NEWS

Mr. Ford has worked in Information Systems for over 20 years, which helped shape his lifelong dream to be an entrepreneur. Mr. Ford started his career at a small defense contractor and later moved to MCI. While at MCI, he held several positions ranging from Systems Analyst to Marketing Product Manager for MCI's Friends and Family. In his role as a developer and project manager, Mr. Ford designed and built systems that invoiced over 20 million dollars per month, managed customer contracts, and designed user interfaces to support one of MCI's largest contracts. Mr. Ford later became one of the product managers for MCI's flagship product, Friends and Family. In his role as a Product Manager, he was responsible for product innovations, promotional development, and systems infrastructure for strategic product support.

In 1994 Mr. Ford moved from MCI to INTELSAT, the world's largest provider of satellite communications. Mr. Ford served as the Director for the Applications Support Organization, encompassing several strategic business units. The department's responsibilities included developing applications, conducting internal consulting projects, supporting software, and building the company's document management infrastructure. At INTELSAT, Antwanye also served as a "change agent" for the company. He was specifically hired for his ability to "do the hard stuff". Executive management discussed this with him during the hiring interview and stated that his success was dependent upon moving the organization from being reactive to proactive. Mr. Ford eagerly embraced the challenge as a stepping-stone towards managing his own business.

Also, in 2005 Mr. Ford was selected by the editorial board of Inside the Minds as an author in the recently released book, Inside the Minds: CEO Best Practices. Inside the Minds: CEO Best Practices - Skills, Values, and Strategies for Successful CEOs features top CEOs representing some of the nation's leading companies. Mr. Ford contributed a chapter to the book entitled, "The Spiritual Side of Leadership".

Mr. Ford is heavily involved in his community and was a founding member of Myth Men, a non-profit organization with the objective of destroying negative myths about young Black men. Mr. Ford currently serves on the Board of the DC Chamber of Commerce and the DC Chamber of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. He was formally on the Board of Directors for DC Works and the Washington Math Science and Technology Charter High School. In addition, Mr. Ford coaches basketball to kids ages 13 to 15 at his church and works heavily with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Washington, DC. Mr. Ford's company philosophy is based in his faith, "To whom much is given, much is required."

Mr. Ford received a B.S. in Computer Science and Information Systems and a M.S. in Information Systems with honors both from The George Washington University (GWU).

Prior to founding Enlightened, Inc., Mr. Rogers spent five years as a software development manager at Fannie Mae. He made significant contributions including creating Fannie Mae’s internet infrastructure which allowed Fannie Mae to underwrite billions of mortgages online. Prior to Fannie Mae, he was a software development manager at American Management Systems (AMS) for eight years. At AMS, he provided software support to the U.S. Department of the Navy.

Currently, he serves on several boards including as the Chair of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors and as a board member of The George Washington School of Business Board of Advisors. He is also a 2005 graduate of Leadership Maryland.

Mr. Rogers holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from The George Washington University and a Masters of Science in Computer Science from George Mason University.

He also manages and coordinates vendor services and subcontractors as well as performs corporate oversight for departmental budgeting. Additionally, he is integral in providing executive management input on strategic corporate goals and policies.

Prior to joining Enlightened, he served as Director Capital Inspection Region for the Department of Energy’s Office of the Inspector General. He is a 24-year Veteran of the US Navy’s nuclear trained submarine force. From 2004 to 2008, he served as an Assistant Naval Inspector General for the Department of the Navy’s Office of the Naval Inspector General. His responsibilities included leading a team that conducted inspections to determine the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of naval operations as it pertains to operations, resource management, logistics, training, and combat readiness. Additionally, he conducted several special studies/investigations reporting directly to the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations

From March 2002 to July 2004, he served as Commanding Officer, Naval Submarine Support Center Norfolk providing all logistical, administrative, maintenance, and force protection for 13 submarines assigned to two Submarine Squadrons.

He was commissioned through the Naval ROTC program at Oregon State University in March 1984, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering and Naval Science. He was awarded a Master’s Degree in Administration in 2000 from Central Michigan University.

In 2009, Marie was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Following her Senate confirmation, she was responsible for management of the nearly $1 billion agency and development of SBA programs and policies, including leading the effort to implement the more than 60 provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. In 2011, her initiatives resulted in lending more than $30 billion to more than 60,000 small businesses, a record in SBA history. She had the privilege of serving as the chair of the President’s Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development. She was also the force behind “Start Young,” a SBA/Department of Labor initiative that provides entrepreneurial training to Job Corps students and encourages them to use their technical skills to start a business.

Throughout her career, she has focused her community service in the areas of education and economic development. She has held senior positions in the telecommunications industry, including serving as President of Verizon Washington. In that position, she was responsible for over 1,800 employees and nearly 800,000 customers. Under her leadership, the company developed and implemented a regulatory plan that served as a model for the corporation.

As a leader in the Washington, D.C. business community, she is recognized nationally as a champion for small businesses. She is a member of the Greater Washington Business Hall of Fame and one of Washingtonian Magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women.” In addition to being founding chair of the Washington DC Technology Council, she has served as a board member, president or chair of the DC Chamber of Commerce, the Federal City Council, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Economic Club of Washington, Leadership Greater Washington, and the International Women’s Forum of Washington DC. Currently, Marie serves on the board of Opportunities Industrialization Centers International (OICI) and she is a Director of City First Bank of D.C., National Association.

She is the recipient of over 100 awards for her community service, including the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, “Trailblazer in Business” Award; the National Journal, 25 Influential Black Women in Business Award; the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, Women Leadership Award; and the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Leader of the Year Award.

Her Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Administration degrees are from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, where she later served as a board member for the Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence. She also was awarded honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees from Trinity University (Washington, D.C.) and Howard University.

She retired as Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems (C4 Systems), The Joint Staff on 1 October 2009. In this role, she was the principal advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all C4 Systems matters within the Department of Defense. She also managed the Department of Defense’s Net-Centric Operations budget of $153 billion and directed a team of 150 staff.

Highlights of her career include Director for both North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command. In August 2004 she deployed to Iraq becoming the first Multi-National Force–Iraq C6 Headquartered in Baghdad and returned to the Joint Staff in April 2005 as Vice Director for Command, Control, Communications, and Computer Systems (J6). She previously served as Deputy Director and Fleet Liaison, Space, Information Warfare, Command and Control (N6B), was on the NSC staff at the White House and the Deputy Director, White House Military Office. She Commanded the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.

Her awards and service decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), the Legion of Merit (with Gold Star), the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal (with two Bronze Stars), the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Armed Forces Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal (with two Bronze Stars).

VADM Brown graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in education. She attended Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where she earned a Master of Science degree in Communications Systems Management. She completed the Junior Course at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, leading to the awarding of a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies.