Antwanye E. Ford is President & Chief Executive Officer of Enlightened, Inc., a leading Information Technology and Management Consulting firm founded in 1999.  Enlightened serves federal, state, and local government agencies, and provides cyber security, software development and integration, management consulting and business process outsourcing services. An experienced entrepreneur, Antwanye also serves as a founder and the President of The Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc.(“GWBCC”), the leading Voice for Black Business in the Greater Washington Area, Chair Emeritus for the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, the Vice-Chair and Regional Director of the East Coast Region of the US Black Chambers, Inc.  In January 2018, Board Chair of the District of Columbia Workforce Investment Council, Board of the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB). 

B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. leads the largest minority-owned commercial bank in the Washington Metropolitan area and the fourth largest African American owned financial institution in the country (recognized in Black Enterprise Magazine’s BE 100s List for 2019). Mr. Mitchell, the third-generation president of Industrial Bank, believes Industrial Bank has remained strong because of its mission to promote the financial and economic empowerment serving their diverse communities through high quality financial services and making a difference in the lives of the people we serve. Industrial Bank provides a full range of banking and financial services including residential, commercial, small business and SBA loans. Industrial Bank has ten branches located in Washington, DC; Prince George’s County, Maryland; Newark, New Jersey and Harlem, New York. 

Sonja Sanders Wells is a Sr. Vice President and Interim Chief Lending Officer for City First Bank and is a nationally chartered CDFI and Certified B Corporation doing business in the DMV, Delaware and Pennsylvania and specializes in Affordable Housing, Non Profits, Charter Schools, Community Facilities and Small Business lending and financial services. Sonja currently manages a client portfolio of $50 Million and a bank portfolio of $190 Million.  For over 30 years, Sonja has been providing businesses with targeted financial recommendations and resources regarding lending, deposits and treasury management and investment strategies in the DMV and across the nation.

For the past 6 years at Bank of America, Brandon Johnson has roles with increasing responsibility servicing both clients and employees. He has assisted many personal and business clients throughout their financial journeys to provide successful solutions to help them achieve their goals. In his current role at Bank of America, Brandon is on a strategy team focused on the financial needs of employees through programs, products and education. 

Kimberly Blackwell is CEO of the omni-channel brand agency, PMM with over 20 years’ experience in consumer product goods (CPG). Kimberly’s been called a powerhouse, a curator of consumer connections, and well known for her brand engagement, communications, commerce and culture. Kimberly’s career reflects a demonstrated track record  from startup to scale for consumer product goods companies, leading successful large-scale transformation initiatives, optimizing financial management of P&L, managing across deal lifecycle, budgeting and planning, risk management, adapting to changing markets, emerging markets and global business environments. Kimberly is a founding member and serves as an advisory member to the recently listed Legacy Acquisition Corp (NYSE: LGC.U) where she contributed and led areas of the company’s $300M+ IPO, M&A target transactions and integrations.

T.J. Merlo, Vice President of Government Contract Finance., has been with the government contracting group since 2016. He works to provide government contractors primarily with working capital solutions and M&A financing. TJ joined Live Oak Bank in 2015 reporting to the Chief Credit Officer to monitor the Bank’s portfolio.

Rozalynn Goodwin and her seven-year-old daughter Gabrielle solved the age-old problem of disappearing hair barrettes by inventing GaBBY Bows -- the first and patented Double-Face Double-Snap Barrette.  Engineered to prevent hair slippage, GaBBY Bows are saving families time, money and frustration. Rozalynn and Gabrielle have been featured on The Real, The Harry Connick, Jr. Show, The Tom Joyner Morning Show and The Today Show, and in Kiplinger Magazine, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Free Enterprise Magazine, JET.com, Essence.com and Madamnoire.  Gabrielle, an award winning teenpreneur, has been recognized as the 2015 South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the youngest to ever receive this award, a national finalist in the 2015 U.S. SBA InnovateHER Competition, a 2016 SCORE and Sam’s Club American Small Business Champion, and the 2016 SCORE Foundation Outstanding Diverse Business of the Year and  the 2018 Black Enterprise Teenpreneur of the Year.

Dr. Gina Paige co-founded African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com) in 2003 and pioneered a new way of tracing African lineages using genetics. This new marketplace for people of African descent made tracing their roots more accurate and reliable.  Paige travels the world helping people demystify their roots and inform on identities so that they may better understand who they are by knowing where they’re from.  Sought after by the world’s leading media outlets such as CNN, 60 Minutes the Breakfast Club and icons, Gina has worked with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Chadwick Boseman, Spike Lee, Condoleezza Rice and The King Family  helping them demystify their roots so that they may better understand who they are by knowing where they’re from.  Dr. Paige launched her first business at age 8, with a magazine purposed to raise money for family trips. She went on to start “Pik-A-Pak” Care Packages as a Stanford University graduate, helping families stay connected with their children while away at school.

Bridgett Gagné, CPA, MBA is Managing Member of Gagné Associates CPAs PLLC, a full-service CPA firm; and is co-founder of Not Your Average Bean Counter (NYABC), a concierge bookkeeping firm designed to develop well-trained and employable bookkeepers.  Bridgett an entrepreneur and former banker develops and implements the firm’s strategic plan and oversees the overall management and governance of the firm.  She works with clients in accounting system implementation, business process improvements, audit and tax support, regulatory compliance and monitoring, board governance activities, as well as audits.  As co-founder of NYABC, Ms. Gagné develops curriculum, teaches bookkeeping and provides coaching to aspiring bookkeepers and accountants.  She serves as Treasurer of the US Black Chambers, Inc. and is a Mayoral appointee to the DC Board of Accountancy.  Ms. Gagné is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Greater Washington Society of CPAs (GWSCPA), and the Division of Firms.