Thomas J. Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Since assuming his position in 1997, Donohue has built the Chamber into a lobbying and political powerhouse with expanded influence across the globe. Donohue has aggressively advanced The American Jobs and Growth Agenda, a plan that includes opening markets to American goods and services around the world, dramatically expanding American energy production, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, combating an avalanche of new regulations, spurring innovation, and reforming the tax code and entitlements. In addition, Donohue spearheaded the creation of the Campaign for Free Enterprise, a positive, long-term program to defend, protect, and advance a free enterprise system based on individual initiative, hard work, and personal responsibility. Donohue established the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, which has won significant legal reforms in the courts, at the state and federal levels, and in elections for state attorneys general and Supreme Court judges. He served for 13 years as president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations, the national organization of the trucking industry. Donohue and his wife, Liz, live in Potomac, Maryland. They have three sons and five grandchildren.
Linda Alvarado, president and CEO of Alvarado Construction Inc., has 35 years’ experience in large multi-million dollar commercial development, government and institutional general contracting, construction management, design/build, and program management contracts. Breaking nontraditional roles, she made history as the first Hispanic (male or female) owner or co-owner of a Major League Baseball franchise. As a co-owner of The Colorado Rockies, her role is also significant as it marked the first time that any woman was involved in a bid for ownership of a Major League team.
Alvarado is the recipient of numerous awards and has been named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics in America.” In 2003, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Alvarado received the Horatio Alger Award, as well as the prestigious Sara Lee Corporation Frontrunner Award for exemplary achievement and leadership. She has been honored twice as The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year, and has been the recipient of The Revlon Business Woman of the Year Award, The National Minority Supplier Development Council Leadership Award, and “Brillante Award” by National Society of Hispanic MBAs.
Hector Barreto is a nationally recognized business and community leader and served for five years as the administrator of the U. S. Small Business Administration. During his years of stewardship, the SBA exceeded all previous records in small business loans, disaster relief, and procurement opportunities. Barreto serves on the National Board of the U.S. Chamber and is president of Barreto Associates, a Southern California-based insurance and consulting firm. He is also the founder of Tributo a mi Padre, Tequila in honor of his late father, a legendary Hispanic business leader. Barreto is the author of The Engine of America, which provides motivation and inspiration for entrepreneurs through stories of business leaders. Barreto has received special recognition from countless groups including the Congress, the California State Senate and Assembly, the County of Los Angeles, YMCA, The American Red Cross, and the prestigious Aztec Eagle Award from the President of Mexico. He is frequently identified in key publications as one the most influential Hispanic business leaders in the country. Aside from his private business interests, he remains in great demand as a speaker, panelist, adviser or commentator on issues of concern to small business.
Tamara Carleton, Ph.D., is founder and chief executive of Innovation Leadership Board LLC, a global leader in the design of tools and processes that enable radical innovation. Carleton currently serves as a fellow at the Forum for Innovation, where she explores how emerging technologies and resources have created an unprecedented state of abundance for individual wellbeing and job creation. Previously, she was a fellow with the Foundation for Enterprise Development and also a fellow for the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium. In addition, Carleton teaches organizational innovation and foresight strategy in Stanford University’s School of Engineering executive education program. A former management consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP, Carleton specialized in emerging solutions in enterprise applications, customer experience, and marketing strategy. At Deloitte, she developed two proprietary methodologies, the Customer Experience Audit and Persona Design, which were incorporated into client service offerings.
Carleton holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, a masters of science in public relations from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in communication from The George Washington University. She has been published in a variety of technical journals, as well as the general business press. Most recently, Carleton edited the book Sustaining Innovation: Collaboration Models for a Complex World (Springer, 2011) that explores emerging institutional models of sustainable innovation from multiple international viewpoints.
A life-long Pennsylvania resident, Tom Corbett has a long and distinguished career serving the citizens of the Pennsylvania. He has served as Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney, Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission of Crime and Delinquency, Pennsylvania Attorney General and is the state’s current Governor.
Corbett encourages private-sector job growth and putting Pennsylvanians back to work by lowering government barriers to job creation, reducing taxes on our families and job-creating businesses, protecting tax-payer dollars with controlled government spending and providing an open, transparent, accountable and trustworthy government. He has made it his top priority to ensure there is a job for every Pennsylvanian who wants one, a stable financial future for Pennsylvania and a trained and educated workforce for the jobs of the 21st century.
Corbett resides with his wife Susan in the Governor’s residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and has a family home in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania. He has two children and one grandchild.
Barbara Corcoran’s credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. Despite this, Corcoran is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country. In 1973, she took out a $1,000 loan to start The Corcoran Group, which she parlayed into a $5 billion real estate business. She sold it in 2001 for $66 million.
Corcoran is the real estate contributor for NBC’s TODAY Show, commenting weekly on real estate market trends. She’s also a star on ABC’s reality hit Shark Tank and has invested in 31 young businesses that she’s shepherding to success. Corcoran has authored several books, including If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails, an entertaining business book and national best-seller. Her latest book, Shark Tales, hit the #1 business book on Amazon.
Steve Forbes is chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media. The company’s flagship publication, Forbes, is the nation’s leading business magazine, with a circulation of more than 900,000. Forbes.com, a leading business website, currently reaches 33 million monthly unique visitors, and Forbes magazine, Forbes Asia and Forbes Europe attract a global audience of more than 5 million readers. The Company also publishes ForbesLife magazine, as well as 24 licensed international local-language editions around the world . Forbes writes editorials for each issue under the heading “Fact and Comment.” A widely respected economic prognosticator, he is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious Crystal Owl Award four times. Forbes is the co-author of Freedom Manifesto: Why Free Markets are Moral and Big Government Isn’t and How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People, among others. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan named Forbes chairman of the bipartisan Board for International Broadcasting. In this position, Forbes oversaw the operation of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Forbes was reappointed to this post by President George H.W. Bush and served until 1993. Forbes is on the boards of The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and previously served on the board of trustees of Princeton University for 10 years.
Christopher Guith is vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. He is responsible for developing the Institute’s policies and initiatives as they apply to the legislative, executive, and regulatory branches of the federal and state governments.
Previously, Guith served as deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he developed the administration’s nuclear energy policies and coordinated the department’s interactions with Congress, stakeholders, and the media. He was also the deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at DOE. Guith is a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law and the University of California Santa Barbara.
Caroline L. Harris is chief tax counsel and executive director of tax policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She directs the development, promotion, and publication of the Chamber’s policy on tax-related matters. She analyzes tax legislation, other legislation with revenue-raising provisions, and tax reform proposals, and submits comments, Hill letters, and testimony to Congress and regulatory agencies. Harris routinely meets with members of Congress and their staffs, the administration, and regulatory agencies to promote the Chamber’s tax policy.
Harris is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. She is a member of the American Bar Association and its Tax Section. Harris received a B.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her J.D. from The George Washington University School of Law. She received a Master of Laws in Taxation, with distinction, from the Georgetown University Law Center. Harris hails from Philadelphia and currently resides on Capitol Hill with her husband, Ethan.
Tom Heneghan is the manager of business continuity services, preparedness, and health and safety services for the American Red Cross at its national headquarters. He oversees the development and operations of preparedness programs designed to help businesses, schools and organizations become better prepared for disasters and other emergencies. Since joining the American Red Cross in 1993, Heneghan has worked primarily in implementing and delivering of national preparedness and health and safety training programs. These programs reach approximately 11 million individuals each year. Since 2010, Heneghan has managed the Ready Rating program, a free, Web-based membership program that guides organizations on how to quantitatively measure their level of disaster preparedness and take actions to improve that level. He also oversees a suite of programs and services designed to help organizations test their ability to respond to disasters and other life-threatening emergencies through exercises and drills.
Heneghan lives in Falls Church, Virginia with his family. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Daymond John is CEO and founder of FUBU and a fashion industry pioneer with more than $6 billion in product sales. An award-winning entrepreneur, he has received more than 35 awards, including the Brandweek Marketer of the Year and Ernst & Young’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award. John’s brand strategies have made him an influential consultant and motivational speaker. His marketing firm Shark Branding offers advice on how to effectively communicate to consumers through innovative means and connects brands with celebrities for everything from endorsements to product extensions. John is an author of two best-selling books, Display of Power and The Brand Within. In 2009, he joined the ABC’s Shark Tank, where he showcases his ample marketing prowess and entrepreneurial insights.
Janet F. Kavinoky is executive director of Transportation and Infrastructure in the Congressional and Public Affairs Division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She is the Chamber’s senior lobbyist and policy director on all transportation issues and leads the Chamber’s Let’s Rebuild America (LRA) initiative to raise the profile of infrastructure issues, broaden stakeholder engagement, and create new opportunities for businesses to influence public policy. She is also vice president of the Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) coalition, an effort by business, labor, and transportation to advocate for improved and increased federal investment in the nation’s aging and overburdened transportation system. Kavinoky has a bachelor’s degree in political economy from the University of Wyoming and an M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She is a resident of Washington, D.C., living on Capitol Hill.
Harold H. Kim serves as executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR). He is responsible for providing strategy, policy guidance, programmatic management, and leadership support for ILR’s comprehensive program aimed at improving the nation’s litigation climate. Before joining ILR, Kim held several government positions, including special assistant to former President George W. Bush in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the White House, Kim served as the president’s liaison to the Senate on matters involving national security, the judiciary, civil justice reform, intellectual property, and criminal law enforcement. During his tenure, he helped win confirmation for several of President Bush’s judicial and executive nominees and worked closely with Congress to advance the administration’s policy priorities. Prior to government service, Kim was a senior litigation associate at the Washington D.C.-based law firm of Patton Boggs, LLP. He is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine and earned a J.D. from the Catholic University of America.
Jim Koch is the founder of The Boston Beer Company, which he founded 1984 with a generations-old family recipe uncovered in his father’s attic. After bringing the recipe to life in his kitchen, Koch brought his Samuel Adams beer door-to-door to bars in Boston, convinced that drinkers would appreciate a full-flavored American craft beer.
Koch’s journey wasn’t always smooth. His Harvard education and his years as a management consultant really didn’t prepare him for the obstacles that many small businesses struggle with today. No bank would give him a loan. No distributors would carry his beer, making it nearly impossible to get Samuel Adams to bars and to beer drinkers. For almost 30 years, Koch has creatively overcome the obstacles in his path, and Samuel Adams Boston Lager is widely recognized as the catalyst in the American craft beer revolution. Today, Koch continues to push the boundaries in brewing and in business and is committed to helping other small business owners live their American Dream. In 2008, he started Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream to provide microloans to small business owners who lack access to traditional financing. In 2010, the prestigious Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy gave its small business award to Koch and The Boston Beer Company for their efforts with Brewing the American Dream.
Paul R. LePage escaped an early life of poverty and abuse, worked his way through school, earned an MBA, became a successful businessman and mayor and now serves as the 74th Governor of Maine.
The oldest of 18 children, LePage left home at 11 to escape from domestic violence. He lived on the streets of Lewiston, Maine for two years, making a meager living shining shoes. Excelling in academics, he graduated from Husson College in Bangor, Maine, and earned his MBA in finance and economics from the University of Maine.
The governor has been a business consultant for over 30 years. He served as a city councilor in Waterville, Maine, then as mayor from 2003 to 2011.
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship. A nationally known speaker, best-selling author and authority on entrepreneurship, Lesonsky has been covering America’s small businesses for more than 30 years. Before co-founding GrowBiz Media in 2008, Lesonsky was the long-time Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart show and Oprah, and can regularly be seen on MSNBC’s Your Business.
Lesonsky served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, and was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate. In 2009, she was honored as one of publishing’s top innovators. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization honored her for helping drive “the entrepreneurial revolution in secondary education.” The ASBDC awarded her a “Champion of Small Business” award, and in 2011 Lesonsky was named one of the nation’s top 100 Small Business Influencers. Last year she received the prestigious Lou Campanelli award from SCORE.
William G. Little is president and chief executive officer of Quam-Nichols Company and is director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Little was chairman of the U.S. Chamber from 1998 to1999 and has been a Chamber director since 1994. In 1970, Little joined Quam-Nichols Company, a manufacturer of commercial and industrial audio products located in Chicago, in 1970, as distributor sales manager. Before that, he spent seven years as a sales executive with the South Bend Lathe Division of Amsted Industries.
Little serves as a director of the Ohmite Manufacturing Co., a Skokie, Illinois, resistor manufacturer, and Aerovox, Inc., a New Bedford, Massachusetts, capacitor manufacturer. He was a two-term chairman of the Electronic Industries Association and chairman of the Distributor Products Division. Little was also an officer of the Electronic Industry Show Corp and in 1981, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Electronic Distributors Research Institute. Little is a graduate of the University of Missouri.
Katie W. Mahoney is executive director of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mahoney has more than 13 years of health care experience in hospital and health plan operations, as well as health policy. She is responsible for developing, advocating, and publicizing the Chamber’s policy on health and works with members of Congress, the administration, and regulatory agencies to promote the organization’s health policy. Mahoney also crafts regulatory responses for the Chamber and its member companies and addresses material areas as part of a comprehensive health policy. Mahoney joined the Chamber from the law firm of Greenberg Traurig where she served as assistant director of health and FDA business. Mahoney has consulted on a variety of projects for state agencies and hospitals to maximize reimbursement and improve coverage among underserved populations, using public financing strategies. Originally from Massachusetts, Mahoney graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University and earned her law degree and a master’s degree in health administration from Tulane University’s Schools of Law and Public Health and Tropical Medicine, respectively. She lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, Jason, twin sons, and a daughter.
Nanette (Nan) Malebranche is managing director, Big Apple District for FedEx Express. She oversees FedEx Express operations throughout New York City, Brooklyn and Staten Island. She also chairs the local Market Council, which is responsible for strategic planning, analysis, and sales development across all FedEx operating companies throughout Long Island and four of the five boroughs. When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, Malebranche was responsible for preparing her team before the storm and returning operations to normal in its aftermath. She was restored operations and her team was back in business ahead of the competition. The New York City branches of FedEx Express were positioned to support the restoration efforts of all businesses in the East Coast and allow its customer base to return to business as well. Malebranche has been honored with the annual Women of Distinction award from the March of Dimes and is an active member of American Cancer Society, Safe Kids Walk this Way, and United Way.
Gerald McSwiggan is Senior Manager of disaster management for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center’s (BCLC). Under his leadership, BCLC’s disaster portfolio provides best-practice recovery information for businesses and communities, as well as critical on-the-ground support during times of disasters. He organizes BCLC's Disaster Corporate Aid Tracker and popular cross-sector disaster events, leads on-the-ground recovery delegations, and creates information exchanges so that lessons learned from previous disasters are remembered. McSwiggan has managed BCLC's response to disasters, including the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, multiple hurricanes in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean coastal regions, flooding in Pakistan and parts of the United States, and tornadoes and wildfires in the United States. He also directs the activities of BCLC's National Disaster Help Desk for Business.
Previously, McSwiggan served as federal programs coordinator in the Washington, D.C., Federal Affairs Office of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and helped lead the transition to current Gov. Charlie Crist. Before that, he worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative fellow for U.S. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma.
Vanessa O'Connell is The Wall Street Journal’s small business editor, overseeing small business coverage and the development of new features that appeal to entrepreneurial readers. O’Connell has worked in the New York bureau of The Wall Street Journal since 1995 and has written for all sections of the paper. In 2010, she co-authored a series of news and feature stories on the doping scandal in professional cycling, including "Blood Brothers," which won a 2011 New York Press Club Award. She also contributed to "There Was 'Nobody in Charge," part of the Journal's series on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that won a 2011 Loeb Award; a New York News Publishers Association Award; and a National Headliner Award. The series was a finalist in the national affairs category for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. In 2005, she received honorable mention in the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. In 2004, she won the Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award for beat reporting.
O’Connell has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughters.
Charles Redfield is the executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., with more than 600 locations nationwide. Redfield originally joined Sam’s Club in 1988, working as a cashier while attending college at the University of Arkansas. After completing his degree, Redfield began his full-time career as an assistant manager with Sam’s Club, progressing from field operator to corporate operations leader in over a 10-year tenure.
In 1998, Redfield left Sam’s Club to work for Canadian retailer Hudson Bay. He returned to Sam’s Club in 2001 and has since held such leadership roles as director of operations, divisional fresh merchandiser, vice president/divisional merchandise manager (DMM), senior vice president/general merchandise manager (GMM) and chief merchandising officer of ASDA, the Wal-Mart subsidiary in the U.K. Redfield and his wife, Sue, have two children, Avery and Matthew.
Seth Perretta, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Crowell Moring, leads the firm's ERISA and Employee Benefits practice. He advises clients on a wide range of federal tax and ERISA matters regarding employee benefits. His practice encompasses qualified retirement plans, executive compensation arrangements, federal income and employment taxes, and health and welfare benefit plans. Perretta is a past chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the District of Columbia Bar, Tax Section. Peretta represents employers, financial institutions, insurance companies, trade associations, and public policy organizations on a broad array of policy, planning, and technical compliance issues. He is a nationally recognized expert on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and is frequently quoted in the trade press and national publications and testifies before Congress on behalf of his clients.
Peretta earned his B.S. in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law where he served as associate editor of the New York University Law Review.
Margaret Spellings is a senior adviser to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and president of its Forum for Policy Innovation. As president, Spellings oversees the Chamber’s three nonprofit foundations: the National Chamber Foundation (NCF), the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC), and the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW). She also serves as president and CEO of Margaret Spellings and Company and provides strategic guidance to some of the most recognized philanthropic and private sector organizations in the world. Spellings was U.S. secretary of education from 2005 to 2009. As a member of the president’s Cabinet, she led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a historic national initiative to provide enhanced accountability for the education of U.S. public school students. In higher education, Spellings launched a national policy debate and action plan to improve accessibility, affordability, and accountability in our nation’s colleges and universities. She has appeared on major network and cable broadcast stations, including NBC’s Meet the Press and The Today Show, as well as Celebrity Jeopardy, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and the Colbert Report. Her writings have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications.
Mike Turner is senior vice president of membership at Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., with more than 600 locations nationwide. He joined Wal-Mart in 1992 as an assistant manager at Club 8222 in Johnson City, Tennessee. Turner has held various positions including assistant manager; general manager; director of operations; market manager; director of operations support, director of merchandise planning and vice president, operations support. Before joining Walmart, Turner held positions at Goody’s Family Clothing, Lowe’s, and S & K Menswear. He received his degree from Western Piedmont College in Morganton, North Carolina.
Nancy Walker is the manager of supplier diversity for the Hewlett-Packard Company, where she manages HP’s supplier diversity program globally, including a mentor-protégé program and several capacity building programs. Her role includes advocacy and supplier development, providing avenues for small businesses, minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, and other under-utilized businesses to compete and participate as suppliers to HP and act as resellers of HP products.Walker works with her HP colleagues on a variety of global initiatives which support HP’s global supplier diversity mission, ensuring a globally inclusive supply base. She serves on the Board of Directors for Texas Business Alliance and WEConnect International, and is the MSD China Committee Chair.
Scott Walker is Wisconsin’s 45th governor. Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Walker’s family moved in Delavan, Wisconsin in 1977. There he was involved in sports, band, church, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, remaining active in the Boy Scouts of America to this day. Walker was elected to the state assembly in 1993 and as county executive in 2002. While serving as county executive, Walker cut the county debt by 30%, reduced the county workforce by more than 25%, and authored nine consecutive budgets without increasing the property tax levy from the previous year. Despite failing national and state economies, Milwaukee County recorded a budget surplus in 2009. Re-elected in April of 2008, Scott received nearly 60% of the vote in a county that favored President Obama by 67%. In 2010, Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin, running on a platform of economic growth and job creation. Walker attended Marquette University. He and his wife Tonette have two sons, Matt and Alex, and are active in the community and their church.
Bob Woodward is regarded as one of America’s preeminent investigative reporters and nonfiction authors. Woodward started as a reporter for The Washington Post in 1971 and is currently an associate editor there. In 1972, Woodward and fellow reporter Carl Bernstein conducted most of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal, which led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. The Washington Post received The Pulitzer Prize for Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting, and Gene Roberts, former managing editor of The New York Times called the work of Woodward and Bernstein “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.” Woodward was also the main reporter for the Post’s coverage of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Ten stories won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting—“six carrying the familiar byline of Bob Woodward,” noted The New York Times article announcing the awards. Woodward has authored or co-authored 17 nonfiction books, including his two latest, The Price of Politics and Obama’s Wars. All have been national best-sellers, and 12 of them have been No. 1 national nonfiction best-sellers—more than any contemporary author. Woodward has been a recipient of nearly every other major American journalism award, including the Heywood Broun award (1972), the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting (1972 and 1986), the Sigma Delta Chi Award (1973), the George Polk Award (1972), the William Allen White Medal (2000), and the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Reporting on the Presidency (2002).
Rafat Ali is CEO and founder of Skift, an early-stage travel intelligence startup that offers news, data, and services to the travel industry and business travelers. He was founder and CEO of paidContent and ContentNext, which he sold to the British media outlet Guardian News and Media, in 2008. Previously, he was managing editor of Silicon Alley Reporter. Ali was the Knight Fellow at Indiana University, where he completed his master’s in journalism, 1999—2000. Prior to that, he completed his BSc in computer engineering, from AMU in Aligarh, India.
Kathleen Dorsey is the founder of Global Results, a social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) firm. Global Results serves as the social media department for many businesses and organizations and focuses on creating virtual communities and discussions to enhance reach and market share. As an entrepreneur, she brings her proven business experiences to Global Results and helps to bridge marketing with sales, IT, and the C-Suite.
She is the president-elect for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)—Baltimore and has amassed various business awards, including Future 50 Company by SmartCEO Magazine, the Trailblazer Award from NAWBO—Baltimore, being listed as one of the top privately held companies in Baltimore by the Baltimore Business Journal, and being listed in the Who’s Who National Register for Executives and Professionals.
Dorsey’s biggest joy comes from being mom to a 11-year-old girl and spending countless hours on the soccer field with her.
Andrew Frawley is president of Epsilon and is responsible for general management, definition and delivery of enterprise sales and marketing, online solutions, corporate strategy and development, and marketing technology. In addition, he oversees the global operations of the industry’s largest email service provider. Previously, Frawley served as president of Epsilon’s Marketing Technology Division and was responsible for loyalty, database, and digital solutions. His extensive expertise spans digital marketing, email marketing, CRM, database marketing and customer value management, qualifying him to advise the largest and most sophisticated marketing organizations in the world.
Before joining Epsilon, Frawley was CEO of ClickSquared, a full-service email marketing provider that was named the fastest-growing company in New England. He is past chairman of the Direct Marketing Association Financial Services Council and holds several board positions, including the American Cancer Society.
Mary Ann Fitzmaurice Reilly is head of customer marketing and engagement for American Express OPEN, where she leads its efforts to build strong relationships with all business customers. Her scope of responsibility includes all marketing channels— from digital to relationship care— throughout the entire customer lifecycle. Before joining OPEN, Reilly spent five years in consumer acquisition where she was responsible for American Express new card acquisition. She served as vice president of business alliances and handled the strategy and management of all non-travel partnerships for the Membership Rewards Program. She signed deals with companies such as Home Depot, Crate & Barrel, Banana Republic, and Staples. Reilly started her career at American Express in finance in 1990.
She has a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Bonaventure University and earned her CPA while working at Deloitte & Touche.
Angie Hicks co-founded Angie's List in 1995 in Columbus, Ohio to provide homeowners with a convenient way to find reliable and high-quality local service companies. Angie's List now provides consumer ratings and reviews in more than 200 cities across the United States and Canada, covering more than 550 categories of service from home improvement to health care. Hicks is nationally known as a consumer expert and has issued calls for action in several areas, including health problems caused by lead paint, radon, and mold.
She serves on the DePauw University Board of Visitors and is a co-founder and past member of the board of directors of The Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program.
Hicks earned her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her bachelor's degree in economics from DePauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana, which named her a 2007 Distinguished Alumni for Management and Entrepreneurship. She was named a Torchbearer Award winner in March 2009 by the Indiana Commission for Women recognizing of her entrepreneurial accomplishments and providing a positive example of the influence women have on their communities.
Best known as the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), Robert L. Johnson is also the founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, which owns or holds interests in a number of companies and asset management funds. Most prominent among The RLJ Companies’ interests are RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC, the largest minority-owned auto dealership in the country with more than $1 billion in sales; RLJ Lodging Trust, a $2 billion plus market cap real estate investment trust (REIT) with more than 145 hotel properties; RLJ Entertainment, Inc., one of the largest independent distributors of digital and video content; and RLJ Equity Partners, a $230 million private equity fund in partnership with The Carlyle Group.
Johnson holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from the University of Illinois.
Soo Young Kim is head of Google’s Get Your Business Online, a program dedicated to driving economic impact by providing small businesses with tools to reach more customers online. Kim is responsible for developing of the program’s strategy, partnerships, outreach, creative, event marketing, and education. Her team has successfully launched the initiative in all 50 states in both English and Spanish. Kim has been with Google for more than seven years. Most recently, she was head of B2B marketing events, leading event strategy for marketing in the United States and Canada. She managed a bicoastal team that produced strategic and innovative marketing and event programs for Google’s search, display, mobile and social advertising businesses, covering products such as AdWords, Adsense, YouTube, and DoubleClick. She has also developed marketing event programs for Google’s Enterprise business, targeting IT professionals. Kim was one of the first recipients of Google Marketing’s Googler’s Choice Award, an award for those individuals who go beyond the call of duty with acts of selflessness and generosity that put the interests of the company and team above their own.
Prior to Google, Kim worked at Cheil Communications Inc., a Samsung affiliate and global full-service marketing agency, on a brand and experiential marketing team. She started her career at Asian Diversity, Inc., a provider of career development resources for Asian Americans. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in communications from the Annenberg School.
Jeri Lassiter is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of ASM Research, a privately held employee-owned government information technology and professional services company. Under her direction and leadership ASM has developed and expanded core competencies and revenues in the healthcare technology and cyber security growth areas, and has seen enterprise valuation growth of over 650%. Lassiter is engaged in the startup community and serves on the board of directors for three successful startup ventures.
Lassiter serves on the board of trustees of Marymount University, and the non-profit Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM). She is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Women in Technology (WIT), the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMMS). She is a recipient of the 2011 Women in Technology (WIT) Leadership Award and the 2012 BRAVA Award for top female CEOs.
Dan Loines is director for the Office of Government Contracting’s Area II office. His office oversees all federal procurements in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware. This territory contains federal agencies and prime contractors that have the largest procurement budgets in the country, resulting in more than $85 billion in federal procurements. He served as director for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Matchmaking Initiative, overseeing all events for the SBA and helped pioneer this unique public-private initiative.
Loines started in the federal procurement field in 1994 as program manager for the Nonmanufacturer Rule Waiver Program. In 1996, he became field director for the Office of Natural Resources Sales Assistance, directing the day-to-day operations of the SBA National Timber Set-Aside program.
Recently, he worked on a detail on Capitol Hill for Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and the Senate Small Business Committee reviewing and crafting language for the Jobs Bill including, the SBA “Parity” Rule. This bill was signed into law by the president on September 27th, 2010.
Nancy Minchillo manages Hewlett Packard’s (HP’s) supplier diversity program, including a mentor-protégé program and several capacity-building programs. Her role includes advocacy and supplier development, providing avenues for small businesses, minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, and other underutilized businesses to compete and participate as suppliers to HP and act as resellers of HP products.
She works with her HP colleagues on a variety of global initiatives that support the company’s global supplier diversity mission, ensuring a globally inclusive supply base. Minchillo serves as HP liaison to multiple professional diversity constituencies, including the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She serves on the board of directors for the Texas Business Alliance and WEConnect International and is the MSD China Committee chair.
Karen D. Rogers is vice president of customer marketing for FedEx Corporate Services. She is responsible for growing the small business segment through direct marketing communications and interactive marketing practices, managing strategic alliances and association relationships, and leading the channel strategy and orchestration effort.
Rogers has been with FedEx since 1984. In 2006, she became vice president of U.S. marketing and was responsible for managing the FedEx brand in the United States, leading its advertising, global brand management, segment marketing, and sponsorship marketing efforts. Before that she served as vice president of electronic channels marketing, where she was responsible for managing the company’s largest touch point, with more than 30 million visitors each month, fedex.com across all operating companies, the compatible solutions program, electronic invoicing, and all U.S.-based shipping clients.
Milan Ruzicka is vice president of B2B Marketing at T-Mobile USA, where he leads the development and execution of marketing strategy for the B2B organization. Previously, he was vice president of MNC Marketing at Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile’s parent company. He was responsible for the segment marketing mix and strategy and planning for multinational corporate customers. He has also held various leadership roles at T-Mobile Czech Republic in the Large, Corporate and Multinational Enterprises organization and in the Small and Medium Enterprises organization. Ruzicka holds a master’s degree in marketing and information systems/technology from Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague.
Dan Sturdivant is assistant to the director for outreach and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOB) coordinator for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He is responsible for the SDVOB Set-aside Program, as well as being the DHS, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization liaison to the congressional caucus. He keeps members of Congress apprised of the DHS small business programs, goals and achievements; new initiatives; and continuous outreach efforts and activities.
Before coming to the DHS, Sturdivant served as deputy director in Treasury’s Office of Small Business Development. There he was responsible for policy, strategic planning, outreach, and the development and oversight of Treasury’s small business programs, including minority, women, veteran-owned, and HUB zoned firms.
Sturdivant, a retired military serviceman (Marines), was wounded while serving his second of two combat tours of duty in Viet Nam. He was highly decorated for his numerous combat achievements.
Diane Leneghan Tomb, president & CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO®), advocates on behalf of women business owners in our nation’s capital and across the country. She is responsible for developing programs that navigate women entrepreneurs through various stages of business growth. Founded in 1975, NAWBO is the country’s largest organization representing the more than 10 million women business owners with more than 6,000 members in 70 chapters. Before joining NAWBO, Tomb ran a public affairs and strategic communications firm that she founded in 2003. She has served in senior roles in the federal government, nonprofits, and private sector. Tomb serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and is a member of the Enterprising Women Magazine Advisory Board and the Chief Council’s Leadership Group within the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. She also serves on the board for the Foundation for Social and Cultural Advancement & Terwilliger Center at the Urban Land Institute.
