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A unique team...varied talents...
The Institute has assembled a team of the most highly-talented consultants, educators and leaders to assist minority and women-owned business owners in developing and growing their business.
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Farad Ali is the Senior Vice President of Business Development Mr. Ali leads a team of managerial and financial technical assistance consultants with MBA’s that focused on enhancing the internal controls and capacity of minority firms. He has been involved with securing millions of dollars in procurement and contracts for minority businesses around the state and is well respected by financial institutions as a catalyst of capital for minority businesses. Mr. Ali has over a decade of business development experience as a Banker, an undergraduate of the Kenan-Flagler School of Business with a concentration in finance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Business Administration from Campbell University.
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La-Tasha Best-Gaddy is the Director of Financial Education/Training and a North Carolina native. She earned a Masters in Public Administration and Bachelors of Business Administration from North Carolina Central University. She is currently a participant in Leadership North Carolina. She is also certified as a REAL instructor and a graduate of Rural Economic Development Institute. She presents on topics of personal credit, small business planning, financial statement analysis and much more.
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Crystal German is the Vice President and MBEC Program Director where she assists minority owned firm across the state in improving their financial performance and acquiring capital. Her most recent employment was in a similar role as a Senior Business Consultant with the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development where she worked with smaller businesses. Her career spans treasury and educational positions with both private and the public sector through several states in Southeastern U.S. Crystal graduated summa cum laude from Florida A&M University with a B.S. in Business Administration and a minor in Public Relations. She earned her Masters of Business Administration at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School where she studied economic development models and ways to create wealth in the under served communities.
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Linda Gunn is Senior Vice President of Administrative Services at the Institute. Linda works closely with the President and board of directors in the development and implementation of programs that further the agency's mission and purpose. Other responsibilities include oversight for the adherence to organizational policies and procedures, program reporting and development activities. Linda has extensive experience in economic development and work with nonprofit organizations.
Linda has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and an MPA in Public Administration both from North Carolina Central University.
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Andrea Harris is President and co-founder of the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development. She has lead a movement to promote and grow small businesses, especially those owned by women and racial/ethnic minorities as a means of building the asset base in limited resource communities. Her leadership has resulted in major public policies and private sector initiatives to grow and expand accept to market opportunities, capital, and executive education, training, and managerial support. Over the past three years alone, financial transactions for minority businesses alone have exceeded $100 million making North Carolina a leader in the south.
She is a member of the NC Economic Development Board, JBC Institute of Global Diversity and Inclusion, the National Advisory Board for the Institute for Emerging Issues, NC Rural Economic Development Center, and several other boards and commissions.
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Alan Richmond is the Director of Healthy Workplace Initiatives. Alan "Al" Richmond, M.S.W, is responsible for the coordination of activities and initiatives with the historically black colleges and universities participating in the On the Ground Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Prevention Project. He is also responsible for the fiscal management of the project and assuring compliance with the contractual terms of the grant with the American Legacy Foundation.
Al received a Masters in social work in administration from The Ohio State University, and his undergraduate degree in social work at Livingstone College
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| Joyce Siler is the Director of Women’s Business Center (WBC) of North Carolina. The WBC is a partnership program between The North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development, Inc. (NCIMED) and the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Joyce oversees the development of education and training programs that address the needs of women entrepreneurs.
She is also the owner of Joyce's Specialties, a firm that specializes in promotional products, business gifts, premium and fundraising items. Joyce has over 20 years experience in sales and marketing and has cultivated a client base that extends throughout the United States.
Joyce holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from North Carolina Central University. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, she worked as a marketing and training consultant for an educational and commercial software company.
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Dan Stafford serves as Director of Information, Technology & Compliance for the North Carolina Minority Business Enterprise Center (NC MBEC). He has been involved in MBDA's Minority Business Development Center program since 1983. Serving in various marketing consulting roles for the Fayetteville Minority Business Development Center and the Raleigh/Durham Minority Business Development Centers from 1983 to 1997, he later became Project Manager of the Raleigh/Durham Minority Business Development Center from 1997 to 2002 and proceeding to Project Director for the Raleigh/Durham/Charlotte Minority Business Development Center from 2002-2003. He has a Masters of Business Administration Degree (Concentration-Marketing) from Western Carolina University and a Bachelors of Arts Degree (Major-Sociology) from Appalachian State University.
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Yolanda Brown is the Manager of Financial Certification for the North Carolina Minority Business Enterprise Center (NC MBEC) where she provides business and financial plan consultations as well as loan packaging to minority-owned firms. Additionally, she serves as the primary analyst for SBA 7(a) Pre-qualifications for women, minority, and veteran owned businesses throughout North Carolina. Prior to joining the Institute she served as a small business consultant while a student at UNC Kenan-Flagler's MBA program to various local businesses and ultimately started a business plan development consultancy for small businesses as a sole proprietor.
Yolanda has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School with dual concentrations in Marketing and Sustainable Enterprise, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia. |
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