence, and three Department of the Army Achievement Medals for Civilian Service. Ms. Ragucci is a member to the Acquisition Corps. She holds federal certification Level III in Contracting, Level II in Purchasing, and Level II in Program Management.

Elmy Bermejo

Regional Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration

As Region IX Administrator, Elmy Bermejo will oversee SBA programs, offices, and operations in the SBA’s Pacific region, serving Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, and Nevada.

Ms. Bermejo has a passion for building and strengthening relationships while assisting people and organizations attain their goals. She has been a senior government official with more than 25 years of experience at the executive level and has established a successful record of collaboration with public and private stakeholders on a range of issues including workforce development, disaster relief, and small business. Ms. Bermejo recently served as the Northern California Director for External Affairs for Governor Gavin Newsom; before that, she served as a Senior Adviser and Outreach Director for Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis of California, the first woman ever elected to this position. Ms. Bermejo also served in President Barack Obama’s administration at the U.S. Department of Labor as the Regional Representative to the Secretary and as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. She serves on the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, The Women’s Foundation of CA, and as an Advisory member of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) and the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Public Good.

Saul Ramos

District Director
U.S. Small Business Administration

Saul Ramos,  Nevada SBA District Director has held several leadership positions during his 20-year federal career. He joined SBA in 2017 and was the first to complete a Los Angeles Federal Executive Board (FEB) professional development rotation program, as an International Development Specialist. He has represented SBA in various positions, including Deputy District Director, Senior Area Manager, and oversight of Economic and Business Development team. In his role as District Director, he provides leadership and oversight of SBA’s programs and services to improve the viability of startup businesses, the growth of existing businesses, and the economic climate of Nevada.

Saul leads a passionate, talented and experience Nevada SBA team focused on putting customers – the nation’s small businesses – first. He directs the Nevada District team in implementing an efficient and effective strategy that strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystem and helps small business owners access capital, comprehensive technical assistance, and government contracting opportunities. Saul is also responsible for SBA resource partners oversight, which include Small Business Development Centers, SCORE mentors, Women’s Business Center, and the Veterans Business Outreach Center. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked closely with the Nevada District team and partners to provide capital and technical assistance programs to the hardest-hit and underserved small businesses. This was a monumental task that helped small businesses survive and preserved the jobs and livelihoods of millions in Nevada.

Erika Moritsugu

Deputy Assistant to President Biden & Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison
The White House

Erika L. Moritsugu was appointed by President Joe Biden in April 2021 to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and AA and NHPI Senior Liaison. With a distinguished career in the federal government and non-profit advocacy, she has spent her professional and personal life fighting for social justice and the empowerment of communities and individuals.

At the White House, Erika supports the Administration on a wide array of the President’s priorities and engages with AA and NHPI communities and leaders on important issues such as advancing safety, justice, inclusion, and opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities through a whole-of-government approach to racial justice.

Her past government service includes serving as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the leadership of Secretary Julián Castro in the Obama Administration and was the first-ever Senate Deputy Legislative Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

On Capitol Hill, she was a senior representative of Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Senator Daniel K. Akaka of Hawai’i, and at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

In the non-profit sector, Erika led two teams the National Partnership for Women & Families for economic justice and congressional relations advancing workforce and health policies focused through a gender equity and race equity lens. Erika has also led the Government Relations, Advocacy and Community Engagement team at the Anti-Defamation League, a leading anti-hate organization.

Elizabeth Vazquez

CEO & Co-Founder
WEConnect International

Pamela Prince-Eason

President & CEO
The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)

Pamela Prince-Eason is the President and CEO of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a role she assumed in 2011. She was previously Vice President of Worldwide Procurement for Pfizer Inc. and held various leadership positions at Texas Instruments, GSE Systems and Warner Lambert, as well as co-owner of RMR Associates.

Pamela is a member of the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), a non-partisan federal advisory council who advises the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

Pamela’s dedication to women’s business leadership is illustrated in her many professional and personal roles advancing women’s excellence and opportunity. She serves on women’s advisory committees of several corporations including the CVS Health Executive Learning Series, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program, the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, and Walmart’s Women Owned Business Advisory Council.

Pamela holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from East Tennessee State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland with a Master of Administrative Science in International Business and Finance. In 2008, she was among the first to receive ISM’s Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) designation, in 2010 was named a Power Women by NYMoves, and in 2012 she received the AIDC WBE Hall of Fame “Executive Leadership” award. In 2013 and 2017, she was named a top leader in Supplier Diversity by WE-USA Magazine and selected by the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) as the 2014 Woman of Achievement. Most recently she was inducted into the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame in March 2018 and was recognized as Alumna of the Year at East Tennessee State University in May 2018.

She and husband John have three children and six grandchildren. Favorite family activities include tennis, basketball, and snowboarding.