Missouri - MBDA

Honors Top Minority Women Business Leaders

Information and Photos Provided by Missouri MBDA

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Missouri Minority Business Development Agency will host its 3rd Annual Tribute to Women Business Leaders Brunch on March 25, 2023, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Marriott-St. Louis Grand Hotel, located at 800 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63101. The 2023 Missouri MBDA Tribute to Women Business Leaders Brunch’s key sponsors include World Wide Technology, Ameren, Maryville University, Regions Bank, the St. Louis Development Corporation, the Small Business Empowerment Center, HME Consulting, St. Louis County NAACP and KMOV Channel 4.

This year’s honorees include Dr. LaTonia Collins-Smith, President of Harris-Stowe State University; Nicole Adewale, President of ABNA Corporation; Jennifer Williams, President of JWI Partners; Miranda Jones, President of Little Bit Foundation; Quentella Enty, Vice President of KFA, Inc., Stacy Bourne, President of the Bourne Group, and Laraine Davis, Vice President of Community and Government Relations, Development and Alumni Relations for Maryville University. Dr. Jerrica V. Ampadu, Director of Southern Illinois UniversityEdwardsville, will serve as Keynote Speaker, and Samantha Jones, News Anchor of KMOV-TV Channel 4, will perform Mistress of Ceremonies duties.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to honor these phenomenal women business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and educators,” said Todd Gilyard, Executive Director for the Missouri MBDA.

The Missouri MBDA Business Center, located in St. Louis, MO, is operated by the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Incorporated. The Center is part of a national network of MBDA Business Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency. The Center works with minority business enterprises to generate increased financing and contract opportunities and to create and retain jobs.

The mission of the Center is to strengthen the U.S. economy by helping ethnic minority businesses create or retain jobs and build economically vibrant, socially responsible entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities.

Quentella Enta

Vice President of KFA, Inc.

Quentella Enty currently serves as Vice President of KFA, Inc. Enty is an experienced entrepreneurship, procurement, and sustainability industry resource leader. She is an experienced Small Business, Woman, and Minority Owner in IT & Healthcare for Global BrandMarketing, Virtual Business Administration, E-commerce, VOIP Project Management, and professional business development coach for private firms. Her client experience includes Fortune 500 Companies, A/E/C & FM Industry, TV Media, Associations, Organizations, Universities, and Healthcare Firms. Enty’s Business Development & Management expertise includes Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Supplier Diversity, Business Management/Development, Instruction, Business Advisory Public Speaker, and Conference Design Management. With 20 years of combined academic, public, private, civic, nonprofit, and community service leadership experience, Quentella is a highly sought-after resource in the local and national business eco-system. Various business industries, government, lenders, and Ivy League Institution Executive Business Programs have requested her sourcing expertise when looking for the right Supplier/Partner/Client for their next opportunity.

Dr. Alyce Herndon

Onyx Business Solutions

Dr. Alyce Herndon is the founder of Onyx Business Solutions, a nonprofit organization that partners in the community to offer entrepreneurial training, and she is also the owner of Onyx Business & Print Center, located in Ferguson, Missouri, which is a certified woman-owned business enterprise, certified minority business enterprise, and veteran-owned full-service commercial printing company. Dr. Herndon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with minors in Women’s Studies and Religion, a Master of Arts in Management and Leadership, along with a Certificate in Not-for-Profit Management from Webster University. She earned her Doctorate in Business Administration from Walden University.

Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith

President of Harris-Stowe State College

Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith, the first female President of Harris-Stowe State University, is a renowned education leader with innovative leadership expertise in administration and program creation. She serves as the chief advocate and leader of Harris-Stowe State University’s mission. Dr. Collins Smith holds an EdD in educational leadership from Maryville University in St. Louis. She graduated from Saint Louis University with a master’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in public health. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Central Missouri.

Stacy Bourne

The Bourne Group, LLC

Stacy Bourne, FAIA, is the principal of The Bourne Group, LLC, an architecture and design firm focused on influencing social change through the power of design. Bourne is the first black woman to serve on the American Institute of Architects Board. She was also awarded the retired Richard Upjohn Medal in December 2011 for her service on the National Board of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Bourne is an AIA College Fellow and holds a Master of Architecture and Master of Architecture and Urban Design degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Miranda Walker Jones

President of Little Bit Foundation

Miranda Jones currently serves as CEO of The Little Bit Foundation. Before Little Bit, Miranda spent 17 years with Better Family Life (BFL), serving as Chief Operations Officer and Vice President of Youth, Family & Clinical Services. While with BFL, she developed and managed programming that reached about 8,000 youth each year, including after-school, clinical, teen pregnancy prevention, workforce, and youth leadership programs. She also successfully secured $27 million in grants and resources for the agency. Since 2004, Miranda has been a board director for the award-winning Jennings School District, serving as president. She also is a former Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Jennings. Miranda holds a BA from the University of Missouri-Columbia and was in the first class of the Inside the CEO program at Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work. She is married to Addam, and they have three wonderful children Amour, Addison, and Alaila.

Nicole Adewale

President of ABNA Corporation

Nicole Adewale co-founded ABNA Corporation, a multimillion-dollar Structural and Civil Engineering Design Services firm with approximately 60 employees. ABNA also operates a general contracting division focused on civil infrastructure construction. Adewale holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Urban Affairs from Harris Stowe State University, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Social Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Nicole is married to her business partner Abe Adewale, and they are the proud parents of four daughters.

Laraine Davis

VP of Community Government Relations Development & Alumni Relations Maryville University

Laraine Davis is the Vice President of Community and Government Relations for the Maryville University of St. Louis. In this capacity, she provides executive oversight for the development and alumni relations division that promotes Maryville’s strategic plan to key constituencies with the objective of raising friends and funds. Davis has 23 years of experience in financial services, including government and industry relations and community relations. Throughout her 17-year tenure with Wells Fargo Advisors, Davis worked on building strategic partnerships across Well Fargo while working to serve those communities most in need. Laraine Davis is a proud Ursuline Academy graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Maryville University.

Jennifer Williams

JWI Partners

Jennifer Williams is the founder of JWI Partners and brings over 20 years of experience as a project management industry change leader. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Lindenwood University and is an excellent communicator and leader with a proven ability to engage, influence, and inspire stakeholders to collaborate and align processes and systems to produce results. Jennifer’s Certifications: Prosci ADKAR Change Management; Lean Six Sigma; Color Code Certified Independent Trainer; Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) with the St. Louis Airport Authority (SLAA); Women Business Enterprise (WBE) with the St. Louis Airport Authority (SLAA); State of Missouri Office of Equal Opportunity Minority/ Woman-Owned; and Business Enterprise.

Dr. Jerrica V. Ampadu - Keynote Speaker

Director of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Dr. Jerrica Ampadu is the Associate Professor and Director of SNAP, Department of Primary Care and Health Systems Nursing for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Dr. Ampadu has a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a Master of Science in Nursing from Southern Illinois University –Edwardsville. Her clinical area of expertise is Health Equity.

The MBDA Team

www.missourimbdacenter.com

314-391-4477