Leadership Team.
Corey Arnez Griffin has spent more than 20 years in international development, technology, management consulting and government. Griffin was appointed by President Obama to the Peace Corps as Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships in 2012, where he served until 2015. Prior, Griffin was appointed as Chief of Staff by Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie in the District of Columbia, where he served as chief political advisor and strategist on the full range of municipal government operations and legislation. Griffin spent 14 plus years at Microsoft Corporation working in various roles and leadership positions, including roles in consulting, operations, and sales. As Director of International Development, Griffin had responsibility for Microsoft’s strategy for aid, trade and finance agencies. Griffin is noted for brokering a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Microsoft, USAID, PEPFAR and the MCC that facilitated broader, cross-agency ICT partnerships around the world.
Annette Stanley is a proven thought leader with over 15 years of Strategic Planning, Organizational Design, Design Thinking, Change Management and Communications expertise. As a consultant, Ms. Stanley is focused on providing advisory services to CEOs and members of the executive suite, across various arenas, including commercial and private enterprises, non-profit organizations, and governing Boards. Ms. Stanley has worked domestically and internationally with business leaders of America’s Fortune 100 companies and is masterful at identifying challenges, creating effective solutions and achieving break-through results for her clients.
Steven D. Marcus is a policy impact and government relations strategist who has spent more than 12 years leveraging relationships and building a government administration background to advance community and policy interests. Early in his career, Steven returned to his hometown to serve as the Regulatory Affairs Director for the City of Gary, IN. and later accepted the role as Government Affairs Senior Advisor of a mid-size engineering corporation. In-between the opportunities at home, Steven served as the State Constituency Director for the Hillary for America campaign.
Calesha Mitchell is a business and finance transformation advisory professional with over 12 years of specialized experience. A natural leader, Calesha utilizes her competitive drive, superior analytical, strategic planning, and creative skills to provide an industry-focused approach to help provide an informed perspective on the industry issues and complex market challenges her clients face. As a result, Calesha helps international and domestic government clients (state and local, federal and defense) take advantage of change – instead of simply reacting to it – giving them the ability to transform disruptive forces into measurable and sustainable value.
Dr. Chad Womack, Founder, President and Chair of TBED21, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering urban centers and underserved communities through science, technology and innovation. As the President and Chair, Dr. Womack works closely with the Board to provide leadership and strategic vision for the organization, while working with executive staff to execute the organizations programmatic efforts. Dr. Womack is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Philadelphia Biotechnology and Life Sciences Institute - a non-profit initiative and project of TBED21, founded to address human capital/workforce development and bio-entrepreneurship issues for the bio-life sciences industry in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Dr. Womack has recently served as Vice President for Educational and Training Initiatives at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Womack is also the co-founder of NanoVec, Inc. a nanobiotechnology company and has served as its Chief Scientific Officer since its inception. He is also a co-founder, President and Chair of the National Association for Blacks in BIO (NABB), a non-profit organization dedicated to building diverse community within the biotechnology and life science industry.
Armen Orujyan, PhD is Founder and Chairman of the Board of Athgo Corporation, a US nonprofit organization since 1999. For over a decade, Armen has been developing and providing entrepreneurial platforms for young people with leading global institutions. These efforts have included coordination with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; UN NGO Section; UN University; UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States; UN Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (UN GAID); World Intellectual Property Organization; the World Bank’s External Affairs Department; and a number of Governments both in developed and emerging countries.
Ali Byrd brings 15 years of operating and advisory experience within the technology industry spanning sales, marketing, consulting, finance and R&D. In the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers, he coordinated deal team execution and conducted in-depth industry assessments, focused on software, services and communications technology clients. Previously, Mr. Byrd spent over 9 years at Microsoft, where he led due-diligence and post-merger management and launched 3 global product introductions for $12 billion Information Worker business unit. Mr. Byrd is currently Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at Lime Wire, a leading Internet software company headquartered in New York City.
Mr. Byrd holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.