The Engagement and Inclusion Summit was created out of the need for the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina to begin having bold conversations about economic injustice, the importance of wealth creation opportunities, and how to access resources (lifting the veil). In 2017 Wells Fargo chose to support the project and has been our primary partner since that time. The event takes place as a one-day conference during October preceding the National Minority Economic Development Week.
Transactions in business must demonstrate greater equity. Our main stage in 2019 will hone in on this game changing factor. Featuring leaders in Supplier Diversity, policy, and technological advances that are shifting the scales.
In addition, discussion on critical policies that will affect the fabric of historically predominant minority communities will be unraveled juxtapose sessions that evoke the visceral aspects of entrepreneurship from necessity and the destruction of the institutionalized constructs around the presence of women in business.
Kezia M. Williams is the founder of The Black upStart - a national initiative to train African-American entrepreneurs. She has over ten years of experience training millennials to crowd fund grants benefiting small businesses. She has managed initiatives for two national nonprofit organizations that serve African-American donors and entrepreneurs.
Wilson Lester is a non-profit leader, and entrepreneur. His role as Executive Director of Piedmont Business Capital (a CDFI), works diligently support an ecosystem of access to capital and relationships for women and minority entrepreneurs. He is also a tech investor and developer working to create systems that disrupt disparity. His work also encompasses innovative investment around Opportunity Zones that prevent dislocated businesses in black and brown communities.
Dr. Talaya Waller is an international personal branding consultant and professor. In 2014, she founded Waller & Company to provide a research-based, data-driven methodology to help CEOs, top-level executives, and industry leaders position their expertise to increase visibility and profitability. From Fortune 500 companies to royal dignitaries, she’s had the privilege to work with a diverse range of clients to develop personal brands that target the audiences they want to reach.
Napoleon Wallace, Co-Founder of ACTIVEST, has held senior leadership roles with Kresge’s Social Investment Practice, Self-Help, M&F Bank and two state-wide economic development organizations. He started his career as an II-ranked high yield bond analyst with Wells Fargo. He has an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler and a BA from NC Central.
Talib is a fourth-generation entrepreneur and embodies a self-described “Blue-Blood Hustle.” The entrepreneurial history of his family has fueled his passion to build innovative businesses. From 2015-2016, Talib Graves-Manns served as the Entrepreneur in Residence with Google for Entrepreneurs and Code2040 at the American Underground in Durham. Talib is the Co-Founder of three businesses: Point AB, Life on Autopilot, and Black Wall Street Homecoming. Across all three organizations, he is responsible for business strategy and growth.
Dave J. Miller’s experience grew out of his family’s 150-year ownership of Miller Farms, at one time, the largest African American-owned farm in the Southeast, and his experience at the City of Atlanta, where he created the first minority business program, which was later modeled by the U.S. DOT. Lauren Miller is expanding the M³ Consulting legacy with fresh energy and new experiences. Having previously worked on disparity studies and other projects with her father and brother at the firm. Lauren Miller continues the international legacy, creating an innovative travel organization to share travel & lifestyle content and expertise with young American Americans, through which, at the age of 30, has already taken her to over 85 countries, states, and provinces.
Reggie is the Managing Director/Senior Advisor at IMPACT Strategies where he provides strategic counsel and manages stakeholder engagement to advance business development and client interest. Reggie’s professional career in the public, private and non-profit sectors includes experience on Capitol Hill as the Director of Member Services & External Affairs for the Congressional Black Caucus (“CBC”). In addition to experience serving his home state of North Carolina under Congressman G. K. Butterfield, Governor Bev Perdue and U.S. Senator Kay Hagan.
Prior to joining IMPACT Strategies, Reggie worked in outreach and external affairs for Self Help Credit Union’s national non-profit for consumer financial protection, the Center for Responsible Lending.
Regina O. Heyward is senior vice president and head of Supplier Diversity forWells Fargo. With more than two decades of multi-industry global supply chain and supplier diversity strategy experience, she is responsible for developing and engaging certified diverse suppliers to integrate them into Wells Fargo’s sourcing and procurement processes. Heyward joined Wells Fargo in 2014.
Throughout her career, Heyward has been known for developing high impact supplier diversity programs and leading strategic supply chain initiatives in North America, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Prior to her current role, she served as the director of enterprise supplier management for Capital One, a role in which she led the supplier diversity team and was responsible for corporate real estate category sourcing.
Mr. Austin leads all Corporate Philanthropy and Employee Involvement activities in North Carolina, (Exception: Greater Charlotte Region) South Carolina, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Austin’s primary focus is delivering strategic and brand/reputation building corporate philanthropy.
Areas of emphasis include consulting, strategic analysis, training, budgeting, forecasting and proposal review & approvals. Since joining Wachovia in 1986, Austin has gained experience in several areas of the bank including Dealer Finance, Retail, Business Banking, Community Lending & Investment, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management.
Lisa Cylar Barrett is the Director of Policy at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. In this position she leads and manages all of the policy efforts across the four impact areas of the organization - namely Education, Criminal Justice, Civic Participation and Economic Justice.
Ms. Cylar Barrett initially joined LDF as Senior Policy Counsel and in that role led the policy efforts related to Economic Justice. Prior to joining LDF, Ms. Cylar Barrett served as the Managing Director, Federal Policy at PolicyLink. In that position she oversaw the development and execution of strategies to advance racial and economic equity on a wide range of issues, including infrastructure investment, housing, education, transportation, access to healthy food, water and economic inclusion.
Listen to an engaged conversation about combating injustice with innovation that scales businesses owned by minority and women that thrive as developers, contractors and service providers. Featuring Regina O. Heyward, SVP Supplier Diversity, Wells Fargo, Lauren Miller, Director of Business Development, Miller3 Consulting, and Rod Robinson, Founder & CEO, ConnXus
Napoleon Wallace, Co-Founder of Activest and NCOZS and former Deputy Secretary of Commerce for the State of North Carolina will host a presentation on Opportunity Zones and how they may impact communities of color. After this session you will get a grip on the concept of opportunity zones and what it means for you, your community and our nation. Walk a way with key concepts on investment models that include public and private partnerships.
The advent of Opportunity Zones (OZ) has worked to stoke interests among communities to Buy Back the Block; reinvesting, placemaking, and reimagining what local neighborhoods could become. OZs has also increased the likelihood that communities of color will face increasingly destructive policies and predacious capital interests since there is now a sizeable and unregulated tax benefit for investing in low-income communities across the US. Also, there continues to be a concern that since Opportunity Zones is a capital play, it is less likely that minority businesses will not reap the economic benefits afforded through this legislation. This concern is not unfounded. Traditionally, banks have been biased against applicants with less money to spare, partially because such applicants cannot offer significant collateral in geographic tracts that lenders have historically redlined.
Final discussion of the day and arguably the most important. Now is the time for us to look to the people in our community and to ourselves to create the future we want to see. Featuring, Reggie McCrimmon, Managing Director, IMPACT Stratagies, Akilah Ensley, Founder, Invictus Strategies. Moderated by Abrea Armstrong
