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Allison Kelly

Brett Melone 

Carolina Martinez

Carolina Martinez is the CEO of CAMEO - the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity-, a statewide association representing more than 300 lenders, training programs, chambers of commerce, job creators, agencies and individuals dedicated to furthering Microbusiness development in the state. CAMEO advocates for its members and builds their capacity to support the more than 84,000 very small businesses they serve.

Martinez has more than 15 years of experience working in economic development and business consulting. Her vision has been defined by the variety of experiences she’s had with nonprofits and universities in South and North America. She has developed bilingual, culturally appropriate entrepreneurial training programs; trained and coached pre-venture and startups; developed international networks promoting partnerships among private corporations that boost industries; provided consulting services to vulnerable communities to explore entrepreneurship as a way to generate wealth; and owned her own business consulting firm.

Martinez served on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs as well as on the boards of the Berks County Latino Chamber of Commerce and the Kutztown University Foundation. She serves on the Advisory Boards of two CDFI microlenders: Mission Economic Development Agency Adelante Fund in San Francisco and Accion Opportunity Fund, the largest national microlender. Carolina serves on the Community Advisory Boards of Comerica Bank and Cathay Bank and is a board member of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) and Pacific Community Ventures (PCV). She served on California Governor’s COVID-19 Small Business and Innovative Startup Recovery Subcommittee and is a Member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Policy Committee of the California Coalition for Community Investment (CCCI) a statewide coalition of CDFIs. She has an MBA and BA in Industrial Engineering.

Danetta Jackson
Statewide Supplier Diversity Program Manager

As Statewide Supplier Diversity Program Manager within the California Department of General Services (DGS) Procurement Division (PD), Danetta Jackson is a member of the PD executive team focused on developing and implementing statewide strategic objectives, supported by data to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in state contracting. In Jackson’s previous role as the state’s Business Outreach Program Manager for 13 years, she oversaw outreach engagement strategies, external partnerships, communications, state contracting goal compliance, as well as the department’s Small Business Advisory Council. Ms. Jackson has over 30 years of public service.

Jackson is a passionate leader committed to breaking down barriers in state contracting for California’s diverse small business sector and finding ways to create more opportunities for underrepresented, marginalized micro businesses. She has formed strategic collaborations with diverse business organizations throughout the state at the private, local, state, and federal levels and has led other government entities in the development of their respective supplier diversity programs. In September 2021, Jackson was influential in the University of California’s (UC) adoption of their 25 percent diverse business contracting goal and development of their Small Business First Program and certification reciprocity partnership with DGS.

Since Jackson has assumed her leadership role in supplier diversity, she is co-leading the development and implementation of a comprehensive technical assistance and training program to help diverse small and disabled veteran businesses navigate the state’s contracting process specific to procurement and bidding requirements that will launch in the Fall of 2023. In April 2022, she led the implementation of a voluntary supplier diversity data collection in the state’s Cal eProcure system aimed to capture the demographics of state bidders and suppliers that will help inform where outreach and support is needed among various communities.

Jackson serves on various collaborative workgroups, such as the UC Supplier Diversity Advisory Council, Governor’s Minority Small Business Procurement Task Force, California Statewide Coalition on Diversity Initiatives, and the Health in all Policies Task Force. Jackson’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from CSU, Sacramento and certificate in their Management and Executive Leadership Programs. Jackson currently serves as a subject matter expert panelist on the Source Diverse Source Local Initiative administered by California Office of the Small Business Advocate.

David Fazio

David Fazio is the Founder, and President, of Helix Opportunity LLC, a social enterprise that specializes in the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce, as well as the consumer marketplace, through organizational development and inclusive design consulting, training, and staffing. He is also an Invited Expert to the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative, where he develops global digital accessibility standards alongside multiple Working Groups.

Mr. Fazio is a person with cognitive, and mobility, disabilities, having survived a softball-size hemorrhagic stroke, at the age of 13, that left him completely paralyzed on the entire left half of his body, along with severe brain damage.

Through Helix Opportunity David has worked with major global corporations to “Unlock the Power of Human Inclusion” by achieving what he calls “Harmony at Work”, that perfect intersection between accessible and meaningful experience. It is his belief that all human beings are unique, each of us with differing functional, and sensory, strengths and weaknesses. Yet, there are ways in which all people are alike. The essential aspects of the human experience, such as birth, death, love, struggle, and emotion, unite us all.

Products, environments, services, and economies, can connect all people through their shared human experience by engaging each person's strongest combination of senses and abilities. This is the essence of what it means to achieve Harmony at Work. It is the core of who David is and what he does. All of Mr. Fazio’s work, from organizational development to product design, is driven by this vision.

To that end, Mr. Fazio has worked with major global corporations to staff and support qualified STEM candidates with disabilities around the world, design inclusive products, environments and services, and develop inclusive corporate cultures. He has also provided strategic advising, and product innovation mentoring to start-ups and entrepreneurs with disabilities. You can follow David’s work, on LinkedIn, here. and keep up to date with Helix Opportunity, on LinkedIn, here.

Debra Gore-Mann

Debra Gore-Mann is the President & CEO of The Greenlining Institute. Debra has over 25+ years of leadership experience in nonprofit and private research universities and over twelve years of private sector business development expertise having worked in investment banking, international infrastructure development and engineering. She serves on multiple nonprofit and foundation boards that work to serve communities whose works include criminal justice, nonviolence, youth educational opportunities, supporting young adults in sports and economic opportunity. Debra received her B.S. in Management Sciences and MBA from Stanford University.

Drew Simpson

Drew began his professional career in the United States Marine Corps, stationed at Camp Pendleton and serving in the Artillery unit Alpha 1/11. Drew’s experience with the Marines took him to Africa, Kuwait and the Philippines. Deployed as a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Drew led a 10-man crew and participated in additional training missions with Allied Forces.

Following the Marines, Drew entered the construction industry serving as an operator, foreman, estimator, and manager before founding Amerivet Contracting.

Amerivet Contracting is one of the fastest growing DVBE/DBE/SBE/MBE companies in California.  The Company self-performs a unique combination of diverse services and owns an array of specialized equipment.  The company’s construction division specializes in PSA & PLA projects, with a distinctive capability to fill scope gaps.  The company’s disaster relief division is a market leading provider of emergency mobile support equipment and services.  The company also provides procurement services for government entities.  Amerivet recently received a 2022 Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year award from the SBA.

Eric Hiatt

As an accomplished founder, investor and real estate developer, Eric Hiatt builds the foundations for communities to thrive.

Born and raised in Redding CA with a burning passion for Far Northern California, Eric has taken his self-made success and invested it back into the economic development of his region. He has established and guided his own companies from idea to exit, he invests in local founders, while also overseeing prominent real estate developments that revitalize cities.

He co-founded Security One Lending, building it into the country’s largest reverse mortgage originator before it was acquired by Walter Investment Management Corporation in 2012. Eric then co-founded Synergy One Lending, which was acquired by Mutual Of Omaha Bank in 2018.

In the midst of playing in the lending game, Eric also founded Reverse Focus, which he continues to oversee as CEO, a company providing software solutions for the reverse mortgage banking market with over 4000 active monthly users and 200 banks and broker firms on its books.

The financial rewards of Eric’s journey have given him a rare opportunity to extend his impact through his role as Founder/Executive Director and investor with the angel investment group, Shasta Angels. Eric led the group through its first investment, Limelight Health, which sold for $75 million.

Eric’s commitment to building environments that facilitate success takes on a literal form, too. As the co-founder of Downtown Collection, Eric has a list of property developments across commercial, retail, industrial and housing markets, playing a major role in the revival of downtown Redding.

Erin Kilmer-Neel

As Executive Director and Chief Impact Officer, Erin oversees strategy and operations of Beneficial State Foundation and facilitates the development of social and environmental impact standards for Beneficial State Bank and for banking systems change. She is thrilled to be working to address social and environmental injustices in the banking system. She has a Master of City Planning from MIT, teaches Social Impact Measurement at Mills College, and serves of the boards of the CDFI Coalition and the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, where she chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She loves smart comedy, biking, paddling, and anything that involves playing in lakes, rivers, mountains, and beaches with her fabulous husband, Beau and her feisty Australian Shepherd, Scout.

Geri Yang-Johnson

Geri Yang-Johnson is the Director of Green Jobs and Entrepreneurship for Dream.org - Green For All. Geri’s decades of experience improving communities through advocacy, philanthropy, and community development are integral to the work within Green For All. Geri leads the Green For All Business Council, a council composed of Black and Brown cutting-edge CEOs in the clean energy and green sector while working alongside Climate Pledge companies to ensure they make more equitable pledges and commitments.

Previously, Geri served as the Vice President and Social Impact and Sustainability Sr. Specialist at Wells Fargo, where she implemented the company’s community and economic development programs. In this role, she maintained the company’s social impact and sustainability initiatives that support underserved populations and represented the company in all aspects of community relations.

Geri is a 2017 Bankers Without Borders Global Fellow and a 2014 Funders Network PLACES Fellow. She currently serves on the board of The California Wellness Foundation and the James B. McClatchy Foundation where she oversees efforts implementing solutions to California’s most pressing social and economic issues. Geri also served as an Executive Committee Member for Fresno DRIVE, the boards of The Women’s Foundation of California, Access Plus Capital (Fresno CDFI) and Reinvent Stockton Foundation.

In 2021, Geri was recognized with the Fresno State Top Dog Alumni Award for her “contributions to her profession, the University, and the community.” In 2019, Geri was recognized with the Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) Margaret Ashida Leadership Award for demonstrating leadership in her work. In 2015, the City of Fresno honored Geri with the Women Leading the Way Award. In 2018, Geri founded the Mala Scholarship Fund with Central California Asian Pacific Women to support first-generation AAPI students in their pursuit of higher education.

Geri is a first-generation Hmong American who was raised by a refugee, farmworker family in the Central Valley. Geri has profound interest in rural and agricultural-based economies worldwide. She has traveled to India to work with Navdanya, a network of seed keepers, and organic producers. Geri earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Women Studies from California State University, Fresno.

Gurbax Sahota
President & Chief Executive Officer,
California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) 

Gurbax Sahota has led the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) – California’s largest economic development association – for the last ten years and believes in the importance and need to collaborate and create meaningful partnerships in order to accomplish the goal of creating healthy, wealthy communities. She turns this belief into action by bringing together and leading multiple organizations aligned with the goal of helping businesses thrive in order to create economic opportunity for California’s residents. Gurbax holds senior positions with CALED, the California Academy for Economic Development, and the California Enterprise Development Authority. She uses her commitment to thoughtful leadership and organizational knowledge, as well as collaboration with her 800 economic development member peers throughout California, to support the start, growth and sustainability of private enterprise in California.

Having worked her way up through CALED, Gurbax has either worked on, created, or had a significant role in most of the organization’s successes over the past two decades including the creation of key tools to support economic development in California. Most notably, she:

• Originated and implemented the creation of meaningful publications with practitioner-based best practices to support economic development in California, including:
  • The Economic Development Recovery and Resiliency Guide
  • Growing Thriving Rural Economic Development Corporations
  • Primer on California’s New Tax Increment Financing Tools
  • California Rural Infrastructure Financing Guide

• Led the development & launch of a California-specific Economic Development Certification – the Accredited California Economic Developer Certification (ACE), which includes a focus on entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy.
• Fostered the growth of the California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA) by building and maintaining relationships with strategic business partners to support financing for growing California manufacturers and nonprofits.
• Created a strategic and effective approach that has led to multiple legislative successes to support the work local economic developers do to grow the economy.

As CALED’s President & CEO, she is focused on helping communities as they adapt their economic development strategies to stay ahead of the a changing economy as well as on building strategic partnerships to promote the value of economic development. Gurbax believes by creating a stronger voice for economic developers at the state and local level, she can share and champion practical solutions that grow the economy in a way that creates opportunity for all.

Jason Paguio

Jason Paguio is the President and CEO of the Asian Business Association San Diego and the Asian Business Association Foundation. Jason was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to the City of San Diego Small Business Advisory Board and the Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Group. As a recognized leader, Jason brings vision and expertise across a multiplicity of sectors, including development of minority-owned business; establishment and coordination of high-impact multi-agency collaborative efforts; advocacy for the state’s many diverse communities; and first-hand experience as a first-generation Filipino-American.

Since leading the Asian Business Association organizations, Jason has grown them to their largest in more than 30 years, expanding their collective impact through community-based outreach and partnerships while more than tripling its office size to provide a free cultural co-working hub for local Asian and Pacific Islander nonprofits. In 2021, Jason helped to formally designate the Convoy District in Kearny Mesa as the “Pan Asian Cultural and Business Innovation District” in the City of San Diego.

In an historic effort, Jason partnered to establish the Strategic Alliance, comprised of San Diego’s three largest ethnic chambers of commerce: the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the County of San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce and Asian Business Association. As the Strategic Alliance, this trio of agencies operate as the Alliance Small Business Development Center (SBDC), focusing on delivering a comprehensive array of services to minority-owned small businesses. Focusing on economic equity for the region’s underserved communities, Jason led his organization through the recent pandemic by assisting thousands of minority-owned small businesses, helping them receive no-cost technical assistance and tens-of-millions of dollars in COVID-19 disaster relief capital.

Jason’s additional civic commitments include the Board of Directors, NTC Foundation (Arts District Liberty Station), LEAD San Diego, San Diego Community Housing Corporation, and serving as a volunteer member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. He is a resident of Coronado and serves on the City of Coronado Mobility Commission.

Jason was twice named “CEO of the Year" by the San Diego Business Journal and the youngest person recognized as one of "San Diego's 500 Most Influential People''.

Jay King

President/CEO Jay King, is a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, record label executive, radio personality, and small business advocate. Appointed as President and CEO of the CBCC in June 2019, Jay’s visionary leadership and tireless work ethic sets the tone for the CBCC. A champion for African American Small and Microbusiness owners, Jay serves as the Chair for Caltrans’ Statewide Small Business Counsel (SBC), African American Ad-Hoc Committee. He is also a member of the CA Department of General Services, and CA High Speed Rail Small Business Counsels, as well as the founder and Chairman of the North Sacramento Leadership Council, and the Founder and Interim President of the Greater Sacramento Financial Literacy Group. Jay is also a Board Member for the Neighborhood Wellness Project, and the United College Action Network, Inc. Jay is determined to put an indelible mark on the Small Business community throughout the State of California.

Jesus Martinez

Jesus Martinez is Executive Director of the Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC), a Fresno-County based nonprofit organization created in 2014 to empower immigrant families and immigrant serving organizations in the region. As a coordinator of regional efforts, CVIIC and its partner organizations serve immigrants in the region extending from Kern County in the south and San Joaquin County in the north. Before heading CVIIC, he was Coordinator of the Central Valley DACA Project for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (2012-2015) and, previously, worked as a consultant (2008-2013) in a variety of projects commissioned by nonprofit and federal government agencies. Martinez served in the Michoacán (Mexico) State Congress from 2005-2007 before being appointed Director General at the Institute for Michoacanos Abroad, the state immigration affairs agency. In the academic world he taught Political Science at Santa Clara University (1991-1998), completed a postdoctoral stay at the Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora in Mexico City (1999-2000) and taught Latin American and Chicano Studies at CSU Fresno (2000-2004). He obtained a B.S. in Political Science at Santa Clara University, as well as an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkley. His areas of expertise include international migration, U.S.-Mexican relations and public policy.

As Executive Director of CVIIC, he has developed projects dealing with immigration legal services and community education, health access, the 2020 census, immigrant entrepreneurship, among others. An objective of CVIIC has been to promote regional coordination and collaboration in immigration and related topics.

Jill Osur
Founder and CEO, Teneral Cellars

A former UC Berkeley softball player, Jill Osur still draws on her athletic background to hone her leadership style and overcome obstacles. Deeply moved to elevate women and inspire meaningful change, her values have guided her career—first as a savvy political fundraiser, then in marketing with Special Olympics Northern California & Nevada, and now, as an entrepreneur. Jill has helped launch numerous consumer product companies and ventures focused on “doing well by doing good.” Previously the co-founder and director of California-based winery group GL Enterprises, Jill founded a digital winery, Teneral Cellars, in 2020. Teneral Cellars is driven by Jill’s belief that wine can be a conduit for change; a force for gender equity and social justice within the wine industry and our culture at large.

Jill is a captivating public speaker who helps female executives and entrepreneurs learn how to strengthen their leadership by tapping into the “head, heart, and gut.” As said by one attendee, Jill “puts a firecracker in the room” with her energizing, moving presence. A champion of female power, Jill coaches audiences and clients to embrace their brilliance, leverage full capacity thinking, and show up in alignment with their authentic selves.

Jill is a member of Women Presidents’ Organization, C-Sweet, was a founding board member of the John F. Kennedy University Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and is a current advisory board member for Enterprising Women, Women Business Collaborative, and board member of Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, which provides integrative mental wellness programs for student athletes.

Awards:

• 2022 Winner, Leadership California’s Legacy of Leadership - Corporate Leader Award
• 2021 Winner, Women Presidents’ Organization: Adrienne Hall Award for Breaking Down Barriers
• 2012 Recipient, Bronze Stevie Award: Female Executive of the Year in Consumer Products for up to 2500 Employees
• 2009 Finalist, Stevie Awards: Best Entrepreneur
• 2003 Honoree, San Jose Business Journal: Top Women in Business
• 2002 Honoree, East Bay Business Times: 40 Under 40 and Women of Distinction

Jim Roberts

Jim Roberts has been a resident of Mendocino County for more than 25 years. In 1997 he founded Taylor Roberts, a design firm located in Philo offering services to regional and national home builders on the west coast. The creative think tank garnered regional and national attention with gold awards in The Nationals, platinum BALA awards, and a Gold Nugget award for design and architecture.

Jim is currently an owner/operator of The Madrones and The Brambles, two travel destinations in Mendocino county, as well as co-owner of Wickson Restaurant, The Bohemian Chemist, Sun & Cricket and Sugar Hill Farm.  Over the past several years he has launched The Bohemian Chemist line of cannabis products showcasing sun-grown flower sourced from his family's farm and available at retail partners throughout the state.

A lifelong entrepreneur, he is vested in the economic development of Mendocino County with a focus on building the regions tourism marketshare while being vested in bettering the quality of life for local residents and supporting fellow stakeholders.  He is a board member of West Business Development Center as well as Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, two non-profits serving the local community.

Josaline Cuesta

Josaline Cuesta manages the execution of Small Business Majority’s programs and initiatives throughout the state of California in collaboration with the California team. Additionally, she directs the organization's Central Valley and Southern California offices and develops and fosters strong relationships with business organizations, community organizations and policymakers. Josaline serves as a member of the 2022 Entrepreneurship & Economic Mobility Task Force (EEMTF) under the office of the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. She also serves on the Coordinating Council for Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity (IEGO) and is a co-lead on the CA FWD’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Ownership by People of Color policy work group.

Prior to joining Small Business Majority, Josaline worked in the private and public sector for almost two decades. Most recently Josaline led community engagement initiatives and large-scale outreach programs for local government. She has also directed office operations for a state elected official and spearheaded the creation of a customer service department for an online startup company. In her spare time, she is a member of the National Charity League, Inc. Riverside Chapter, a board member of the Riverside County Parks Foundation, and a board member of the Pick Group of Young Professionals. She's fluent in Spanish.

Kristin York
Vice President, Sierra Business Council 

 Kristin leverages 25 years of experience in strategic planning, finance, operations, marketing, circular economy models, ESG and entity transformation to help businesses and organizations thrive economically while understanding their environmental and social impact. Kristin directs all SBC programs including economic development, small business development center, climate and energy and community affairs. Kristin has worked with clients across broad sectors including hospitality, real estate, construction, energy, manufacturing, food systems and local governments. She is known as a creative problem solver and natural team builder with a unique holistic, systems perspective to complex situations.

Prior to joining SBC, Kristin worked as Chief Development Officer for Cutting Edge Capital where she deeply engaged with mission driven clients to design alternative financing strategies and climate action plans for local governments and businesses. Her previous experience includes Lean Manufacturing Director for Hexcel Corporation and Senior Manager at Andersen Consulting (Accenture) where she specialized in financial and operational restructuring, strategic business planning, high conflict crisis mitigation, and advising businesses in their return to financial viability.

Kristin serves on the board of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation and as Chair of the Truckee Donner Recreation and Parks District Board. She is an Adjunct Professor of Sustainable Business at Presidio Graduate School, and holds an MBA in Finance as well as an Executive MBA in Sustainable Business.