Leadership Academy 2024

Our NAWBO members are busy women entrepreneurs who not only run their own businesses, but many are also in leadership positions in their local NAWBO chapters. They care who supports their community of women business owners through NAWBO. They want to do business with these businesses; and refer others to do the same. That’s why you won’t want to miss the opportunity to personally connect with these women business owners and leaders by sponsoring and participating in the 2024 NAWBO Leadership Academy in January.

Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte

201 W. Trade St.
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202
Phone: +1 704-372-1877
Room rate: $209/night + tax
Room block deadline has passed – contact hotel for availability
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Featured Keynotes

Amanda is a producer, film-maker, branding expert and sought-after public speaker, sharing her “Do Well By Doing Good” philosophy on stages around the country. She demonstrates how both companies and individuals can make a meaningful and positive difference in people’s lives, while fostering their own success in the process. She believes that companies must not only identify their brand purpose, but put that purpose into action. Through her work, Amanda has defined what it looks like for brands to truly act “as publishers” creating movements through their content strategy. In her most recent demonstration of this, Amanda was the Chief Brand Officer of Deluxe where the brand challenge was to reach small businesses. The solution? She created, produced and hosted their Emmy-nominated series “Small Business Revolution,” which streamed on Hulu and was named among Inc. Magazine’s top shows for entrepreneurs. Through this inspirational reality show, Amanda was able to prove the model of authentic content stretching a brand’s spend by achieving 12x the reach through this series over traditional paid media. The program accumulated over 13 Billion impressions, 6,000+ earned media articles and 20 million content views (and counting). Not to mention – this work changed lives, families, small businesses and communities across the country.

Molly is an educator, social entrepreneur and visionary—best known as the founder of Girls on the Run International. She founded the running/life skills/development program in 1996 with 13 girls in Charlotte, NC. A four-time Hawaii Ironman triathlete and elite cyclist, Molly used her background in social work, counseling and teaching to develop the curriculum. Since then, the program has inspired more than 2.5 million girls to know and activate their limitless potential. In 2013, Molly retired from day-to-day operations of Girls on the Run to spend time on Capitol Hill. She served on the Commission for Political Reform, a group tasked by the Bipartisan Policy Committee to address the highly polarized state of our nation. While there, Molly developed Red Boot Way, a strategic form of communication that addresses this political divide at the root level and encourages curiosity coupled with listening when challenged with conflict. It continues to be used in multiple venues across the country. Today, Molly is a sought-after public speaker and the author of three books with a memoir in the works.

Session Speakers

In 2001, Jeanette founded Skyline Exhibits of Central Ohio. After growing that location into an award-winning company, Jeanette sold the company and found herself back in California launching another Skyline location. After growing that business for three years, she transitioned out of the business and is now the CEO/certified executive leadership coach of Greenlight Leaders, a leadership development and coaching company.

Jeanette was named one of the 2017 Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women magazine and the SBA Small Business Woman of the Year. In addition to the NAWBO National board, she also served on the Columbus Chamber Board of Directors and is a member of Executive Women International and WELD. She also is the co-founder of the Columbus Young Entrepreneur’s Academy and a graduate of the JoAnn Davidson Leadership Institute and, most recently, The Academies CELDC Program.

Over her 30 years with Bank of America, Jill has held many leadership positions across the company. She currently serves as a managing director for the Small Business, Specialty Banking & Lending division, responsible for critical business initiatives dedicated to the economic mobility of the clients and communities Bank of America serves. Jill provides leadership support to several women’s initiatives, serves as the co-chair of Bank of America’s Domestic Violence Taskforce and is a recipient of the CEO Diversity & Inclusion Award. Jill is an adjunct lecturer at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and is also a past recipient of NAWBO’s Gillian Rudd Business Leadership Award.

Nicole is a speaker and ICF PCC credentialed coach, certified in team, leadership and life coaching. She inspires leaders to build empowered, productive and engaged teams without burnout- so they can thrive. While Nicole has developed a knack for building rapport at the front of the room, she is a confirmed introvert. She’s learned how to be intentional in her communication to build great relationships in the workplace. Her clients call her a “procrastination-proof” coach who motivates them to connect with their vision, communicate with confidence and collaborate productively. Connect with her at campsite.bio/nicolechamblin

Lisa is an entrepreneur with a background in advertising and marketing as well as a 25-plus-year career as an attorney partnering with clients in business planning, litigation, human resources and charter school law. Lisa is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. She has been named a “Super Lawyer” and has been recognized by Business First as a Legal Elite and Woman of Influence. She is chair of the NAWBO National Board.

As CEO of Hummingbird, a branding agency founded in 1995, Wendy Coulter’s passion is to help clients effectively communicate the positioning of their business, differentiate their brand, and grow revenue. She has grown Hummingbird by helping clients shift brand equity from the business owner to the business entity, strengthening the company’s promise, presence and profitability over time. As a champion of Women Business Owners, Wendy also founded the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame in 2018 to honor NC’s most successful female entrepreneurs and advocates who have made significant and enduring contributions to impact women’s entrepreneurial development.

Lisa is a time strategist who works with motivated and busy leaders and teams who want to take strategic action instead of being busy all the time. She prides herself on helping clients create customized, real solutions to every day time management challenges—not just regurgitating the latest trends. Lisa is also a past president of NAWBO Cleveland and is on the Board of Trustees of Leadership Geauga County.

Dr. Jamyce is CEO of Whatever It Takes Consulting, Inc. (WIT) with over 25 years of consulting and leadership experience. WIT provides strategic planning, individual, leadership, team and board coaching that is cultural intelligence (CQ) based and outcome driven and workshops and training, including purpose, DEI, unconscious bias and CQ. Additionally, Dr. Jamyce serves as president and chair of the NAWBO Indianapolis DEI Committee and on the chapter’s Board of Directors. She is also DEIB chair of Dress for Success Indianapolis. 

Lena, The Entreprenista, is chief strategy officer, principal and shareholder of HORUS Construction Services Inc. and currently in a succession plan to take ownership of her family’s third-generation construction business. The company was established by her grandfather, grandmother, great uncle and father. Today, she is working side by side with her mentor and partner, who is also her uncle. They have established strategic partnerships that have secured over $500 million in total contracts over the last five years.

Lena brings over 15 years of not-for-profit experience, including key positions with PBS/NPR, Metro Orlando Urban League and the African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida. Lena has recently launched HORUS Academy with her partner and a team of strategic alliances. The 501©3 program offers mentor protégé assistance to small businesses. Lena currently serves as Immediate Past President for NAWBO Orlando and is the first woman of color to hold such a leadership role. 

Keon Haley is the Program Director for FICO’s Score A Better Future. As a certified Project Manager and Scrum Master, Keon leads SABF in its efforts to help consumers and entrepreneurs gain access to the credit they need through education and access to non-profit financial counseling. Before joining FICO, Keon spent 15 years in the financial services industry and has built robust knowledge about finances. Keon enjoys spending time with his family at the beach, fishing, and playing basketball. Keon earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics and Finance at Radford University and currently resides in Charlotte, NC.

DJ is an expert in full brain marketing and has been ranked as a “Top 10 Women of Influence” and “Small Businessperson of the Year” in New Mexico. She founded EXHIB-IT! in Albuquerque in 2000 to provide quality products with exhibit marketing and design services to federal agencies and commercial enterprises. She is also an author of two books, Full BRAIN Marketing and The NOISE Behind BUSINESS and often speaks on the topics of branding, marketing strategies, social media, leadership, diversity training and how to deliver exceptional customer service across multi-generations.

Beth is a Senior Vice President and the East Division Business Support Executive for Small Business at Bank of America. She provides chief-of-staff support across the East Division leadership team and leads a team of regional business management and operations executives aligned to each of the six regions in the East. Beth joined Bank of America in 1997 as a Commercial Banking credit analyst and has since held various roles in the Global Learning and Small Business organizations. Beth serves as a Bank of America national liaison for NAWBO and ambassador for NAWBO Charlotte.

Neetu’s business is an empowerment clothing line for women and girls, which donates a portion of all proceeds to advance girls’ education. An entrepreneur for over a decade, Neetu has a “patent-pending” for this innovative fashion concept. She is co-owner of Countryside Corporation, which owns and operates retail centers and brands, inclusive of Shell, Subway, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, and has over 500 employees. Neetu is also a best-selling author, president of RBG Educational Foundation and sits on several boards, including one that helps homeless families and single mothers with permanent housing.

Vera Jones, “The Empathy Coach,” is a motivational speaker, author, life and leadership coach. She offers resilience, empathic leadership, communication, DEIB, mental wellness and conflict resolution keynote speaking and training. Vera is also a former ESPN, Fox Sports, MSG, WNBA and Big Ten Network Basketball Analyst. She has coached college basketball, performed on stage as an actress and entertained as a stand-up comedian. As founder of the Perseverance Speakers Academy, Vera helps students and professionals confidently polish their public speaking skills.

Julie is founder and president of Julie Lilliston Communications, an award-winning, nationally certified, woman-owned public relations firm that helps businesses enhance their reputation, build their brand and grow market share. The firm ranks as a “Top 15 Public Relations Agencies in Nashville” by Up City. She is a member of PRSA’s Counselors Academy, a past president of NAWBO Nashville, a recipient of the Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence Awards and an ATHENA Award nominee. She also received the Enterprising Women of the Year Champions Award in 2022.

Ellen, CLU, ChFC, CFBS, CEPA, is founder and owner of Selwyn Solutions, LLC, a company providing solutions for advanced markets. She is a financial services professional with more than 25 years of experience who has provided financial planning services for a broad range of personal and business needs, including a special needs practice for families who have more complex challenges. She is the chair of NAWBO’s Presidents Assembly Steering Committee.

Carolina Marrelli is a certified Health Coach, engaging Corporate Wellness Speaker and Founder of EquiBalance Health. She helps businesses save money and improve their bottom line by keeping their employees healthy and energized for peak performance at work — and at home! Carolina has been a featured speaker and partner with local and national organizations such at TEDx, El Dorado Furniture, Hillsborough College and more. She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband and two sons.

Isoken is a Board-certified family nurse practitioner, mentor, leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Her career began as a certified nursing assistant in 2005, and she became a board-certified family nurse practitioner in 2017. She is president and CEO of Complete Health Services Inc and In-Home Caregivers of Illinois, a senior care agency that serves retired executives, busy professionals who are adult family caregivers and employers who have caregiving employees. Her unique program helps seniors to age-in-place while helping families and employers manage the stress of family caregiving.

Heather helps leaders to create workplaces where people thrive, great talent stays and businesses grow. In 2022, she founded Awesome People Leaders, a manager development experience, to address the prevalent gap in employee retention and engagement at most companies; a lack of training and development in people-skills for frontline and middle managers. In 2023, Heather was selected as a “100 Women to Know in America” and became an alumni scholar of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. She is a SCORE mentor and co-chair of the Catalyst Fund to empower early-stage women business owners.

Sertrice is co-owner and chief consulting officer of Mattingly Solutions, a woman-owned diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consulting firm. Co-Author of Inclusalytics, How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leaders Use Data to Drive Their Work, Sertrice is passionate about helping organizations use metrics to create data-driven DEI strategies that drive meaningful change. Some of her clients include DICK’s Sporting Goods, Baltimore Tracks and NAWBO. Sertrice serves clients though DEI executive advising, measurement consulting and building/delivering inclusive behavioral change solutions.

Dr. Arlene is an accomplished grant writing expert with a passion for democratizing grant funding. Her company, Ascend Nonprofit & Business Solutions (NBS) LLC, helps fundraising organizations improve their grant writing skills and secure funding for their missions. With over 29 years of experience in securing multi-million-dollar grants, she has built a reputation as an expert in her field. In 2020, she expanded her business, creating Grant Yourself Success®, the training arm of Ascend NBS that offers online courses covering every aspect of grant writing. Arlene is a grant trainer for grantmakers, helping them offer capacity-building services for their grantees. She is also a business coach for the Small Business Administration’s T.H.R.I.V.E. program.

Helping businesses make a measurable difference in their performance and their bottom line is Kellie’s goal. She owns and operates Kellie Tinnin Consulting, LLC, an organizational development consulting firm. Her background includes instructional design, as well as organizational and human resource development. Her greatest asset is creating programs that address the customer’s needs in ways that are measurable to the individual employee, groups of individuals and organizations. She aims to be different and unique while making a measurable impact in an organization and strive to lead projects in a fresh and innovative manner.