DC Chamber of Commerce Hosts 2021 Annual Meeting and Chairman’s Inaugural Breakfast
WASHINGTON, DC (Dec. 15, 2021) – Today, the DC Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Meeting & Chairman’s Inaugural Breakfast at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The Chamber introduced its 2022 DC Chamber of Commerce Board Chair, Officers and Directors, Hon. Muriel E. Bowser, Mayor, District of Columbia presented the District’s Fiscal Year 2022 Green Book, and we celebrated 100 DC-based Comcast RISE awardees.
“It is an honor to host so many of our District’s government and business leaders, our new board of directors, to join Mayor Bowser in launching the Green Book and celebrate the 100 DC-based Comcast RISE award winners who are receiving $10,000 grants,” said Angela Franco, President and CEO, DC Chamber of Commerce. “As I think about the past two years and the many obstacles of the pandemic, it fills me with great pride that we come together to celebrate our victories and marvel at the possibilities of increasing our District’s economic vitality in 2022.”
Following Franco’s open remarks, keynote speaker Michael Parker, Senior Vice President Beltway Region Comcast, addressed “The Role of Small Businesses in a Thriving Economy,” and Carolyn Rudd, Chairwoman of the Board, provided an end-of-year review.
Next, the 2022 DC Chamber of Commerce Board Chair, Officers and Directors were introduced by Ajay Madan, former DC Chamber Board Chair.
2022 Board Officers
- Dr. Carolyn Rudd, CRP Inc. – Chair
- Andrew Surine, M&T Bank – Chair-Elect
- Tonya Vidal Kinlow, Children’s National Hospital – 1st Vice-Chair
- Earl “Chico” Horton, Tiber Hudson – 2nd Vice-Chair
- Heather Ness, The Robert Bobb Group – Secretary
- Winell Belfonte, CohnReznick – Treasurer
2022 Board of Directors
- Lisa Brown Alexander, Nonprofit HR
- Vida Ali, Ben’s Chili Bowl
- William Alsup, Hines Interests Limited Partnership
- Robin Anderson, Giant Food LLC
- Joseph Askew, Verizon
- Claude Bailey, Venable
- Emmanuel Bailey, VSC
- Marni Barron, Soul Tree LLC
- Winell Belfonte, CohnReznick
- Stacy Burnette, Comcast
- Sylvia Burwell, American University
- Ryan Chaffo, City National Bank
- Colette Chichester, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
- Karen Dale, AmeriHealth Caritas DC
- Andres Echeverri, ACSI Translations
- Kim Ford, Martha’s Table
- Brett Greene, American Management Corp.
- LaTara Harris, AT&T Services Inc
- Jacquay Henderson, Square Peg Technologies
- Earle C. Horton, Tiber Hudson
- Carolyn Howell, Events USA
- Rose Johnson, United Way of the National Capital Area
- Michael Keatley, MC Dean
- Scott Kinlaw, EagleBank
- Tonya Vidal Kinlow, Children’s National Hospital
- H.H. Leonards, The O Museum in the Mansion
- Ajay Madan, OST, Inc. (Optimal Solutions and Technologies)
- James Martinko, CohnReznick
- Renee McPhatter, The George Washington University
- Ronnette Meyers, JLAN Solutions
- Heather Ness, Robert Bobb Group
- Apera Nwora, DC Water
- Kristin Ortiz, Asurface
- James Page, Page After Page Business Systems, Inc.
- Necole Parker, ELOCEN Group, LLC
- Adam Rubinson, Deloitte
- Dr. Carolyn Rudd, CRP, Incorporated
- Connie Russell, C. L. Russell Group, LLC
- Rudy Seikaly, MCN Build
- David Smith, PNC Bank
- Benjamin Soto, Premium Title & Escrow, LLC
- Jim Steffes, Washington Gas
- Greg Stevens, Riggs DC
- Andrew Surine, M & T Bank
- George Tawiah, Bank of America
- Chris Taylor, Pepco
- Henok Tesfaye, U Street Parking
- Maria Tildon, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
- Joseph Torraca, RCN
- John Tucker, TD Bank
- Sonja Wells, City First Bank
- Annie Whatley, The University of the District of Columbia
- Simone Williams, Williams Global Law, PLLCDonna Woodall, Microsoft Corp
Hon. Muriel E. Bowser presented the District’s most ambitious goal of spending yet with District-based Small Business Enterprises (SBEs) with the release of the Seventh Annual SBE Opportunity Guide, also known as the “Fiscal Year 2022 Green Book.” Under the Bowser Administration, the District has spent more with local enterprises than ever before, breaking a record of spending over $1 billion with our District-based businesses in Fiscal Year 2021.
For the second year in a row, the Green Book will be online, searchable, and interactive. The Green Book assists SBEs in navigating the local government procurement process by providing an agency-by-agency overview of SBE spending availability and allows SBEs to search for opportunities by industry.
“We are fortunate to have Mayor Bowser and her team imagining and launching various new and existing programs designed to give Washingtonians a fair shot and accelerate the District’s economic recovery. The 2022 Green Book, for example, connects small businesses to local government opportunities. We’re also grateful to Comcast for recognizing the value in investing in small businesses owned by people of color by awarding 100 of our local businesses each with $10,000 grants,” added Franco.
Comcast created the Comcast RISE Investment Fund to provide $10,000 grant awards to small businesses owned by people of color. On November 23, 2021, 100 RISE grant winners were announced in Washington, DC. This represents a $1M investment in the success of the District of Columbia’s small business community. For a complete list of awardees, please visit: https://www.comcastrise.com/recipients/.
Event Sponsors
Gold
- Carefirst BlueCross BlueShield
- Comcast
- Events DC
- Exelon
- Microsoft
- Pepco
- Verizon
- Washington Gas
- DMPED
- KPMG
- VSC
Silver
- The ELOCEN Group
Bronze
- City National Bank
- CohnReznick
- OST
- M&T Bank
- DC Lottery
- Deloitte
- TD Bank
- United HealthCare
- University of the District of Columbia
- Howard University
- DoorDash
- JLAN Solutions
- United Way NCA
For more information about the DC Chamber of Commerce, please visit: https://dcchamber.org.
About the DC Chamber of Commerce
The DC Chamber of Commerce is the largest Chamber in the Washington, DC region. As an advocate for the DC business community for 81 years, the DC Chamber of Commerce is the voice for businesses in the District of Columbia, proudly serving a diverse membership of more than 1,400 members. For more information, visit https://www.dcchamber.org, or follow the Chamber at https://twitter.com/dcchamber and on https://www.facebook.com/DCCofCommerce.
