Meet the Speakers
Angela Bishop Ross
ABR
Angela Bishop Ross is a principal partner of her family’s 35-year-old financial and small business services consulting firm. With a B.S. in Organizational Developmental Psychology, M.P.H. in Policy Administration, M.B.A. Management Systems graduating from prestigious UC Berkeley, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Angela climbed corporate ladders for 10 years before taking the helm at her family’s financial firm.
Angela is an expert at teaching new and aspiring female entrepreneurs how to recognize, trust, & follow their gut so they’ll have the clarity & confidence to accomplish their dreams.
For the last 15 years, getting several catastrophic diagnoses along the way, Angela knows what it is to dig deep to find the courage and faith to keep pushing, especially when things look bleak. Angela shows women how they too can overcome any obstacle in front of them – business, career, finances, life – & create the mind-shift needed to get busy being great!
Tammy Willis
Shoebox Financial Solutions
Tammy Willis is the President/CEO of Shoebox Financial Solutions where she provides Accounting, Forensic Auditing and Tax Consulting services to over 200 individuals and small business clients a year, including several local non-profit organizations. Tammy provides these services while underscoring the importance of promoting and cultivating African American businesses to reach their full potential. Prior to becoming a remarkable entrepreneur Tammy’s experience includes both federal and local government auditing where she was previously employed with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General and the City of Oakland, Office of the City Auditor. In both roles Tammy managed numerous high-profile audits including assessments of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the City of Oakland’s Police Department (OPD) operations. During her tenure, Tammy received many accolades for her professional excellence, including the coveted U.S Department of Justice’s Attorney General’s Achievement Award for outstanding audit work. Tammy was also the recipient of the 2018 Dr. C. Diane Howell Entrepreneur Award for the 9th Annual Powerful Women of the Bay Awards. Tammy is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC) and the Oakland African American Chamber PAC (OAACP). She is also a licensed Real Estate Broker and the 1st Vice President of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Women’s Council. Tammy has recently founded Magnolia Engineering and Construction, which is one of the few black, female owned Engineering and Construction firms in the country.
Amanda Elliot
National Main Street Center
Amanda Elliott is a Senior Program Office and Director of California Programs at the National Main Street Center (NMSC). She is responsible for delivering comprehensive commercial district revitalization technical services to partner communities and coordinating programs across the country and acting as Director of the California Main Street program administered by the NMSC. Amanda Elliott is a graduate of St. Mary’s College with a master’s degree in organizational leadership. She also holds a BA in Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary studies from San Francisco State University.
She is the former Executive Director of the Richmond Main Street, Initiative in Richmond, California where she was responsible for managing and supervising the activities, operations and services of the organization; developing strategies for enhancing the downtown economy; establishing working relationships with the community, city and county government; and maintaining ongoing collaborative relationships with community agencies. She was responsible for producing large-scale community arts and entertainment events; and worked with the Main Street board and staff to cultivate relationships with foundations, corporations and individual donors and sponsors. In 2012, she worked with key stakeholders to develop an outreach strategy to implement the first and only Property Business Improvement District in the City of Richmond and West Contra Costa County which was renewed in 2017 and has leveraged over $200 million dollars in public and private investments providing sustained funding for the organization through 2022. Amanda is most proud of her collaborative work with partners to fill a long-standing vacancy at the Richmond BART garage on Macdonald Avenue with a new co-working business incubator, coffee shop, and restaurant.
Eileen Pippins
Eileen Pippins Consulting
Eileen Pippins, M.A. is a Learning Organizational Development (LD/OD) Specialist, educator, and dynamic facilitator. With over 15 years of learning and program development, implementation and training in higher learning, non-profit and corporate settings, she has lent her talents to organizations and individuals in communications, strategic planning, conflict management, change management, community engagement, and social justice. She is a Communication Studies professor teaching courses in interpersonal communication, group dynamics, and intercultural communication. She is also a Doctoral Candidate in Organizational Psychology, studying employee engagement and various Organizational Development frameworks. As a facilitator, she has worked with non-profits, city and county agencies, and affinity groups. Some highlights of her work include Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for Black/African Americans in education, foster care advocacy, formally incarcerated populations, military personnel, faith-based organizations, NGOs, and more. Eileen brings focused and exciting energy in the work she does as a change agent.
Madelyn Mackie
Madelyn Mackie & Associates
Madelyn Mackie, a Certified Career Management Coach and Trainer, shares inside knowledge on how to set yourself apart and highlight your strengths, abilities and special talents in today’s competitive environment. She draws on her three high-profile careers as a published researcher in the biochemistry field, work at four Tony Award-winning theaters and officer at the American Red Cross to provide the expert advice, encouragement, and step-by-step action plans you need to activate your career dreams. Leveraging her Bowling Green State University degree in communications, her Institute of Cultural Affairs training in group facilitation, and her extensive experience and success, Madelyn empowers individuals to revive outdated resumes, showcase their strengths and experience in interviews, and make their career dreams a reality.
Carol F. Burton
Jeweled Legacy Group
Carol is the Principal Investigator for the country’s first comprehensive program and longitudinal study on children of incarcerated parents. She serves as an advisor on several initiatives including the newly released Sesame Street toolkit “Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration”. Carol received The White House Champion of Change Award for her outstanding work on behalf of Children of Incarcerated Parents.
Cathy Jackson-Gent
Global Investment Company
Cathy Jackson-Gent, CEO OZI Company and GIC. For three decades, has offered professional financial consulting services and support to municipal agencies in the California Bay Area, specifically the Oakland community. Initially, she used her USF Computer Science/Management Science dual degree to work in Silicon Valley. After the corporate tango, her fiduciary strengths became known and she founded Global Investment Company (GIC). As a result, GIC’s clients range from well-known political figures and large corporations to families focused on preserving wealth for future generations. Consequently, GIC continues to thrive during the lush economy, sustained through the 2008-2013 recession and is expanding its leadership role in the Bay Area community. Now, Cathy has started America’s first minority woman-owned FinTech driven Opportunity Zone Investment Fund, OZI Company, and is already impacting communities.
