Conference Team Leadership

EXCEPTIONAL Conference Team Leadership

13TH ANNUAL EWOC AWARDS & EXPO

PLESHETTE ROBERTSON is the CEO and Founder of Sacculturalhub. com and the Chief Editor of THE HUB Magazine. The website (launched in March 2002) and magazine (published in February 2006) are leading sources of Black urban media that celebrate the urban lifestyle of African-Americans in the capital region and throughout California serving as the information hub for black-oriented movies, concerts, theatrical performances, art exhibitions, sporting events, festivals and black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. She is also the owner of PR & Associates Business Resources Resources (AKA Sacculturalhub.com Media Company) which is an advertisement and public promotions agency specializing in providing multi-media advertising, social media marketing campaigns, e-blast ad/website production and consultation to new business and startup organizations. She also serves as the Executive Director for the Sac Cultural Hub Media Foundation that educates, empowers, and train young adults and women of color in underserved communities. Several programs under the Sac Cultural Hub Media Foundation include: Exceptional Women of Color Conference; Hub Choice Awards Show; Black Physicians Forum (BPF); BPF Medical Student Scholarship Program; Young Exceptional Women of Color (Y-EWOC) Scholarship Competition, and the Young/Youth Women’s Summit (YWS). For 3 years, Pleshette served as a Covered California Enrollment Counselor and Outreach Educator. Pleshette has received numerous awards that include: MLK Unsung Hero Award Recipient of the 9th Assembly District presented by the California Legislative Black Caucus in January 2018, Entrepreneur of The Year presented by Calvary Christian Center’s Genesis School of Business & Entrepreneurship in December 2017, Martin Luther King Jr. Difference Maker Award for Service and Advocacy in January 2016, NAWBO OWL Wise Woman (a.k.a. Business Woman of the Year) in October 2015; BWOPA-PAC Ella Hill Hutch Award in November 2013, UC Davis Chancellor’s Achievement Awards For Diversity and Community in the Community Award category in February 2013; Business Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Sacramento Chapter in November 2009; “Women of Excellence” from the Sacramento Kappa Psi Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority in March 2008. Pleshette was featured in the August 2007 issue on her personal style and noteworthy achievements in the Sacramento magazine. She holds a B.A. in Business Administration from San Jose State University. Pleshette loves and celebrates her extended family while she is the proud mother of three daughters and also has six grandsons. VICKI BLAKELY holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Administration/ Management where she worked for various hospitals and clinics throughout Southern and Northern California as a Regional Manager. Vicki is currently studying for her Real Estate License. She also owns “Cheake Enterprises” a family company that specializes in Real Estate Investments and Wireless products. Vicki also serves on the Board of Black Wealth Matters as the Board Secretary and on the Hospitality Committee for the Sac Realtist. Vicki joined the staff of Sac Cultural Hub in the Fall of 2009 and is the Administrative Manager working on special grant projects and activities.

The word that best describes MICHAEL BLAIR is community. Michael serves as Chief Innovation Officer at Neighborhood Innovation Project, a community economic development company that focuses on wealth building education and other community benefit advancement initiatives. As a community leader, Michael works closely with public officials on City, County and State level think tanks and commissions to create solutions for community-wide public challenges. A proud alum from California State University Sacramento, Michael holds a double bachelor’s degree in business management. In addition to an extensive background in Marketing and Brand building for numerous companies throughout Northern California. Michael has also worked professionally in Human Resources specializing in Corporate Recruiting and Employee Relations for fortune 500 companies in both the Information Technology and Healthcare sectors for almost 20 years. Michael is also the Founder of thegospelvine.com.

After over 20 years in broadcasting, print media, and public relations, MICHAEL P. COLEMAN relocated from Detroit in 2010 to write the latest chapter in his career: Coleman Communications. He regularly delivers feature articles to a variety of print and online platforms, including Jet Magazine, EURweb.com, and Uptown Magazine. Coleman Communications also provides consultation on brand management, event planning & execution, and fund development/sales to corporations and small businesses. Coleman has earned a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors and Distinction in Communication from the University of Michigan, and he’s working on achieving fluency in Spanish.

Conference Team Leadership EXCEPTIONAL

13TH ANNUAL EWOC AWARDS & EXPO

TWLIA LASTER is the owner of Twlia Makes It Happen! Consulting Service. Ms. Laster has over 22 years experience providing consulting services to clients in need of marketing, program development, public relations, event management, health education, and smoking cessation facilitation. For the past 13 years Ms. Laster has served as the Strategic Marketing and Project Director for Sac Cultural Hub Media Company directly engaged in increasing overall company revenue by revamping the marketing model, developing programs, solidifying corporate and community partnerships. Ms. Laster is also the Project Director of Saving Our Legacy, African Americans for Smoke Free Safe Places – The SOL Project responsible for grassroots organizing, training, collaboration and providing technical assistance to 14 Northern California Counties developing community and legislative relationship that influence public policy. Twlia is incredibly passionate about public health, health equity and environmental justice for all.

LESLEY LEATHERWOOD is the CEO of Leatherwood Marketing, and specializes in national internet marketing and print advertising. She possesses over 20 years of corporate experience, including inside and outside sales, hospitality, public relations, media buying, production assistant in television and four feature films. She is an expert with consulting on promoting, advertising, telemarketing products, events and photography. Lesley is originally from Cardiff Wales, England. Lesley has been with Sac Cultural Hub Media Company since 2008 and serves as the Community Advertising Manager.

DONNA RAMOS writes several multi-cultural novels simultaneously. Her journalism career as a Senior Staff Writer/ Reporter for THE HUB Magazine writes multi-cultural novels and her journalism career as a Senior Staff Writer for THE HUB Magazine has yielded interviews with Maxwell, Venus and Serena Williams and HRH Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York, to name a few. As a self-published author, Ramos received acclaim from Essence Magazine and BlackbookPlus.com for her contemporary romance book “HIGH RISE”. “M&M, Madness and Mayhem”, the final book in her HIGH RISE Trilogy, was released in 2013. VALARIE SCRUGGS is the Health Equity Manager at One Community Health where she designs programs to reduce health disparities by educating the public on health insurance and managing overall health. She is also owner of VisionStep, a consultant business focused on program development and grant writing. She has 17 years of experience in program planning, securing funding, and implementing effective public health campaigns. She develops strategic alliances to conduct campaigns that increase knowledge and encourage individuals and communities to take action to reduce their risk for disease. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Ecology from University of California, Irvine with an emphasis in Psychology and Social Behavior. Valarie also serves as Program Development Manager for the Sac Cultural Hub Media Foundation.

CAL WELLNESS salutes the 2021 EWOC honorees for all you do to improve the health of our communities!

The mission of The California Wellness Foundation is to protect and improve the health and wellness of the people of California by increasing access to health care, quality education, good jobs, healthy environments and safe neighborhoods.