JENIFFER HARPER
Jeniffer Harper, Vice
President, Siemens Foundation, oversees day-to-day management of the Siemens
Foundation and its signature programs. Since joining the Foundation in March
2000 as Program Manager and subsequently serving as Program Director, Harper
has been the primary liaison between the Foundation and its business partner
The College Board, the six university partners that host the Siemens
Competition in Math, Science & Technology regional events, and the Thurgood
Marshall Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund.
Harper has more than twelve
years experience in human resources with a particular expertise in
University recruitment. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was Manager
of Recruitment for Siemens Energy and Automation, where she was primarily
involved with recruitment activities at college campuses nationwide.
Before joining Siemens, she
worked in a variety of human resource management positions in
Rochester, New York, and
Gainesville, Georgia.
A native
of
Atlanta, Georgia, Harper has played an active role in various community
organizations in her hometown, including participation in the Atlanta chapter
of Big Brothers and Big Sisters and membership in the NAACP and Urban League.
Her professional
affiliations include membership in the Society of Human Resource Management.
Jeniffer Harper is a
graduate of Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a B.A. in
Broadcast Journalism. She works at the Foundation’s headquarters in Iselin,
New Jersey.
MONIQUE
HAYWARD
By day, Monique Hayward,
Marketing and Communications Manager for Corporate Diversity for the Intel
Corporation is your typical hardworking, successful businesswoman. However,
when she is “off the corporate clock”
Hayward
is a young entrepreneur striving for success, knocking down barriers along the
way, and giving back to the community.
Almost three years ago,
Hayward
embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that led her to found Nouveau
Connoisseurs Corporation. In January 2005, she launched Dessert Noir Café &
Bar (www.dessertnoir.com), an upscale suburban dining destination offering
customers the sense and sensibility of a downtown restaurant close to home.
The now award-winning
restaurant offers much more than the name implies and features a seasonal
lunch and dinner menu, specialty cocktails, an Oregon-exclusive wine list as
well as delectable handcrafted desserts. After being open for only four
months, Dessert Noir Café & Bar was named “Best of Dessert 2005” in the
Portland, OR area on Citysearch.com.
Recently The Oregonian,
the area’s major daily newspaper, cited the restaurant as one of its “Best
Bites 2006,” which identified great food finds in the Portland area.
“We’ve received very
favorable reviews and our clientele continues to build each day,” says Hayward
who also is the President and CEO of Nouveau Connoisseurs Corporation. “We
are pushing the envelope in Beaverton with a dining concept that you don’t
find in the suburbs.
“Our unique setting offers
live music, weekly specials, and fun events, and our unparalleled signature
creations have won over the taste buds of megastar patrons Oscar-winner Morgan
Freeman and comedian Sinbad.”
To continue to
differentiate the Dessert Noir concept, the restaurant supports the community
by featuring live music performances and artwork displays/exhibits from
local musicians and artists. They are also strong supporters of community
organizations and schools.
Hayward
organized “Stand Up for Community Action” to benefit Community Action
Organization, a non-profit that assists low-income residents in the
community.
Sinbad donated his time and
performed at a free public event that drew about 400 people and a private VIP
dinner at the restaurant for an audience of 60. All told, they raised
$8,000 for Community Action.
Like other entrepreneurs,
Hayward
has experienced many trials and tribulations with her business.
“I continue to come up
against issues with access to capital and networks to properly fund my
business and get banks to see my vision and support it.”
Hayward
is a member of a steadily growing aggregate of minorities and women who
pursue side enterprises while managing successful corporate careers. Perhaps
some choose to operate under the radar screen for fear of repercussions –
especially when you consider the effort it takes to continue to scale the
corporate ladder in America.
“However,” says Hayward,
“we’re generating a lot of wealth, creating jobs, and improving our
communities with our businesses and still managing to hold down those
careers. There’s something to be said for that if you think about the
advantages as well as the drawbacks.”
Hayward’s
enterprise is bringing diversity in an area not known for being very diverse.
“I hope to inspire others
who are thinking of starting their own businesses when they see that someone
like me is actually out there doing it and trying to make something positive
happen.”
YOLANDA CASH
JACKSON
Yolanda Cash Jackson is an
experienced Government Law and Commercial Litigation attorney with Becker &
Poliakoff who has established a strong reputation in the community for her
leadership and commitment to civic, charitable and professional organizations.
She concentrates her practice in the area of Governmental Relations and has
developed a proficiency in state government funding and appropriations.
Jackson
has excellent working relationships with several of the state’s leading
elected officials and policymakers. She works closely with Florida Governor
Jeb Bush and his staff on the Front Porch Initiative and was appointed by the
Florida Commissioner of Insurance to the Board of Directors of the Florida
Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), the
state’s provider of last resort for residential property and casualty
insurance.
In addition, she served as
the former Chair of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund established in the
aftermath of Hurricane Andrew to ensure adequate funding in the event of a
catastrophic loss. As Chair, she has participated in high-level public policy
decisions in Tallahassee relating to insurance coverage and claims.
Jackson
is considered one of Tallahassee, Florida’s most effective lawyer lobbyists.
She represents a wide array of clients including for example, several local
governments including cities of Miami Gardens, Opa Locka.
She also represents the
Metro Miami Dade School Board and Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.
Additionally, she represents non-profit organizations like Florida
Association of Women Lawyers and Educational organizations like Historically
Black Colleges and Universities such as Florida Memorial University.
In the
private sector she represents clients like Access Health, a large minority
physician’s network and AT&T. Jackson
has had tremendous success in securing state appropriations and making
legislative changes for clients.
Advocacy work is what
Yolanda Cash Jackson is all about. She works with minority groups within the
community to teach them how to stand up and speak out to what is important to
them. She uses her professional skills to educate women to empower
themselves. Her contributions to the progress of women are immeasurable.
She is proud to voluntarily
represent the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL) and lobby the
Florida Legislature on their behalf, in addition to being active in FAWL
herself. She has leadership and vision and has had significant contributions
to women’s progress.
Yolanda Cash
Jackson recently earned the
President’s Award
for her hard work. With all that she does, she still makes time to serve as
General Counsel to the NAACP- Miami Dade Branch where she is also a member of
the Executive Committee. She was chosen to participate in Leadership Florida,
a highly selective, statewide leadership training program, as a member of
Class XIX (2000-2001). Jackson is a member of the United States Senate
Military Affairs Committee where she serves on the Service Academy Nominating
Board to screen and recommend applicants to West Point, Annapolis , the U.S.
Marine Academy, and U.S. Air Force Academy.
She also serves on the
Board of several community organizations including Wolfsonian-FIU Advisory
Board, Human Services Coalition of Dade County, Board of Directors of Hospice
Care of Broward and a former member of the Board of Miami’s
River
of Life,
Inc. (Chair, 1995-98), Dade Partners for Safe Neighborhoods (Executive
Committee, 1995-97), and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Yolanda Cash Jackson earned
her B.S., and J.D. from the University of Florida.
KATHY BAKER-MCLEAN
Former Senior Software Test
Engineer Kathy Baker-McLean brings a unique corporate portfolio to the
burgeoning world of female entrepreneurs. Her ability to manipulate
technology is complemented by her strong consumer knowledge base and the
understanding of supply and demand plus quality versus quantity. Baker-McLean
holds a masters degree from Nova Southeastern University in Computer
Information Science and an undergraduate degree in political science from
Howard University. She has led engineering project teams for major
corporations and government contractors in
South Florida
and Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
In 2003 after leading a
stressful career, Baker-McLean left her field of computer science and
transitioned to the designing a product of under-wearing apparel – a novel,
yet sorely needed – product for women.
Kathy Baker-McLean also had
many problems associated with having large breasts. After her first son was
born, she was a size 40-J, then went down to a 40-G. She purchased many
different bras to get a lift and feel relief for her shoulders, neck and
back.
One month after leaving her
job, Baker-McLean woke up one morning with the idea and name for the product
called The Bra Clip. Baker-McLean considers her product idea as her
blessing from God. Baker-McLean wrote down this idea and pursued her idea on
little more than faith and the knowledge that thousands of women find
themselves with the same problem.
She and her husband sold
their home and moved in with her parents to make her idea become a reality and
applied for a patent. Her prior work experience helped hone Baker-McLean’s
skills in evaluation, analytical detail, design specifications and overall
product development and served as a segue into the founding of Baker-McLean
Investment Group and its consumer product line – including the invention of
the now re-named BRALIEF.
After completing nearly
a year of product research and design work, Baker-McLean launched her new
product through one-on-one consultations at tradeshows with thousands of women
in major cities including Miami, Atlanta, Birmingham, Little Rock, Chicago,
Detroit, and Washington, D.C.
She is beginning
distribution through national sales representatives and a few specialty
retailers. Not only does she have the satisfaction of having had the concept
and having brought it to fruition but is overwhelmed by the letters and
e-mails she receives from very grateful women who find their enhanced figures
alluring and stress-free.
A Florida native,
Baker-McLean lives in the Fort Lauderdale area with her husband, their
four-year old son and a new baby boy.
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