Dr. Michael Green was born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, but made a conscious decision to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), which landed him at Prairie View A&M University. He returned back to the midwest for medical school, from where he embarked on a surgical residency with a specialty in bariatrics. He subsequently completed a fellowship, and now practices in the Dallas, TX area.

Growing up on the lower east side of Manhattan, Irv Ashford, Jr.’s life changed when a mentor introduced him to an opportunity to take an exam. His score on the exam led him to earn a scholarship to the Webb School, a boarding school in Bell Buckle, TN. This opened him up to new experiences and opportunities and led him to attending Oberlin College in Ohio where he earned his BA in Religion and was a Woodrow Wilson Scholar. Following his master's education, he began to work for a series of local non-profits dedicated to community development. He eventually relocated to Texas and following his graduate business degree he began his banking career with a position in the community development division of Bank One. He has worked for the last 20 years at Comerica Bank, where he now serves as Chief Community Officer.

In 1991, Shreveport native Perrye Turner, decided to take a chance and leave his job as a Senior Commercial Property Claim Representative at Aetna and enter the FBI as a Special Agent. He now has an accomplished career with over 29 years of service and experience. Perrye has served as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Houston, Texas and Louisville, Kentucky field offices, as well as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Information Technology Engineering Division at FBI Headquarters. In 2014 he was given the Presidential Rank Award, which is given to the top 1% of Senior Executive Leaders in the Federal Government. Perrye is recognized as a transformational leader and visionary, building, and leading high performing teams in all Senior Executive assignments across the Bureau.

Raised in inner-city Miami, Florida, Rodney C. Adkins was valedictorian of his high school graduating class and would matriculate university at Georgia Tech, where he would earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering; he also earned a bachelor of arts in physics from Rollins College. From 2007-2014, Mr. Adkins was Senior Vice President of IBM, becoming the company’s first African-American Senior Vice President. He is now Chairman of Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components and embedded solutions. In addition, he is President of 3RAM Group LLC, a privately held company specializing in capital investments, business consulting services and property management. 

Hailing from Monroe, Louisiana, Thomas Moorehead always wanted to start his own business. While working at the University of Michigan as Director of Community Services, and pursuing his Ph.D. in urban and regional planning, after receiving his B.A. in Business Administration from Grambling State University, his fraternity brother James Bradley of Bradley Automotive Group introduced him to the car dealership business and took him under his wing. That guidance would be what propelled Thomas to open his first dealership in 1987 and start him on the path to becoming one of the first African Americans to be awarded a new BMW dealership in Sterling, Virginia and THE first African American awarded a full-service Rolls-Royce franchise. 

Xavier Williams was raised in Washington, DC where he was raised by parents who were an educator and entrepreneur. He attended university in Pennsylvania, earning his BS degree in Business Administration and Mathematics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and eventually an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business. He began his career in the telecommunications and technology industries and served in a number of leadership capacities over a 30-year stint at AT&T across multiple disciplines including finance, strategy, sales, product management, global operations, and human resources. In his most recent role as President of AT&T’s Public Sector and  FirstNet, Mr. Williams had profit & loss and operational responsibility for a global team of 4,000 professionals responsible for delivering solutions to federal, state, and local government agencies, colleges, universities, and K-12 schools.

Ken Cowan attended University of Nebraska where he earned a Management degree before beginning his career working in the energy marketing. A merger between his employer and another company, led to him relocating to Houston to work for Enron. This began a long-running career fulfilling various leadership roles in energy marketing and trading, and ultimately transitioning to alternative energy and renewables.

Charles Willis was raised in Fort Worth, TX, where by the 8th grade he had made a determination that he wanted to become a doctor. After graduating from Texas Christian University (TCU), Charles would attend medical school at the University of Texas Health Center, and a post-doctoral internship at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, TX. He went on to complete his residency at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, in anesthesia and a fellowship in pain management.

Dr. Willis would begin his professional career as an anesthesiologist, before transitioning into a practice primarily focused on pain management, and has run his own private practice over the last 20 years.

Born and raised in Iowa, Courtney Crawford remained in the midwest where he attend college at Washington University in St. Louis. Following his undergraduate degree, he spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Central America, where he worked at the United States embassy in Panama. He later matriculated medical school at Michigan State, and completed his residency in opthalmology through the US Army. He subsequently completed a retina fellowship, and now practices as a Retina Specialist in the Dallas, TX area.

Bernard Harris was born in Houston, TX, but would move at the age of 6 with his mother to a rural area of New Mexico, where they would reside until they relocated to San Antonio, TX during his high school years. His time in New Mexico engendered in him the desire to become an astronaut, and after completing his college degree at University of Houston, he gained admission into medical school at Texas Tech University. Following his residency at Mayo Clinic, he would have an opportunity to work in various positions as a researcher at NASA, and while at NASA, he conducted research in musculoskeletal physiology and clinical investigations of space adaptation and developed in-flight medical devices to extend Astronaut stays in space. Following an unsuccessful application for the Astronaut program, he would be offered a position at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and would upon his second application be admitted into the Astronaut corps. 

Dr. Harris logged more than 438 hours and traveled over 7.2 million miles in space, and on his 2nd mission would become the first African American to complete a space walk. Following his career as an astronaut, he launched a venture capital firm and the Harris Institute & Foundation. He currently serves as CEO of the National Math + Science Initiative.