Meet the
Summit Speakers
The Cultivate Summit brings together a diverse group of speakers, facilitators, and industry experts who are shaping the future of entrepreneurship across the DMV region. Each speaker offers real-world experience, practical insight, and a shared commitment to supporting local business owners. From inspiring conversations to actionable guidance, these leaders will help attendees explore new ideas, sharpen their strategies, and navigate the challenges of building and growing a business.
Program Director, Office of Women’s Initiatives, WACIF
Marisela Rodela
Featured Speaker
Marisela Rodela is the Program Director for the Office of Women’s Initiatives at the
Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF), where she advances inclusive
economic development by expanding access to capital, knowledge, and networks for
women entrepreneurs across the DC Metro region. A passionate leader in economic
and community development, she brings over a decade of experience as a small
business owner and has worked in public health, the food & beverage sector, and the
local small business ecosystem. She previously held leadership roles with DC Brau
Brewing and the DC Brewers Guild, and currently serves on the boards of the Heurich
House Museum and Craft x EDU, among others.
Chief Executive Officer, WACIF
shannan herbert
Featured Speaker
Shannan Herbert is the new Chief Executive Officer of WACIF. Previous to WACIF, Shannan served as the Executive Vice President of Inclusive Credit for Stratyfy, a women-led fintech company on a mission to drive greater financial inclusion by introducing technology that eliminates bias in critical financial decisions. Backed by innovative investors, Stratyfy secured 10 million in funding to make this mission a reality. A mission Shannan has lived throughout her career. Since joining Stratyfy, Shannan has led strategy and program creation for Community Development Financial Institutions and large to mid-size community banks, by illuminating the use of emerging technologies to better serve individuals typically excluded from the financial system.
Chief Programs Officer, WACIF
kimberly d. gayle
Featured Speaker
Kimberly D. Gayle provides leadership and management oversight of WACIF's small business and entrepreneurship advisory services and technical assistance initiatives. Before Wacif, she was the Regional Director for the Minority Business Assistance Center led by the State of Ohio’s Minority Business Development Division and hosted by the Columbus Urban League. The Columbus Minority Business Assistance Center served the needs of Ohio’s small, minority, and socially economically disadvantaged businesses in 18 counties. She is a certified business advisor with extensive experience driving business growth in start-up, turnaround, and well-established cultures.
Director, DC Department of Small and Local Business Development
ROSEMARY SUGGS-EVANS
Featured Speaker
As Acting Director for the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD), Rosemary Suggs-Evans is a passionate advocate for the small business community and stays true to the agency's mission to support the development, economic growth and retention of District-based businesses, and promote economic development throughout the District's commercial corridors. With a diverse executive background spanning the for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental sectors, Rosemary Suggs-Evans brings a wealth of experience to her role.
Founder, Brandire and Hellobrand
madia brown
Keynote Speaker
Madia Brown, an award-winning brand strategist, is the visionary behind Hellobrand, an AI-powered platform enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to build, manage, and scale their brands strategically. With over 15 years in brand development, Madia created Hellobrand to offer high-impact brand marketing support without traditional agency costs. Madia’s journey started with Brandire, her award-winning creative brand marketing studio in Washington, D.C. As Chief Storytelling Strategist, she led the growth of the studio to become a multi-seven-figure agency that provides transformative campaigns for major brands like Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital, Children’s National Hospital, global consulting firms like McKinsey, and over local DC government agencies. Her team have also worked on projects supporting global brands like McDonald’s, Heineken, Carlsberg, and Anheuser-Busch. Observing the barriers smaller organizations faced in accessing strategic brand support, Madia founded Hellobrand. Hellobrand addresses the market's need for accessible brand development. By leveraging Brandire's expertise into a scalable, AI-powered platform, Madia democratized brand development, allowing SMEs to build brand equity with the rigor once reserved for major brands. She now empowers organizations to control their brand narrative and use AI for measurable growth.
Program Director, Education and Advisory Services, WACIF
Rasul Sha’ir
Breakout Moderator
Rasul provides coaching and capacity-building technical assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Rasul has more than 15 years’ experience in business development, marketing, digital strategy, design thinking, and business storytelling. For nearly a decade, Rasul ran his own Washington, DC-based marketing and strategy consultancy where he facilitated growth and business development for start-ups, medium-sized businesses, international organizations, and Fortune 500 and 100 companies.
Rasul is a TEDx presenter and two time TEDx producer. He founded TEDxWDC, which focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and Washington D.C.’s creative economy.
Managing Director, Georgetown Small Business Corps
Joe Weinstein
Breakout Panelist
Joe is Managing Director of Small Business Corps, which supports small businesses by pairing them with student consultants. He has led six cohorts of the program: recruiting 80 students from over 500 applicants, building partnerships with 40+ businesses, and managing an implementing partnership with Boston Consulting Group.
Chief Economic Development Officer, The Coalition
Evette Banfield
Featured Speaker
Evette is a dedicated facilitator of The Coalition’s inclusive economic development agenda, focusing on coalition building, policy advocacy, and the enhancement of small business and workforce development ecosystems. Since joining The Coalition in late 2013, she has successfully established five working groups that align with the priorities and needs of Coalition members and the broader economic development landscape.
In addition to her role at The Coalition, Evette leads the Executive Leadership Education Venture Advancing Talented Entrepreneurs (ELEVATE), an executive education program in collaboration with the GW School of Business Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Her leadership is characterized by a commitment to fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders.
Founder & CEO, 37 Oaks
Terrand smith
Breakout Panelist
A consummate retail professional, Terrand Smith oversaw close to $1 billion in revenue during her 15+ year-long career in corporate retail. Working at the headquarters of some of the top retailers in the U.S., she managed, grew, and restored categories with thousands of products and hundreds of vendor partners in over 15,000 retail outlets. Her strengths were in optimizing product assortments; establishing pricing strategies; developing impactful promotions; improving inefficiencies; negotiating with vendors; developing innovations and managing profit & loss statements. These strengths allowed her to drive significant growth in sales, market share, profitability, and new business models for her companies.
Smith is now the Founder and CEO of 37 Oaks, a Chicago-based education company that educates and prepares small businesses for growth through e-commerce, wholesale, storefront & popup markets. Strengthening and revitalizing communities through commerce is not only her mission but also her responsibility. She is also the author of Prepare to Shift: The Workbook which outlines a proven roadmap to shift a hobby into a growing business.
Mentorship Program Manager, SEED SPOT
Sandra Waithaka
Breakout Panelist
Sandra Waithaka is a program manager, facilitator and community builder who has experience building and designing people centered experiences that help social impact leaders thrive. Currently she serves as mentorship program at SEED SPOT, where she leads the strategic growth and engagement of a diverse mentorship network supporting entrepreneurs globally. Sandra believes that our stories when honored and shared well are powerful tools for social change.
Founder & CEO, Disruptive AI
Seema Alexsander
Featured Speaker
Seema Alexander is the Founder & CEO of Disruptive AI, an AI strategy, development and venture studio helping CEOs and founders rethink, reimagine and rewire their businesses to disrupt — not get disrupted. Or simply said, make business intelligent in an AI-era. As former Fortune 500 executive turned growth advisor, she has guided hundreds of companies' reposition to scale leading to $100M in top line revenue and now equips leaders to harness AI as their ultimate force multiplier. Seema believes without laymen education on AI so many businesses are going to be disrupted. So she is the host of The AI CEO Podcast, co-chair of DC Startup & Tech Week, launching an online membership called "AI CEO School" , and the #1 business rewiring conference for SMB called "AI BusinessCon" in 2nd quarter 2026 in DC. Her keynote “Why AI Is Bigger Than the Internet” has inspired leaders worldwide, and she serves on the Future of Work Council for AI & Humanity with JFF Labs. Her mission: empowering 1 million CEOs with the fluency, strategy, and confidence to lead boldly into the AI era.
CEO, C.L. Russell Group
Connie Russell
Breakout Speaker
Connie L. Russell is the Founder and CEO of C. L. Russell Group (CLRG), a nationally recognized workforce development and training firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. A veteran of the United States Navy and an award-winning leadership expert, Connie specializes in empowering emerging leaders, small-business owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs to strategically build, grow, and sustain their ventures.
CEO & Founder, 12PointFive
Liz Whitehead
Breakout Speaker
Liz Whitehead is an award-winning facilitator, trainer and consultant. She works will small businesses to measure, track and promote their sustainability impact with an eye toward growing their businesses. As a certification expert, she works with companies to achieve and leverage certifications in a way that is manageable and growth oriented.
Director WBE Engagement & Services,
WBEC Metro NY & Greater DMV
Deena Parker
Breakout Panelist
As Director of WBE Services and Engagement, Deena Parker leads strategic efforts to foster the growth, retention, and active participation of women business enterprises (WBEs) across the region. She collaborates closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to ensure engagement strategies align with organizational goals, while also managing outreach activities, local forums, and high-impact engagement programs such as marketplaces, matchmakers, and Lunch with the Experts. Her role includes overseeing WBE-facing communications, amplifying success stories, and cultivating relationships with mission-aligned affiliate organizations to expand opportunities and visibility for WBEs.
Business Certification Manager
DC’s Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD)
Melissa Resil
Breakout Panelist
Melissa Resil joined the District of Columbia’s Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) in 2011 as the Business Certification Manager for the Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) program. She has oversight and management of all requests submitted to her division related to the CBE program. The work of her division directly impacts a business’ ability to participate in the District’s small business set-aside programs and District government agencies meeting their spending goal with local businesses. In her role, she manages an inventory of over 1900 active certified businesses. Recently, her team’s work directly contributed to the District’s record-breaking success in spending over $1 billion with CBEs.
Business Services Manager
Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity
Chris Ley
Breakout Panelist
Chris Ley is a Business Services Manager covering the Northern Virginia region with the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD).
Prior to joining SBSD, she was a marketing consultant at the Business Development Assistance Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping minority business owners. She started working with small businesses in 2007 when she joined a small, women-owned marketing company, Asian Marketing Services, as their Director of Business Development. She then created two successful small business training programs at Northern Virginia Community College: the SWaM program and the Entrepreneur Roadmap program.
Founder, RapidLabz
Adalbert De La Cruz
Breakout Speaker
Adalbert “Addy” De La Cruz is a product strategist, AI builder, and educator with over 8 years of experience spanning fintech, Web3, crypto, and emerging technology. He is widely recognized as a leader and educator within the Vibe Coding movement, helping advance and popularize human-centered approaches to building with AI through teaching, community, and shipped products.
Addy has held product and strategy roles across startups, consulting, and high-growth tech environments, with experience at organizations including Deloitte, DraftKings, ClubRare, and as an advisor to early-stage founders. His work focuses on onboarding design, system thinking, and turning complex technical capabilities into intuitive user experiences.
President & CEO, Rochdale Capital
John Holdsclaw IV
Featured Panelist
John Holdsclaw IV is the president and CEO of Rochdale Capital, a national non-profit community development loan fund that promotes cooperative principles and community ownership. The organization provides financing and technical assistance to community-based organizations and cooperatives, with a focus on under-resourced communities, particularly those owned by women and minorities.
Director of Programs and Community, DC Startup & Tech Week
darius clair
Closing Plenary Speaker
Darius Clair is a venture builders who's work intersects between startups, technology, venture capital and ecosystem building throughout the DMV region.
Senior Vice President, Pinnacle Financial Partners
janet Lopez
Opening Plenary Speaker
Janet Lope is a financial Advisor for Pinnacle Financial Partners dedicated to helping business achieve long term economic success. With Strong background in financial analysis, credit solutions and relationship management. Janet partner closely with clients to understand their goals and deliver strategic banking solutions that supports growth, stability and profitability. She is well known for my devoted client- focused approached and sound financial insight, and is committed to build lasting relationship and helping organizations navigate opportunities with confidence.
Associate Creative Director, Anacostia Arts Center, WACIF
Jessica Randolph
Closing Plenary Speaker
A Howard University Film Degree, progressive political insight, and desire to assist non-profits, mixed with a little black girl magic give you Jess!
You can find Jess at the Anacostia Arts Center working with the HIVE 2.0’s co-working space, helping set up the next art exhibit, or developing creative media strategies. Over the past 4+ years, Jess has led and curated a variety of programs, art shows, events, and workshops in partnership with the local community. Her experience in film production, communications, and development show up in every project she works on. Her goal is to help small businesses, artists, and non-profit owners better connect with the world.
Chief Operating Officer for the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
Phala Mire
Breakout Speaker
Phala Kimbrough Mire is the Chief Operating Officer for the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the premier organization for diverse and small business inclusion. With over 30 years of experience as a non-profit executive, Mire specializes in orchestrating business growth, program innovation, and cultivating sustainable business relationships between buyers and suppliers. She is a recognized advocate and thought leader on topics related to entrepreneurship, small business growth, diversity, and inclusion. Prior to this she served as the President and CEO of the Women’s Business Enterprise Councils for Metro New York (New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey), Greater DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) and the Southern Region (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida Panhandle).
Senior Vice President, Social Impact, Americas, Mastercard, Center for Inclusive Growth
Jonathan Fantini-Porter
Featured Panelist
Jonathan is Senior Vice President, Americas, responsible for executing Mastercard’s inclusive growth strategy across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. This includes leading a high-impact team that leverages the company's data, technology, venture philanthropy, and expertise to deliver strategic growth through partnerships with financial institutions, fintechs, digital partners, foundations, multilateral institutions, and governments to help power economies.
Jonathan brings twenty years of experience across the public, private, and social sectors. In the private sector, Jonathan was most recently an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company where he served clients in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. In the public and social sectors, he served as the founding Executive Director of a public-private economic development partnership comprised of the White House, World Bank, and Fortune 100 businesses that raised $5.2 billion through blended finance vehicles to facilitate trade and foreign direct investments in infrastructure and energy projects, financial technology, and agricultural ventures.