speakers
SPEAKERS
Allegra Stennett
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Allegra Stennett is co-founder of New Majority Capital, an impact investing firm focused on small business buyouts by underrepresented entrepreneurs. Allegra sits on the firm’s Investment Committee and also oversees external partnerships.
New Majority Capital
Alyssa Benalfew-Ramos
Chief of Policy
Alyssa Benalfew-Ramos (she/hers) is a dynamic public policy professional and public health practitioner. Currently she is the Chief of Policy at the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), leading the development and implementation of BECMA’s statewide policy and legislative advocacy strategy with the goal of building Black wealth and promoting prosperity in Black communities.
BECMA
Andy X. Vargas
State Representative
State Representative Andy X. Vargas represents the 3rd Essex District (Haverhill) in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He serves as the Vice-Chair of the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee. He also serves as a member of the following committees: Ways & Means, Education, and Public Health. He is the Vice-Chair of the MA Black & Latino Caucus.
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Pinky Cole Hayes
Owner
“Pinky" Cole Hayes is a Jamaican-American restaurateur, author, community activist, and owner of the Slutty Vegan restaurant chain and Bar Vegan in Atlanta, Georgia. Pinky is a culinary disruptor in the industry, transforming America's view of plant-based fast food and striving to make plant-based eating delicious, accessible, and enjoyable for vegans and flexitarians alike.
Slutty Vegan
Brandale Randolph
Founder and CEO
Brandale Randolph is the CEO of 1854 Cycling, an electronic bike (ebike) company that seeks to create living-wage jobs for formerly incarcerated people.
1854 Cycling
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Courtney Brunson, Esq
Director
Greater Boston Partnership to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
Courtney Brunson is an advocate for economic mobility and opportunity. She currently works as the Director of the Greater Boston Partnership to Close the Racial Wealth Gap, a 40+ member cross-sector group convened by the Boston Foundation whose purpose is to increase wealth for underserved households and communities of color in the Greater Boston area.
Dan Delaney
Founder
Daniel J. Delaney is the founder of the Delaney Policy Group (DPG) which he runs alongside his wife, Andrea Delaney. As registered lobbyists, they advocate for a range of policy issues at the state and municipal level
Delaney Policy Group (DPG)
Emilio Dorcely
CEO
Emilio possesses three decades of community development experience, strategic partnerships, and innovative thinking on structural change and strengthening neighborhoods in New York, Washington, DC, and Boston.
Urban Edge
Erin Cohee
Vice President, User Experience & Business Development
OneUnited Bank
Erin Cohee is the Vice President of Digital Customer Experience at OneUnited Bank, America's largest Black-owned bank and first Black-owned digital bank. OneUnited's mission is to use technology to close the racial wealth gap, provide best in class financial services and to make financial literacy a core value of the Black community.
Glenn Jones
News Anchor
Glenn Jones, another Mainstage host, joined NBC10 Boston and NECN as a reporter and anchor in November of 2021. A past Boston/New England Emmy Award winner, Glenn has nearly a decade of experience in television news, including a three-year tenure as a general assignment reporter in the Boston market. He also spent four years as an anchor and reporter for the NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida, and at the ABC affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Hessaan Farooqi
Boston Climate Action Network
Hessann Farooqi is the Executive Director of the Boston Climate Action Network. He is the youngest person and the first person of color appointed to lead BCAN in its more than two decade history.
Executive Director
India Rose
CEO
In 2019, India Rose created the Directory as a digital platform in response to summer visitors reaching out to her for Black-Owned business referrals; recognizing that she grew up on the Vineyard and was a year-round resident with knowledge of the business community. 2024 marks its 6-year anniversary, with its fourth year in print as a glossy magazine
Martha's Vineyard Black-Owned Business Directory
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Jeanette Velasquez
Velasquez Tax & Business Services LLC
Jeanette Velasquez is a dedicated wife, mother of four, grandmother, and the visionary founder and owner of Velasquez Tax & Business Services LLC (VTBS). She is also the founder of Core Values Strong Families Inc., a nonprofit organization. Jeanette’s passion lies in serving and providing resources that add value to people’s lives spiritually, financially, educationally, and technologically.
Founder
Justin Haynes
Jus10H
International CFDA-listed designer Justin Haynes of Jus10H is a notable fashion sensation. His signature designs have earned national and international acclaim. Since launching JUS10H, Haynes has worked tirelessly to refine his craft and promote fashion awareness in his hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts.
Founder
Kofi Callender
BECMA
Kofi Callender is the Managing Director of BECMA Community Investments. He began his career in consulting, where he honed his skills in strategic planning and business development. Kofi earned his MBA from Babson College, further solidifying his expertise in entrepreneurship and finance.
Managing Director
Latoyia Edwards
Latoyia Edwards, one of our Mainstage hosts, joined the NBC10 Boston and NECN family as a morning reporter, arriving from WWLP-22 in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she had been a weekday anchor. She is a multi-talented journalist moderating political debates, field-anchoring live news events, securing exclusive one-on-one interviews and emceeing countless charity events each year.
News Anchor
Mackenson Charles
BECMA
Mackenson Charles is the Chief of Programs & Services at BECMA. Mack works to create a sustainable, measurable, and scalable impact for BECMA Members through programs including Back Office Support Services (BOSS), EV Kickstarter, and Supplier Diversity Services.
Chief of Programs & Services
Mary Wambui
Planning Office For Urban Affairs
Mary Wambui is an affordable housing asset manager for the Planning Office For Urban Affairs (POUA), a non-profit social justice ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
Asset Manager Affordable Housing
Nicole Obi
Nicole Obi is the President & CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)whose mission is to drive economic equity and prosperity for Massachusetts to achieve inclusive growth through advocacy, programming, and strategic partnerships that enable Black-owned businesses and Black communities to thrive
BECMA
President & CEO
Regina Hudson
Hudson Financial Strategies
Regina Hudson was born and raised in Springfield, Mass. and is the CEO of Hudson Financial Strategies, LLC. Regina has a mission to inspire families to own real estate, gain financial freedom, and build generational wealth.
CEO
Shana Bryant
Shana Bryant Consulting
Shana Bryant Consulting is a Boston-based event production and logistics consultancy dedicated to assisting government agencies, small businesses, and nonprofits plan and execute unforgettable events that appear flawless.
Founder and CEO
Suzanne Graham Anderson
Positively Suzanne offers a wide array of services, whether it is advice about faith, marriage, friendship, relationship, finances or school, we can help you navigate it.
Positively Suzanne
Founder & CEO
Tamika Jacques
Tamika N. Jacques, Ed.D. has been in Workforce Development field for over twenty years. Through various job positions she has had the privilege of helping to distribute over $25 million in workforce development programs to help others excel and achieve their goals leading to economic sustainability.
Manager of Workforce Development
Avangrid
Tristan Thomas
BECMA
Tristan Thomas serves as Senior Policy & Advocacy Manager. Tristan has a B.S. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Northeastern University. A New York native from the Bronx, Tristan now calls Roxbury home.
Senior Policy & Advocacy Manager
Susan B. Collins
Susan M. Collins is president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, one of 12 regional reserve banks in the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. central bank.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
President and CEO
Vick Gray
Vicki is the proud owner of New Chapter HI Services, a contracting company that specializes in high-quality painting and property maintenance services. With a skilled team, New Chapter HI Services delivers excellent service and exceeds client expectations.
New Chapter HI
Owner
Seth Pitts
Seth A. Pitts has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Bay State Savings Bank, and a member of its Board of Directors since September 2023.
Bay State Savings Bank
President & CEO
Rick Fredkin
Eduporium’s co-founder, president, and CEO, Rick Fredkin, hasn't had what many tech executives would consider a traditional start. That is fine with him, though, because he has found himself in a place that not too many other Black men have: as the head of a technology company.
Eduporium
Co-founder, President and CEO
Rui Lopes
Rui Lopes is a filmmaker originally from Cape Verde who grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. Starting from humble beginnings behind the camera, Rui has since become the CEO of Anawan Studios, establishing himself and his team as a trusted partner for film producers, brands, and agencies looking to create content both in Massachusetts and nationwide.
Anawan Studios
Founder
Wil Jones
Wil Jones is an Urban Planner, Community Designer, and graduate student at MIT DUSP whose research explores merging Black Atlantic traditions with modern technologies to enhance urban equity.
Urban Planner, Community Designer
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Sophia Hall, Esq.
Sophia Hall is the Deputy Litigation Director at Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), a non-profit legal organization founded at the request of President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Deputy Litigation Director
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Thea James
As Vice President of Mission, Dr. James works with caregivers throughout BMC. Additionally, she has primary responsibility for coordinating and maximizing BMC’s relationships and strategic alliances with a wide range of local, state and national multi-sector organizations including community agencies, housing advocates, and others that partner with BMC.
Boston Medical Center
Vice President of Mission
Diti Kohli
Diti Kohli is a business reporter at the Boston Globe, where she covers everything from labor and housing to cannabis and higher education. She also mentors budding reporters with the New England High School Journalism Collaborative and attended Emerson College.
The Boston Globe
Business Reporter
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Jock Payten
Founding Nubian Square Investment Advisors is a purpose filled mission to build a diverse-owned, responsible investment business to bridge the gap between main street and wall street. Jock has worked across investment firms learning how to manage capital for working class community investors, affluent, high net worth, and institutional investors.
Nubian Square Investment Advisors
President and CEO
Eneida Romàn
Eneida Román is a trained attorney and organizational psychologist. She is co-founder, and the President & CEO of Amplify Latinx, a non-partisan, collaborative institution advancing Latino-American leadership representation, economic prosperity, and civic engagement.
Amplify Latinx
President & CEO
Cvic Innocent
Cvic Innocent is the General Partner of Frankenbuild Ventures. Dr. Innocent brings extensive expertise in deep tech, hard tech, and prototype development spanning over 16 years.
Frankebuild Ventures
General Partner
Christopher Sonnie, Jr.
TBA
BECMA
Member Services Manager
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ChiderahOkoye
An engineer by background, Chiderah Okoye has long been interested in how opportunities created by technology could be shared by historically disconnected communities. Chiderah serves as Managing Director of Transform Power Systems, a Boston-based electrical power systems engineering and design firm that was founded with the focus of advancing clean energy through deploying engineered renewable systems and developing the next generation of diverse clean energy professionals.
Transform Power Systems
Managing Director
Michelle Brathwaite
Michelle Brathwaite is a Regional Vice President (RVP) with Primerica Financial Services who in 2009 was promoted to RVP becoming the first Black female Regional Vice President in Massachusetts.
Primerica Financial Services
Regional Vice President
Sheldon Lloyd
Co-owner of City Fresh Foods, Inc., specializing in providing prepared fresh daily, hot & healthy ethnic pre-packaged meals for schools, child and adult daycare centers, and residential programs. Responsible for managing the production, logistics, and delivery of over 25,000 units a day across Massachusetts.
City Fresh Foods
CEO
Anthony Samuels
Anthony A. Samuels is the founder of DRB Facility Services and has been President/CEO since its inception in 1993. The company has grown steadily under his leadership.
President & CEO
DRB Facility Services
Sidney Baptista
Sidney Baptista's journey from a Big Four accounting firm to the founder of PYNRS, a trailblazing Black-owned running apparel company, is a testament to the power of ownership and reinvention.
Founder
PYNRS
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine
Yasmin is a General Partner at Visible Hands VC a pre-seed venture capital firm that funds the overlooked formidable founders who are transforming the future.
Visible Hands
General Partner
Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson currently serves as a Senior Advisor in the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Inclusion on Racial Justice. In this role she works with community leaders and organizations to acknowledge the past while removing systemic barriers to create racial equity in Boston.
Mayor’s Office of Equity and Inclusion on Racial Justice
Senior Advisor
Angela Pitter
Angela Pitter, the dynamic founder and CEO of LiveWire Collaborative, has been revolutionizing digital marketing since 2012.
LiveWire Collaborative
Founder & CEO
Carrie Mays
Carrie Mays is a 23-year-old and Youth Activist in the city of Boston. She now serves as an appointed member on Boston’s first ever Reparations Task Force ordained by Michelle Wu and the city council.
City of Boston Reperations Task Force
Youth Activist
Danielle Allen
Danielle Allen is a professor of political philosophy, public policy, and ethics at Harvard University. She is also Founder and President of Partners In Democracy. At Partners In Democracy, she advocates for democracy renovation to create greater voice and access in our democracy, and drive progress towards a new social contract that serves and includes us all.
Partners In Democracy
Founder & President
Lee Pelton
Lee Pelton, who was recognized by Non-Profit Times on its 2024 list of America’s 50 most powerful and influential non-profit leaders, is the CEO & President of The Boston Foundation, one of the nation’s leading philanthropic organizations with $2.0 billion in assets.
The Boston Foundation
President & CEO
Keyur Patel
Keyur Patel joins Boston Impact Initiative as its inaugural Portfolio Manager where he leads end-to-end deal execution and provides strategic guidance to current BII portfolio companies.
Boston Impact Initiative
Portfolio Manager
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren, a fearless consumer advocate who has made her life's work the fight for middle class families, was re-elected to the United States Senate for a second term on November 6, 2018, by the people of Massachusetts.
U.S. Senate
Senator
Sen. Ed Markey
Senator Edward J. Markey, a consumer champion and national leader on energy, environmental protection and telecommunications policy, has a prolific legislative record on major issues across the policy spectrum and a deep commitment to improving the lives of the people of Massachusetts and our country.
U.S. Senate
Senator
Gov. Maura Healey
Maura Healey is the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts. In 2022, she became the state's first woman and first openly LGBTQ person elected to the position.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Governor
Priscella Shum
With over 20 years of experience in the fashion industry, Priscella Shum is a distinguished Design Director renowned for her ability to drive growth and profitability for global brands. Her innovative designs and immersive storytelling have transformed iconic labels such as Pyer Moss, Reebok, Yeezy x Adidas, Sean John, and Baby Phat.
PPS Design
Design Consultant
Chrystal Kornegay
Chrystal Kornegay is a mission-driven problem solver whose career is defined by repositioning organizations to grow their impact. She combines listening, instinct, and opportunity to create strategies that advance critical community development goals.
MassHousing
Executive Director
Sen. Liz Miranda
Massachusetts State Senator Liz Miranda is in her first term serving the Second Suffolk District, representing neighborhoods in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, South End, Roslindale, and the Fenway. Senator Miranda is a Wellesley College alumna and proud graduate of Boston Public Schools, graduating from the John D O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Boston Alumnae Chapter.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Senate
Yawa Degboe
Yawa Degboe is a marketing leader with extensive experience in Business to Business and Software as a Service in the video industry. She most recently worked as a Director of Demand Generation Marketing at Vimeo, the leading AI-powered video platform, charting new paths forward and leading innovative marketing campaigns.
Marketing Tech Leader
Segun Idowu
A lifelong resident of Boston, Segun is a proud product of the Boston Public Schools. Following his graduation from Boston Latin Academy, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and honors from the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key Societies. Segun stepped down from his role as BECMA’s CEO in December 2021 in order to join the Administration of Mayor Michelle Wu as the Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, beginning this role on January 3, 2022. In this position, he is focused on making Boston a resilient, economically equitable, and vibrant city that centers people and creates opportunities to build generational wealth for all communities.
Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion
City of Boston
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Herby Duverné
Herby Duverne is President and CEO of the Windwalker Group, a physical and cybersecurity firm. The company possesses a Defense Security Services secret clearance, operates in multiple states and currently holds contracts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and several with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Windwalker Group
CEO
Mayor Michelle Wu
Michelle Wu is the first woman and first person of color to be elected Mayor of Boston. The daughter of immigrants, a Boston Public Schools mom, and an MBTA rider, Mayor Wu believes that the key to solving our deepest challenges lies in building community and embracing possibility.