Advisory Council

LaSonya is a dynamic human resource professional who has lent her expertise to a wide array of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies for over 18 years, such as Wells Fargo, IBM and General Electric.

Priscilla Chavez oversees and manages community outreach, certified subcontractor relationships, local hiring requirements, local government, and labor relations as well as small business development for PCL Construction.

Carmen has been with Office Depot for 14 years, serving as manager for Supplier Diversity for the last 4 years.

Samara Hakim, JD, is the President of CulturGrit, LLC. She is an international culture and inclusion thought leader, data strategist, speaker, writer, and facilitator, equipping leaders to work with those who are different than them, mitigating bias and integrating culture into business practices and metrics.

Charles Harmon’s focus is on procurement and supply chain strategies and internal process organization at his consulting firm, where additional offerings include concepts driving transformational design and efforts surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion.

Steve is an entrepreneur with 20+ years’ experience in construction, diversity, and real estate development. A bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Temple University, Philadelphia, and focuses on sustainable development and construction diversity.

Derrick provides guidance and leadership to improve diversity representation outcomes, while advancing the inclusion education and celebration objectives.

As Vendor Partner Diversity Director/Small Business Liaison Officer (SBLO) at GSD&M, Max Rutherford applies his 30 years of supplier diversity expertise in managing, directing, and providing leadership to the agency’s Vendor Partner.

Stephanie is Senior Director, Global Procurement Business Office at Dematic Corp, an integrated supply chain solution provider in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tonia Woodbury joined BNY Mellon as Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Americas in July of 2022.  She is responsible for driving regional DEI progress and impact across North and Latin America, including continuing to support achievement of our U.S. Black and Hispanic/Latinx representation goals and strategy, and contributing to the advancement of enterprise DEI operationally and across business solutions.

Tonia brings 25 years of experience in financial and insurance services with expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion, supply chain management and marketing communications for high-growth companies.  Her extensive skills include consulting, strategic leadership, implementation, negotiation, and facilitation.  Tonia has held leadership roles in Corporate and Investment Banking Technology, Human Resources, Supplier Diversity, Employee Experience and DEI at Wells Fargo (and its predecessor companies) and Mass Mutual.

Tonia is on the Board of Directors for National Black MBA Association Charlotte Chapter; Diversity Professional Advisory Board and was appointed by the national President and CEO of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. to the National Strategic Partnerships committee for term 2019 – 2022.  Recently, Tonia joined the Black Wall Street Forward Initiative Charlotte Council as part of a statewide (North Carolina) entrepreneurial campaign to revitalize the “Black Wall Street” ingenuity and prominence to address the wealth gap in the black community.

Tonia received a BS in Business Administration from South Carolina State University and an MBA in Marketing from Clark Atlanta University.   She has been certified as a Supplier Diversity Professional (CPSD); holds an Institute of Supply Management (ISM) Project Leadership Certification; and a DEI in the Workplace certification from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.

Maria is the director of advancement for The PhD Project. In her role, she is responsible for all development activities and donor relations, working closely with PhD Project sponsoring corporations and universities as well as individual donors.