Maggie Anderson
The Empowerment Experiment

Margarita Anderson was born in Liberty City, Miami and later attended Emory University where she received her BA in Political Science.  She later received her MBA and JD from the University of Chicago.

The Empowerment Experiment (EE) is proving Black products, services and talent is just as valuable as its general market counterpart. The movement, initiated by African American married couple John and Maggie Anderson in January, continues to inspire more Americans to support Black-owned businesses in hopes of infusing more wealth into the underserved communities.

EE specifically encourages other Black consumers and investors to practice self-help economics by leveraging the $1 trillion of black spending power to support Black communities. The Andersons and supporters of EE firmly believe increased economic stability and cultural pride in the African-American community will counter the urban problems disproportionately affecting Blacks. Those of the movement are confident the cyclical disparities of unemployment, poverty, crime, gang activity, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse can be halted with a powerful reinvestment in black business and entrepreneurship.








Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr.
Co-Founder & President
RLJ Development, LLC

 Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. is Co-Founder and President of RLJ Development, LLC (RLJ) and has direct day-to-day responsibility for all of the Company’s activities. RLJ is a privately-held real estate investment company founded and led by Robert L. Johnson and Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. RLJ and its affiliates, including two private equity funds (RLJ Lodging Fund II, and RLJ Real Estate Fund III), have nearly $2 billion in equity under management from several major public and corporate pension funds and financial institutions. RLJ currently owns 124 hotels in major markets in North America, with more than 17,000 guestrooms and a portfolio value in excess of $2 billion. Mr. Baltimore is a seasoned and experienced hospitality executive.

Mr. Baltimore earned a B.S. degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia in 1985 and an M.B.A. from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia in 1991. He serves as a Trustee of the Darden School Foundation at the University of Virginia, and is a Board member of the University’s Jefferson Scholars Foundation. He is a Director of Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ –IART), Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), and Duke Realty Corporation (NYSE:DRE). He is also a member of Hilton Hotel Corporation Owners’ Advisory Board, Marriott International National Association Board (“MINA”), and the American Hotel & Lodging Association Industry Real Estate Finance Advisory Council (“IREFAC”).

Mr. Baltimore and his wife, Hillary, have two children and currently reside in Potomac, Maryland.








Peter C. Bynoe
Partner, Investment Banking Division
Loop Capital Markets

Peter C. Bynoe is the Chief Operating Officer of Loop Capital Markets. Mr. Bynoe works with Chairman and CEO, Jim Reynolds, in overseeing all of the firm's business units to ensure that appropriate business strategies are implemented and revenue goals are met. In addition to the aforementioned duties, he works with the firm’s Chief Administrative Officer as well as the Legal and Compliance Department to make sure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to support the firm's operating units. Mr. Bynoe also manages Loop Capital's Public Private Partnerships practice. 
Mr. Bynoe possesses over 31 years of transactional experience on both an institutional and entrepreneurial platforms. He has negotiated and developed major infrastructure projects on behalf of cities, counties, states and private investors, both nationwide and internationally. He has bought and sold telecommunications, real estate, infrastructure and sports/entertainment assets on behalf of investment groups and for his own portfolio.

Previously, Mr. Bynoe chaired the Chicago Plan Commission, Chicago Landmarks Commission and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Over his long career, he served on the boards of numerous publicly traded companies and non-profit corporations. Presently, he serves as Director of Covanta Holding Company and Frontier Communications Corporation. He is a Trustee of The Goodman Theatre, Rush University Medical Center and The CORE Center for the Research and Cure of Infectious Diseases.

Currently, Mr. Bynoe chairs Telemat LTD., a privately owned holding company since 1982. He holds strong affiliations with the world’s second largest law firm, DLA Piper US LLP since 1995. He joined Loop Capital Markets in 2008 as a Managing Director.

Erin Green
MBA 2010 Candidate
Chicago Booth

Green is a 2010 MBA candidate at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business,  pursuing concentrations in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship.  At Booth, she is a 2009 LEAD Facilitator, was an active member of the Lake Tanganyika World Malaria Day project through the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship, and is currently an active member of Chicago Women in Business, African-American MBA Association, and both the Management Consulting and Corporate Management and Strategy Groups.  In 2008, she was selected to be the first recipient of the Enid Fogel Diversity Fellowship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and was also the recipient of a 2008 MBA Scholarship from the Chicago Chapter of NBMBAA.  Prior to attending Booth, Ms. Green managed a $10M sales territory for GE Healthcare, where she sold capital equipment to hospitals and imaging centers in the Chicagoland area.

This summer she worked as a consulting intern in American Express's Global Client Group, where she developed a strategy to expand the company's consulting practice among its top 150 corporate card clients. Ms. Green is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, has served on the Associated Board for the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund and facilitated the organization and classroom content for the College Bound program for the James Jordan Boys and Girls Club and Family Life Center.  Ms. Green currently resides on Chicago's west side and will remain in Chicago post-MBA.








Roger Kamau
Vice President
Citi – Global Banking Unit

Roger Kamau is a Vice President in Citi’s Global Banking unit. He currently works in the Communications Group in New York where he focuses on media and telecom clients. Since Joining Citi, Roger has worked on a number of LBO, M&A and financing transactions across the sector.

Prior to joining Citi, Mr. Kamau worked at Banc of America Securities in their Mergers & Acquisitions group. Most of his time at Banc of America Securities was spent advising consumer and industrial companies.

Mr. Kamau has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Finance and Economics from Morehouse College.   Roger currently serves on the advisory boards of The URGE Movement and Living Measure.






                         

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony S. Kendall
CEO
Mitchell & Titus, LLP

Anthony S. Kendall (“Tony”) is the chief executive officer of Mitchell & Titus, LLP (the “Firm”) a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited. Anthony was one of the prominent negotiators of the terms and conditions of the membership agreement between Ernst & Young Global Limited and the Firm.
Tony has an eighteen-year history with the Firm, having joined as a manager in 1991 from a "Big Eight" firm. He was admitted to the partnership in 1996, named New York office managing partner in 2000, and appointed to vice chairman of client services in 2004. He also serves on the Firm's executive committee.

Tony is a certified public accountant in New York, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and in several other states. He is also a certified fraud examiner. He has provided assurance and advisory services to many Fortune 1000 companies (in the telecommunications, financial services, consumer products, and media
and entertainment sectors).  Tony also served sports and entertainment personalities.  In addition, Tony has been an expert witness on several high-profile, “white collar” cases.  

His community service and social activities include, president of the Binghamton University Alumni Association and a member of the University’s Foundation Board. Anthony also serves on the board of directors for Project Renewal, Inc., the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, Inc., the New York State Society of CPAs' Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession program, the Queens Cadet Corp, and others.  In addition, Tony has also published several articles.

Tony earned an MBA in Finance and Taxation and a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management program.








Janae LeFlore
Senior Manager, Audit & Risk
Nicor National

A non-regulated affiliate of Nicor, Inc., Nicor National is a leading provider of Energy Management and Warranty solutions. As Audit Manager, Janae is responsible for providing leadership of the Internal Audit function.  In her Risk Management Capacity, Janae is responsible for oversight of the company’s predicted usage model, which predicts annual customer gas consumption for over 2.2 million customers.

Prior to joining Nicor National in December of 2008, Janae spent four years with Bear Stearns in several roles, most recently as an Associate Director in the Global Risk Management Department. In this position, she was responsible for the implementation of various regulatory initiatives in both the US and abroad, including Basel II, an international business standard governing regulatory capital requirements.

Janae earned her MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2004. Prior to this, Janae spent four years as an Internal Auditor with JPMorgan Chase, where she conducted reviews of various businesses and functions within the firm’s Investment Banking practice. A native of Charleston SC, Janae is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a BS in Accounting from Hampton University. She currently serves on the board of the Central Harlem Senior Citizens Center and enjoys traveling, Chicago Stepping, and movies in her spare time.  

Aylwin Lewis
President & CEO
Potbelly Sandwich Works

Aylwin B. Lewis is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Potbelly Sandwich Works.  Most recently, Mr. Lewis, served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Sears Holdings. Prior to his role as CEO at Sears Holdings, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of both Kmart and Sears Retail. Mr. Lewis was President, Chief Multi-Branding and Operating Officer of YUM! Brands, Inc., the parent of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, among other restaurant concepts, from 2000 until October 2004, and the Chief Operating Officer of Pizza Hut from 1996 to 2000. He has over 26 years of restaurant experience. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company.






 

Maurice D. Markey
Vice President, Private Brands Sam's Club
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Maurice Markey is Vice President, Private Brands at Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club is a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer with sales in excess of $400 billion.  Maurice is responsible for leading the strategic development and growth of Sam’s Club’s proprietary Private Brands; to include Member’s Mark®, Bakers and Chef® and ProForce®.  In this capacity, Maurice leads brand management, product development, insights and quality activities for the $6 billion portfolio of private brands that span approximately 50 categories.

Prior to Sam’s Club, Maurice spent nearly fifteen years with Kraft Foods.  He held positions of leadership in Marketing, Strategy and New Products in the U.S. and Asia.  In the U.S., Maurice led or supported several well known brands including Parkay®, DiGiorno Rising Crust® Pizza, Kraft® Natural Cheese, Freshmade Creations®, Velveeta® and Miracle Whip®.  In Asia, Maurice was based in Singapore, where he was responsible for Marketing in Kraft’s Asia Pacific Region.  Maurice’s accomplishments have been recognized in Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 top business professionals, Brandweek, the American Marketing Association, AdWeek and Diversity MBA magazine’s Top 100 under 50 Diverse Executives and Emerging Leaders.  Prior to joining Kraft, Maurice was with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the areas of Engineering and Manufacturing Operations.

Mr. Markey holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.  He has been a member or held board positions with various community, civic, professional and academic organizations to include membership in the Executive Leadership Council, member of Purdue University’s Diversity Steering Committee, and former board of director of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business Alumni Association.  Maurice and his wife have three children and reside in Northwest Arkansas.








Tyrone Rachal
Senior Development Manager, Tax Allocation Districts
The Atlanta Development Authority

Mr. Rachal is Senior Development Manager of Tax Allocation Districts at The Atlanta Development Authority.  He has specific responsibility for managing, marketing and overseeing the City of Atlanta’s commercial corridor tax allocation districts and serves as administrator for commercial, retail and mixed-use projects applying for TIF funding.  Mr. Rachal also has the responsibility of managing ADA’s controlling entity interest in Imagine Downtown, Inc., a New Markets Tax Credit program Certified Community Development Entity with 2007 and 2008 allocations of $60 million and $20 million, respectively.  Mr. Rachal leads all equity investor and leverage fund discussions in Qualified Equity Investment transactions and serves as transaction manager in CDE investments to real estate development projects.  Mr. Rachal’s depth of financial and legal professional experience in the areas of private equity and real estate development provides him with an exceptional readiness to structure investment opportunities.

Mr. Rachal joined The Atlanta Development Authority from Red Rock Global, which is an Atlanta-based real estate development and advisory services company he co-founded.  Prior to that, Mr. Rachal served as Senior Associate with the Private Equity Group of Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York where he had the responsibility of advising financial sponsors in the private placement of over $7 billion of limited partnership interests to institutional investors.  He also served as an Associate within the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York where he provided advisory assistance to Fortune 500 companies and financial sponsors in transactions valued at over $5 billion consisting of both acquisitions and divestitures.  Prior to Merrill Lynch, Mr. Rachal served as a Consultant within the Dispute Analysis and Corporate Recovery Services Group of Price Waterhouse LLP in New York.  In addition, he has held positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Chapman & Cutler and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Mr. Rachal is a graduate of Dartmouth College with degrees in Economics and Government, as well as the University of Chicago Law School and Graduate School of Business, where he received his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees, respectively.  He is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York, Second Judicial Department and is a licensed real estate broker in the states of New York, Georgia and Florida.  Mr. Rachal currently serves on the Public-Private Partnership Council of the Urban Land Institute and was appointed by Atlanta City Council to serve on the Atlanta BeltLine TAD Advisory Committee and elected as the chair of the Economic Development Subcommittee.  He is an alumnus of the Robert A. Toigo Foundation and currently serves as Co-President of the Robert Toigo Foundation Alumni Association.  Mr. Rachal also proudly serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Black Alumni Association.  He is also a lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.








Derryl L. Reed
President & CEO
Smokin’ Products, LLC

Derryl L. Reed is the President & CEO of Smokin’ Products, LLC, which manufacture a line of hot sauces, steak sauces, BBQ sauce and seasonings under the Smokin’ Joe brand name.   Their products are blended to enhance the flavor of food without over powering their taste, Smokin’ Joe is known for “Heatin’ Up the Flavor,” tasting better than their competition and being lower in Sodium.   Smokin’ Joe is carried by Jewel-Osco, Dominick’s, Food 4 Less, Meijer, Walgreens, and other fine stores and restaurants.  

Mr. Reed is a result driven, strategic thinking, packaged goods and multicultural marketing, branding, sales and advertising executive who is creative, passionate and tenacious about achieving business objectives.  With more than 30 years of experience with Fortune 500 companies, he began his career as a retail grocery sales representative with American Can Company calling on grocery store managers.  Since then he has held positions of increasing responsibility in the beverage, wine and spirits, advertising, financial services, retailing, telecommunications and radio industries.  This includes Assistant Vice of Group Insurance with TIAA-CREF, the world’s largest private pension fund company, American Can Company, Ameritech, SBC, Clear Channel Communications, Tetley Tea, Hueblien and Derryl L. Reed & Associates (a business development consulting firm).      

Mr. Reed is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a BS degree in Mathematics and a minor in Chemistry.  He received his Master’s in Business Administration in Marketing & Finance for the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business.

Mr. Reed has long been active in community, not-for-profit, business and professional organizations serving in key leadership positions.  Mr. Reed has been featured in numerous publications such as Fortune, Ebony, Black Enterprise, New York Time, LA Times, Chicago Sun Times, the Michigan Chronicle, Black Issue in Higher Education, and has appeared on the Today Show and other TV programs.  






 

Dr. Avé Sims, ND
New Life Health Specialists, PLC

She has been recognized as an expert in helping people Learn to Live Well!TM through her lectures, seminars and workshops based on integrative and holistic medical practices.

Dr. Avé has shared her ideas with thousands of people since completely devoting her medical expertise to health education and consultation after successfully working in private practice specializing in gynecology, endocrinology and chronic diseases.  She has used her wide scope of training in naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, IV therapies, and nutritional and lifestyle counseling to lead others on the path to experiencing a new life.  She has served as advisor to many institutions of higher learning and serves on multiple committees working to advance the health of our communities.

Dr. Avé received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Denver and her naturopathic medical degree from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine where she is a founding member of the Committee for Diversity and Policy.

She is a leading resource in the areas of workplace wellness, health education, disease prevention, and cultural health disparities, serving as a consultant and educator worldwide.








Eric S. Smith
Director at JPMorgan, Investment Banking Group

Eric Smith is responsible for providing client coverage of Fortune 500 companies in the consumer products and retail industry.  Several of Mr. Smith’s Midwest clients include:  Alberto-Culver, Brunswick, Ecolab, Energizer, Fortune Brands, General Mills, Kraft, McDonald’s, Sara Lee, and Smucker’s.  Mr. Smith joined JPMorgan in 2004, and is primarily focused on structuring debt, equity, and convertible financings as well as providing advisory services for corporate mergers & acquisitions. 

Mr. Smith has over 16 years of investment banking experience, and began his career at Merrill Lynch in 1991.  While at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Smith focused on a variety of industries, including consumer products, general industrial, healthcare, technology, and telecommunications. Mr. Smith received his B.B.A. in finance from Howard University in 1991 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1995.

Select deal experience includes:
·   M&A advisor to ImBev for the $56.9bn acquisition of Anheuser Busch
·   M&A advisor to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for the $5.5bn leveraged buy-out of ServiceMaster
·   M&A advisor to McDonald’s for the $700mm sale of its Latin American business
·   M&A advisor to Energizer for the $930mm acquisition of Schick from Pfizer
·   M&A advisor to FedEx for the $780mm acquisition of Watkins Freight
·   M&A advisor to FedEx for the $400mm acquisition of DTW, a privately-owned parcel express carrier in China
·   M&A advisor to Code Hennessy & Simmons for the $585mm sale of Otis Spunkmeyer to IAWS Corporation
·   M&A advisor to Polaroid on its sale to One Equity Partners
·   M&A advisor to Aliant Communications on its $1.8 billion sale to Alltel
·   Structured $535 million equity offering for Energizer
·   Structured $130 million IPO and $250 million secondary offering for Chipotle
·   Structured $200 million equity offering for Newell Rubbermaid
·   Structured $1.5bn debt financing for Wrigley's acquisition of Kraft's confectionery business (including LifeSavers and     Altoids)

Mr. Smith is active in a variety of philanthropic and civic activities.  He has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Family Focus, Urban Gateways Center for Arts Education, and Muntu Dance Theatre for Performing Arts.  Likewise, Mr. Smith is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, Executives’ Club of Chicago, and is an active member of the alumni associations for Howard University, Harvard Business School, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.

Mr. Smith is married to Kimberly Taylor-Smith, and they reside in Evanston, IL with their two daughters – Bradleigh (age 9) and Shelby (age 7).