Alan Hughes is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the field. Before launching Hughes Communications, a content creation consultancy, he served as Multimedia Editorial Director for Black Enterprise, the leading business publication for African American professionals. At Black Enterprise, he oversaw business, finance, entrepreneurship and technology content for print, online, broadcast and events platforms. 

Before Black Enterprise, Hughes was an editor at BusinessWeek Online, where he covered the financial markets, writing a twice-weekly overview of the stock and bond markets for the publication’s website. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly a decade on Wall Street, analyzing financial markets for Standard & Poor’s, the preeminent financial services information provider. 

A New York City native, Hughes is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He also completed advanced executive education courses at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

 

Andrew Hamilton has served the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Metro New York chapter in several capacities: Volunteer Management, Director of Employment, Vice President, and now, an elected President.

Andrew has held two positions at Stryker Orthopedics, whose purpose is to offer innovative products and services in orthopedics, medical and surgical, and neurotechnology and spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes. As the Global Demand Planner, Andrew implemented standard operating procedures, managed order cycle functions and associated information systems, and improved department workflow for the past ten years. Additionally, he was the International Chain Supply Analyst. He supported the design and generation of recurring statistical forecast reports for new product launches, managed supply chain operations, coordinated sales forecast, and decreased operation shortfalls.

Before joining Stryker, Andrew acted as Account Manager and Logistics Supervisor at Expeditors International of Washington, a Fortune 500 company focusing on international trade needs through customized solutions and seamless, integrated information systems. Andrew managed order cycles, organized account transitions, and advanced department workflow with an increase in revenue.

With experience in board development and organizational leadership, Andrew’s strength lies in his ability to inspire and drive change, negotiate new client business and partnerships, and create positive outcomes and winning cultures within an organization.

Andrew regularly consults with nonprofits and volunteers from a variety of fields on marketing and public relations campaigns. He also provides mentoring and support to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Andrew holds both a B.S. in Marketing and an MBA in International Business from Long Island University. He resides in Westchester and is an active member of Christ Church in Rye, New York.

Charlie Williamson is Founder & CEO of AppThat Inc., he manages a near-shore software factory that develops mobile applications, cryptocurrency and tokens, and technology architecture, operating in Dominican Republic, Mexico, and United States. As an early adopter of cryptocurrency, he provides industry expertise, participates in panel discussions and advisory boards, and viewed as a subject matter expert in crypto merchant services. Charlie is a disruptor in technology innovation via fintech migration to cryptocurrency payment systems, e-commerce migration to m-commerce, cryptocurrency exchanges, virtual learning platforms, and all things crypto. He has built more than 4 cryptocurrencies for private companies, and developed a mastery of Ethereum token development, establishing blockchain connectivity in weeks as supposed to months. Charlie teaches Cryptocurrency, Blockchain technology, a many other business / organizational behavior courses at the BA/MBA level for Metropolitan College of New York and Kean University since 2015.

Charlie Williamson is a global corporate strategist with a focus on people, process, and technology at Fortune 500 companies and private clients. Charlie is a pracademic, containing both practical expertise and doctorate in organizational behavior and leadership development. He has senior management experience within both public and private sector, and has applied his behaviorist skills to influence people, processes, and outcomes. Charlie’s background includes the following: Assistant Vice President of Global IT Service Management at Citigroup, Chief Learning Officer at JPMorgan Chase, Executive Director of Global Process Reengineering at JPMorgan Chase, Chief Process Officer of Global Infrastructure Services for UBS, and Chief of Staff / Process Automation at Bank of America, Board Member of Monroe College School of Business, Board Member of Empowerment Behavioral Therapeutic Services for Veterans, Committee Member of Leadership Advisory Council at Fordham University, and Chairman Emeritus of School of Business and Healthcare at MCNY, and Adjunct Professor at Kean University. He also provides private advisory to cross industry senior leadership at several Fortune 500 Companies, Non For Profit Organizations, and Entrepreneurs.

Charlie has received special honors including the Black Studies Distinguished Alumni Award from Manhattanville College, featured industry awards including Chairman’s Recognition for leading the advisory board in obtaining ACBSP Accreditation at MCNY, Sigma Beta Delta Lifetime International Award for business, community service and education, and the special award as one of the Top 40 Under 40 by The Network Journal. Additionally, Charlie authored “I Need A Job” guiding inner-city minorities on how to apply for jobs; “Everybody Paddles” a leader’s blue print for creating a unified team; “Identifying the criteria for planning the selection and succession of a CIO”; and featured in articles related to technology, cryptocurrency, diversity and women advancement in business.

Charlie holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Masters of Science in Leadership and Strategic Management from Manhattanville College, Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix, and several certifications in human subject research and law.

Most Important, Charlie’s passion lies in building future business leaders and talent leveraging experience!

President of Global Reflections and Inclusive Leadership Practice, UWG

Douglas C. Freeman is the President of the Global Reflections and Inclusive Leadership inclusion practice at UniWorld Group, Inc. a global, multicultural, communication and advertising firm. UWG at 51 years old is the oldest Multicultural/DEI firm in the United States. Global Reflections is a sophisticated line of client offerings that provide corporations with a deep portfolio of holistic diversity and inclusion best practices, customized to the client’s specific business needs. Mr. Freeman and UWG have completed diversity and inclusion projects for some of the world’s leading organizations, from Disney and Major League Baseball to Morgan Stanley and the European Union Commission in Brussels. Highlights 2000 to Present:

Founder, MyFair: Diversity recruitment model for an individual corporation (inverse of career fair model), attracting hard-to-find STEM talent, utilizing a database of over 1M high school, college, and young professional candidates. Examples: GMFair and RicohFair
Founder, Inclusive Business Skills™: World’s only 7-part diversity and inclusion training program, proven to engage “the frozen middle management” layer and transform middle managers into Diversity Champions
Founder, World Diversity Leadership Summit: Trained over 3,000 diversity and inclusion practitioners
Founder, d-ROI — “big data” analytics and metrics solution: diversity–Return on Investment™; over $3B in proven (i.e., measured) cost savings and revenue growth
Founder, Global Women’s Leadership Forum©: One of the first women’s middle management leadership development events; launched in Europe and migrated to the United States
Founder, Global Partners Program: 1-year bootcamp of consortium multinationals designed to launch diversity initiatives outside the United States

Mr. Freeman has served as Vice Chairman of the United Nations Gender Equality Experts Panel, was named a 40Under40 business leader by the NYC Network Journal and is a former board trustee of Georgetown College (US educational partner of Regents Park College, Oxford University). He recently served on the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Council at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University.

Mr. Freeman holds a Master in Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, an MBA Essentials credential from the London School of Economics, along with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Freeman attended Harvard University on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, completed his graduate degree focused on International Trade and Finance, and received the top grade (“A”) for his master’s thesis work.

He is a two-time British Columbia Under-19 Rugby All-Star; is a two-time Canadian Universities “All-Canadian” (Ontario Universities) and was selected for the Canada Under-21 team as a Rugby All-Star. Mr. Freeman is the son of Emmy Award-winning conductor Maestro Paul Freeman, the first African American to lead a Canadian Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Derek J. Robinson is Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), a division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC). In this role, Dr. Robinson is responsible for care management operations, clinical leadership and strategic oversight in providing high value health care to more than 8 million members. Robinson is also the founding chair of the Health Equity Steering Committee, which was established to develop the health equity strategy across markets and lines of business at HCSC, the nation’s largest non-investor owned health insurance company.

As an active emergency medicine physician, executive, author, and educator, Dr. Robinson’s breadth of experience provides him with a unique perspective on the complexities of healthcare and population health. He is often sought-after for counsel and strategic insights by business executives, physician leaders, medical school administrators and expert panels.

For nearly two decades, Dr. Robinson has led community efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in undergraduate and post-graduate education at the local, state, and national level. He is a member of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion advisory committee at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Additionally, Dr. Robinson is vice-chairman of the board of trustees at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Prior to his current role, Dr. Robinson was Vice President for Enterprise Quality and Accreditation at HCSC where he was responsible for clinical quality performance, health plan accreditation, and related operations across multiple states. He previously served as a physician executive at the Illinois Health and Hospital Association and is the former Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Chicago Regional Office.

Dr. Robinson is the recipient of numerous awards including Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40, 40 Game Changers Under 40 – Ariel Investments, and the 2019 Leadership in Healthcare Award by National Medical Fellowships, Inc. Savoy Magazine recognized Dr. Robinson in its list of 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. Dr. Robinson is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago where he is the 2020-21 chairman of the Young Leaders Committee. He has also appeared on the Black News Channel and WMAQ Chicago to discuss COVID-19’s disproportionate effect on minority communities.

Dr. Robinson is frequently invited as a speaker to provide perspective and expertise on current issues related to health equity, social determinants of health (SDoH), implicit bias and the imperative for physician diversity in the workplace. Most recently, he served as keynote speaker for the National Institute for Health Care Management, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the Mayo Clinic, and Loyola University. Dr. Robinson has also served as a panelist for the National Medical Association, National Minority Quality Forum, University of Southern California Race and Equity Center, Common Threads, and the McCormick Theological Seminary.

Dr. Robinson is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and holds degrees from Xavier University of Louisiana, Howard University College of Medicine, and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Feinberg School of Medicine - Northwestern University.

Jarryd Carver,
President & Owner, Winners Circle Automotive Group, Carver Holdings (Commercial RE)

FINANCIAL SERVICES ENTREPRENEUR/SALES & MARKETING CONSULTANT/AUTHOR

Jason Murray, is a father, grandfather, entrepreneur, community servant, organizational leader and author. Raised in the Bronx, NY by a single parent, Murray achieved scholastic success in school and developed business skills, marketing acumen and consultative aptitude in the corporate world which spanned three decades, working in the consumer goods, publishing, pharmaceutical, healthcare and financial services industries.

The corporate world gave Jason the ability to foster and develop numerous relationships nationally and instilled in him the importance of business expansion and economic development through challenging experiences and consistent career advancement. Now, currently a serial entrepreneur, consultant and thought leader, Murray is charged with providing a blueprint for success by strengthening communities and narrowing the wealth gap through entrepreneurship education, leadership skills development and spiritual growth.

Murray is a graduate of Marist College, with a B.S in Business Administration and a Concentration in Marketing. He additionally holds the Series 7, Series 66 and Life & Health Insurance licenses.

Jason became a widower at an early age, thus was a single parent himself for 3 years. He currently resides in Teaneck, NJ with his wife, Tanya. He raised six children through a blended family and has eleven grandchildren, which gives him a clear understanding of his ever evolving legacy!

After spending over twenty plus years in business-to-business sales and marketing or business development roles with companies such as Xerox, Raytheon, Kaiser-Permanente and Humana, John has shifted his focus to working with business owners, individuals and families. In 2017, he launched TGC Agency®, a full-service all lines regional independent insurance agency headquartered in Columbia, MD. The agency has industry knowledge and experience in commercial insurance, surety, employee benefits, personal property & casualty insurance and personal financial planning. As the principal general agent, the agency represents some of the nation’s top-rated carriers in the standard, non-standard, specialty and excess & surplus markets operating in more than fifteen states.

In addition to John’s commitment to his agency, he is actively involved in the Baltimore/Washington business community and the insurance industry. Presently, he is a business resource partner in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Maryland, Baltimore Business League and Vice-President of the National African-American Insurance Association – Washington, D.C. (NAAIA- DC) Chapter. He is also a Board Member and the Marketing Chairperson of the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, John is a member of the Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce, the US Black Chamber of Commerce, the General Agent Management Association International (GAMA) and the National Association of Professional Agents (NAPA). John and his agency were partnered with another firm based in suburban Philadelphia through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Mentor-Protégé program. Most recently, the agency was named an authorized agent of the SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee Program.

John was born in Baltimore, Maryland and currently resides there today. He’s the father of two:Sinclaire (daughter) and Jack (son). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Hampton University and a Master of Business Administration in Marketing Management along with a Graduate Certificate in Leadership Development for Minority Managers and an Executive Certificate in Business Communication from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School (JHCBS). He is also active in both university alumni associations. At present, John serves as a mentor in the Leading a Diverse Society (LADS) Mentoring program with the JHCBS and the Oliver Hill Scholars Program at the University of Richmond. Furthermore, he serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council and is the president of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Black Alumni Network. Currently, he is pursuing a Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate at Georgetown University.

Additionally, John is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. And in his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his kids, playing golf, reading personal development and leadership books or autobiographies written about business luminaries, listening to jazz and discovering new spirits as the Co-Chair of the “City Club Spirits Society” at The City Club of Washington in the nation’s capital.

Director, International Procurement Operations AT&T

Oliver Turman, Director of AT&T Purchasing. His team manages all domestic, international and government purchasing for AT&T. The team also identifies and designs process improvements of international procurement process to reduce cost and speed transitions. Oliver was previously director of AT&T Supplier Diversity responsible for continued growth of AT&T’s world class Supplier Diversity Team. He led a team of diversity managers tasked with increasing AT&T’s diversity spend through partnerships with AT&T’s sourcing organization and other internal business units which allow for the positioning of diversity suppliers for specific opportunities.

Mr. Turman has over 30 years of procurement experience including nine years as an acquisition professional in the military and over 21 years experience with AT&T. He began his career as a Program Manager in the Air Force working on a variety of procurement projects including early “fire and forget” weapons guidance systems, aerial drones and enemy threat simulator programs. Mr. Turman was also part of the Education with Industry (EWI) program, which is a highly selective, competitive non-degree educational assignment within an industry related to the individual’s career field. Mr. Turman was assigned to work for Martin Marietta Astronautics (now Lockheed Martin Space Systems) in Denver Colorado. Upon completion of the EWI program, Oliver was assigned as a Procurement Instructor where he developed and executed the first distance learning course for the Air Force System’s Acquisition School. Upon completion of this assignment, Mr. Turman left the military to work for SBC (now AT&T). With AT&T, Mr. Turman has held a verity of positions including contract manager for network voice switching systems, acting Director for AT&T’s Outside Plant contracting team and Director for AT&T’s IT software contracting team.

Mr. Turman, a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He obtained his Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University. Oliver is married, has three grown children, one grandchild and currently resides in Allen, Texas.

Ralph G. Moore, CPA, is the founder and president of Ralph G. Moore & Associates (RGMA), a Chicago-based consulting firm recognized as a global leader in supplier diversity strategies and minority business development.

Upon leaving Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1974, he became VP of Chicago Community Ventures, Inc. (CCVI), a venture capital firm dedicated to investing in minority businesses, the first step on his journey to becoming a thought leader in minority business development and supplier diversity. While at CCVI, he worked with Congressman Parren Mitchell (D-MD) and Reginald L. Lewis, which inspired him to start RGMA in 1979.

Over the years, RGMA's clients include United Airlines, McDonald's, Dow Chemical, The Walt Disney Corporation, Bank of America, Time Warner, United, DuPont Corporation, Highmark Health, Exelon, Delta Air Lines, and Major League Baseball. In addition, the following are milestones in Mr. Moore's career as president of RGMA:

As lead trainer for the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) for 24 years, he has trained more supplier diversity professionals than anyone else worldwide.
RGMA created the first minority certification program for the department of Central Management Services in 1985.
He played a vital role in the NMSDC missions that introduced Supplier Diversity to the business sector of South Africa in 1995/1996, shortly after Nelson Mandela became president.
In 1997 the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) retained RGMA to develop their initial strategic plan, which framed the growth of the leading women's advocacy organization.
RGMA has been a certified ACDBE joint venture partner with major concessionaires since 2000 and is currently participating in three Joint ventures at O'Hare Airport.
RGMA created the award-winning supplier diversity program for Major League Baseball, including each of its 30 teams.
RGMA has advised over 1500 minority businesses through various local, state, and federal contracts, including assisting 1000+ minority and women businesses to obtain their DBE certifications.
Ralph Moore authored the RGMA Five Levels of Supplier Diversity maturity model, embraced as the gold standard for benchmarking supplier diversity initiatives.

Mr. Moore has served on the boards of Junior Achievement of Chicago, Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Habilitative Systems, Inc. City Colleges of Chicago, University of Chicago Medicine, and the Chicago History Museum.

Highmark Health recently selected Ralph Moore to serve on the National Advisory Board for their Enterprise Equitable Health Institute. He is also a member of the Procter & Gamble Supplier Diversity Advisory Council and is an advisor to APC Holdings, a private equity firm that leverages mergers and acquisitions to develop scalable, diverse suppliers. In addition, Ralph Moore serves on Sentinel Technologies' board. He is a board member and equity owner of Archer Corporate Services, chaired by Dennis Archer Jr. He serves on the AGB Investigative Services' advisory board, the largest Black-owned security firm in America.

Mr. Moore has earned several awards during his career. He has been recognized as "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Inc. Magazine and Ernst & Young. In addition, he has received the "Ron Brown Award" from the Minority Business Committee of the Chicago Minority Business Development Council, the "Minority Advocate Award" from the Illinois Minority Enterprise Development Week (MED-Week) Committee, the Governor's "Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year Award" from the State of Illinois and the "Illinois Minority Small Business Advocate Award" from the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2010 Mr. Moore received the prestigious NMSDC Leadership Award, the organization's highest honor awarded to a CEO of a minority business enterprise. In recognition of a lifetime of contributions to minority business development, Mr. Moore was inducted into the Minority Business Hall of Fame at the University of Washington in April of 2015.

Robert “Bob” Ingram, the Founder of the Urban Health Report, a digital health and wellness information platform devoted to eradicating healthcare disparities among Blacks and Indigenous Persons of Color, is a leading executive in healthcare, publishing, multicultural marketing, advertising and corporate diversity & inclusion circles. He started his career at US Black Engineer & Hispanic Engineer Magazines where he quickly rose to Associate Publisher developing an expertise in the recruitment of Black and Latinx STEM talent. Though grateful to those who brought him into the diversity and inclusion career and recruitment area of publishing and advertising, Bob yearned to be independent.

Out of the diversity technology recruitment space Bob went out on his own as a publisher of popular and industry-driven healthcare publications. During the Bill & Hillary Clinton push for universal healthcare in the mid 90’s, Bob made a successful foray into healthcare as publisher of both The Urban Health Report magazine and Healthcare Network 2000 monthly news journal. These thriving publications covered healthcare news, trends, issues, careers and top executives. Among his clients and supporters then was The Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Center, Washington Hospital Center, Bon Secours Health System and Children’s National Health System. As a strategic partner of the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE), Bob became an expert in the area of health disparities in the African American community as well as cultivated a broad network of the Top Blacks in Healthcare throughout America.

Eventually Bob sold his publishing interests and moved back to the STEM recruitment field with the nation’s largest student run organization, the National Society of Black Engineers. While at NSBE Bob became Publisher of NSBE publications and ultimately Chief Development Officer (Fundraiser) and Chair of their Board of Corporate Affiliates. Among the numerous NSBE Corporate Affiliates was Eli Lilly, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, GE, GM, P&G, Microsoft, Intel, Exxon, Boeing, Chevron, Dell, CIA and 3M. While at NSBE Bob helped spearhead the Annual NSBE 50 program of the most preferred employers in conjunction with the Gallup organization. Bob also conceived, founded and produced the Golden Torch Awards which has become NSBE most prestigious corporate driven program at its annual national convention.

Staying abreast of publishing and advertising trends and after several years, Bob went out on his own and soon was recruited by the Tribune Company as its first and only National Help Wanted Director. This was a direct response to the Dot-Com threat posed to the newspaper industry by Monster.com. While at Tribune and at the behest of Vibe Magazine founder Keith Clinkscales, Bob was recruited to New York and Madison Avenue to launch a group of Vanguarde Media properties that included Savoy magazine. Bob went on to become the rainmaker at Savoy magazine and ultimately launched and became publisher of the new and trendsetting career publication and brand extension Savoy Professional magazine.

Earl and Butch Graves of Black Enterprise magazine personally recruited Bob in 2004 to be their National Director of Diversity and soon thereafter he launched their historic 1st Annual Black Enterprise Top Companies for Diversity Issue. While at Black Enterprise, Bob also independently co-founded the World Diversity Leadership Summit (WDLS) in Prague, Czech Republic. WDLS a truly disruptive global confab had succeeding annual events in Prague again and then Harvard, United Nations, Vienna, World Bank, US Open and the New York Stock Exchange. Sandwiched between successful national and global experiences at Black Enterprise and WDLS, Bob designed and hosted a timely, groundbreaking one-day event Bringing Diversity to Madison Avenue at the Harvard Club in New York City. Over 25 Madison Avenue based advertising agencies were brought together to address and find solutions to issues of inclusion in their industry that were brought out in a public legal action executed by New York’s City Council in 2005.

Among his many accomplishments, Bob is proud to have been chosen by the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) as one of America’s Top 100 Diversity & Inclusion Thought Leaders each of the only 2 times the recognition was bestowed. Bob has continued to add value as a productive consultant to the industry with key organizations and brands like Diversity Best Practices/Working Mother Magazine, Uptown Media Ventures and Vibe Magazine. From the spring of 2017 to 2020 Bob continued as a mainstay contributor and innovator as the Sr. Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and programs at BlackDoctor.org. (BDO). BDO is a leading source of health and wellness information for African Americans. While at BDO Bob developed and founded the wildly successful Top Blacks in Healthcare program that for almost a decade has recognized some of the healthcare industry’s leading executives and caregivers. Now at the Urban Health Report, Bob has and continues to work with such stalwart brands as Janssen, Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Takeda, Novartis, Otsuka, Walgreens, Walmart, Toyota, Ford, Colgate Palmolive, AT&T and Wells Fargo. He is presently launching the Urban Health Report during Black History Month in February 2022 with a historic list branded the Holistic Health 100 (HH 100)

Roderick A. Hardamon (“Rod”), a Detroit native, is the CEO & Chief Strategist of URGE Imprint, an integrated boutique management consulting firm head quartered in Detroit, MI. Urge Imprint is a consortium of diverse professionals who focus on helping clients ideate and execute. Imprint’s approach is based on intellectual instigation rooted in honesty and partnership. Rod is also the CEO of URGE Development Group, a real estate development firm focused on systemic change in urban communities through creative placekeeping and placemaking. Mr. Hardamon leverages his over twenty years of experience in strategy, business innovation, mergers and acquisitions, diversity and inclusion, educational consultation, fundraising, capital markets and operational transformation to support the needs of each client called into partnership with the firm.

Formerly, Rod was the North America Head & Global Head of Strategy for Citi Alternative Investment Services. In this role, he led an organization with over $300B in assets under administration and over 2,000 professionals spanning eight locations across the United States, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas, and India. Rod uniquely led all phases of Citi’s ownership of the business: 1) initial acquisition (BISYS); 2) integration into Citi; 3) operational transformation and growth; and 4) divestiture to SS&C Technologies.

Previously, Rod served as Global Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) for Citi Markets & Banking. He led a team that identified and evaluated geographic and product market expansion opportunities that augmented corporate strategy. With a global focus, Rod has been involved in over $50 billion in transactions in over a dozen countries including the United States, Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, South Korea, China, and India.

Roderick began his career at Salomon Brothers including stints in Mergers & Acquisitions and High Grade / Leverage Finance in New York, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Tokyo.

Because of his sincere interest in service and dedication to excellence, Rod has served on several boards including: The Council of Urban Professionals (Chair Emeritus); Detroit Developers RoundTable; Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan; Millennium Dance Company (Board Chair, former); and as a founding member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Morehouse College Business Department.

Rod is an accomplished author, whose book, Trying to Get There: Navigating Your Success, is a guide to all those on the road to success. Roderick has been a guest lecturer and speaker at Harvard Business School, the University of Michigan, The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Morehouse College, and numerous other institutions and civic organizations.

Rod is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College. He is joined in life by his wife Dr. Kaili Hardamon and their children Roderick Jr. (RJ) and Ella Monroe.

As the head of the world’s original luxury vodka, Rodney Williams is leading Belvedere’s next chapter of growth. Since he was appointed in 2017, the brand has launched several robust innovations including the award-winning Single Estate, malted rye and organic botanical vodkas, and a new campaign championing Belvedere’s all-natural/no additives credentials. Under Rodney’s leadership, Belvedere became the first distillery to win an EU Commission green energy grant and will have achieved energy carbon-neutral operations in 2022. Previously, Rodney served as CMO and EVP for Moet Hennessy USA. He first joined the company in 2011 as SVP for Hennessy US where he led its turnaround after four stagnant years and doubling size and profits by 2015.

Prior to Moët Hennessy, Rodney served as SVP of Classics Brands at Jackson Family Wines where he led the most successful new product launch in the company’s history, Kendall-Jackson Avant. Before this, he worked on the successful turnaround of Robert Mondavi and at Constellation Wines.

Before joining the wine business, Rodney headed the marketing team behind the innovative launch of OnStar for General Motors. He began his brand management career at Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson.

Rodney earned his BA from Amherst College and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

Sonia Alleyne is a communications, career and business strategist who is currently the co-founder of Storytellers: Words, Images, Magic, a company that helps organizations develop effective business narratives. She is the author of I Kick Ass At Work! The Strategy Journal for Career Professionals (Hunter Publishing Group, 2020), the first journal of its kind and also the podcast host of "Business First with Sonia Alleyne."

In her previous position as Press Secretary and Director of Public Information for the New York City Department of Finance, she oversaw communications and branding for the nation’s largest and most complex municipal tax administration, establishing many new communications and business initiatives.

Sonia was editorial director at Black Enterprise across multiple platforms and the founding editorial director of their Women of Power Summit, the premier annual leadership conference for professional women of color. She was also a correspondent for The Black Enterprise Business Report and Our World with Black Enterprise.

Sonia is the co-author of Good is Not Enough: And Other Unwritten Rules for Minority Professionals (Penguin Books), nominated for an NAACP Image Award. She is also a contributor to Maria Shriver’s Tips for Life.