AEO Innovation Fund Grant is a $20,000 to $50,000 award from the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) designed to strengthen the entrepreneurial support ecosystem. The program gives priority to organizations serving underserved founders, including BIPOC entrepreneurs, women, and veterans.

Eligible applicants are typically nonprofits, CDFIs, or other mission-driven organizations that provide business development services, capital access, or technical assistance. AEO's Innovation Fund is particularly well-suited for intermediaries testing new models of small business support. Applicants should visit the AEO website for current cycle details and eligibility requirements.

Home - Association for Enterprise Opportunity AI Innovation & Policy Coalition for Main Street Businesses Small Business Growth Coalition Good Jobs for Small Business Read AEO's Policy Priorities AEO strengthens the ecosystem that powers entrepreneurs. Through applied research, policy leadership, innovative platforms, and targeted convenings, we help partners deliver better outcomes so founders can start, stabilize, and scale.

For over three decades, AEO has led high-impact initiatives and collaborations that expand economic opportunity. OF ALL U.S. BUSINESSES HAVE 10 or FEWER EMPLOYEES AEO is the leading voice of innovation for entrepreneurship and small business. AEO strengthens the ecosystem that powers entrepreneurs.

Through applied research, policy leadership, innovative platforms, and targeted convenings, we help partners deliver better outcomes so founders can start, stabilize, and scale. For over three decades, AEO has led high-impact initiatives and collaborations that expand economic opportunity. John Torres is an accomplished professional with over two decades of experience in strategic communication, marketing, and public relations.

He recently assumed the role of Director of Marketing and Communication at AEO, joining the team in January 2024. With a robust background in fostering organizational success through effective communication strategies, John is recognized as a visionary leader dedicated to excellence and innovation.

Prior to his role at Venture37, John served as the Vice President of Communication and Public Relations at the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA). Through over a decade of service, John demonstrated his expertise in driving strategic communication efforts for the professional trade association.

As a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, he played a pivotal role in aligning organizational practices with mission objectives and enhancing the association’s resilience and strategic agility. Throughout his career, John has excelled in building high-performing teams and driving dynamic business results.

His tenure at various organizations underscores his ability to distill complex concepts into relatable narratives, leverage data-driven insights for strategic decision-making, and orchestrate successful national and international events. With a proven track record of enhancing brand visibility, increasing member engagement, and amplifying advocacy efforts, John is poised to make a transformative impact at AEO and beyond.

Mitch Jacobs is a financial technology pioneer. His first two payment companies were sold to public companies and his last, OnDeck, debuted on the NYSE in 2014. Mitch is an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and his companies have twice been named to the Inc. 500 and list of Forbes most promising companies.

Mitch was CoChair of the MicroCapital Task Force, which advised the US Treasury on the impact of fintech on Main Street and a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s council on technology and innovation. Mitch and his wife, entrepreneur & author, Samantha Ettus, live with their three children in Los Angeles. Renaissance Economic Development Corporation (REDC) Jessie C.

Lee is the Managing Director of Renaissance Economic Development Corporation (REDC), an affiliate of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). Renaissance is a 25-year old CDFI that is also an SBA Microlender and SBA Community Advantage lender. She oversees Renaissance’s lending operations, technical assistance programs, community relations, and capacity building.

She provides the organization with strategic guidance for expansion and works to increase long term community impact. Additionally, Jessie cultivates partnerships with both public and private institutions. Her expertise is in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and economic development in the last 20 years.

Community and Economic Development Leader & Small Business Advocate An experienced change agent and impact leader within the nonprofit and corporate sector dedicated to advancing equitable economic opportunity via philanthropic investments, public-private-social partnerships, and program innovation.

Avid learner, leveraging skills to empathetically understand and define problems and co-create solutions with an eye toward discovery, impact, and scale. Proven history of engaging diverse stakeholders, moving projects forward, and finding the leverage for outsized impact.

President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) President & CEO, Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) Natalie Madeira Cofield is an accomplished leader and influential advocate in small business development and entrepreneurship. As the President and CEO of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), Natalie leads the foremost national trade association representing microbusinesses and small enterprises.

Under her dynamic leadership, AEO has initiated regional councils, bolstered investments in innovation and capacity-building among business service organizations and pioneered extensive research on the small business ecosystem. Natalie is an award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, political appointee, and economic activist with a robust track record of empowering small businesses and underserved communities.

She has offered her expertise and strategic insights to prominent CEOs of billion-dollar organizations, senior advisors to the White House, mayors of major cities, and community leaders across the nation. Her contributions have earned her recognition as one of the most powerful women in business by Entrepreneur Magazine. Prior to her role at AEO, Natalie served as a presidential appointee at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

As the Assistant Administrator, she was instrumental in managing the deployment of $1. 2 trillion in funding during a critical period in economic history, directly supporting the allocation of over $200 million to entrepreneurial ecosystems nationwide.

She also spearheaded the Office of Women’s Business Ownership at the SBA, overseeing a $70 million grant-making budget and leading the largest expansion of the Women’s Business Center network in the agency’s history. Natalie chaired multiple White House Advisory Councils and Taskforces, including the Council on Gender, Council on Equity, and the Council on HBCUs.

In addition to her governmental service, Natalie is the founder of Walker’s Legacy, a national organization that operates in 20 cities and has supported thousands of multicultural women entrepreneurs in securing substantial capital for their businesses. She co-founded the $14 million Coalition to Back Black Business, which provided critical funding to nearly 1,000 Black-owned businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an executive, Cofield was named the inaugural Entrepreneur-in-Resident for the District of Columbia, served as an Executive in Residence for Mastercard, advising the Fortune 500 company on go-to-market strategies for small businesses, and was the CEO of a Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, among other notable director and CEO level leadership roles in economic development and small business.

Natalie’s expertise is widely recognized, and her insights have been featured in major media outlets such as Inc., Time, CNN, The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Black Enterprise, Essence, and EBONY. She is a sought-after speaker, having presented at esteemed institutions including Harvard, Yale, Brookings, The Aspen Institute, SXSW, Google, Meta, and Dell.

In recognition of her significant contributions to economic development, Natalie was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Shaw University in 2023. She is an honors graduate of Howard University and the Baruch School of Public Affairs, where she was a National Urban Fellow. She also earned the distinguished Certificate of Management Excellence from Harvard University with a focus on Innovation.

Currently, Natalie serves on the corporate board of directors for Harbor Bankshares Corporation ($345M in holdings). An avid traveler, she has explored over 47 countries and continues to broaden her global perspective. Mabell brings over 15 years of program strategy, design, and management to her role as VP of Innovations and Senior Culture Officer.

She has dedicated her professional career to identifying a scalable path to poverty alleviation and has explored the power of post-secondary education, financial education, and entrepreneurship in changing communities. Specifically, Mabell has worked with a large university in Massachusetts to design and launch a program that creates a pathway to post-secondary education for Boston high school seniors who were recent immigrants.

She also worked at a financial empowerment and education nonprofit whose mission was to empower individuals, primarily single mothers of color, living in subsidized housing to identify a successful path towards financial security and independence. Later, she worked at the World Economic Forum, leading 10 Strategic Partners in shaping a path for transformative change around the world.

Prior to joining AEO, Mabell worked at a nonprofit in New York City, dedicated to connecting under resourced individuals to high quality coaching and services needed to empower their businesses to succeed. It is in this role that Mabell discovered the transformational power of entrepreneurship to effect change, not only for individuals, but within communities. Sophia Javaheri serves as an Innovation Portfolio Associate at AEO.

Sophia is a dedicated and passionate professional committed to operational excellence, providing administrative and strategic support, and empowering underserved entrepreneurs. With a formal education in M. S.

Speech Language Pathology, Sophia has made a remarkable career transition and impact in the realm of entrepreneurship and nonprofit support. Sophia began her professional journey as a Programs & Event Coordinator for the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas.

In this role, she was vital in connecting nonprofit organizations with corporate giving, ensuring that charitable contributions were channeled effectively towards supporting the community. Her journey continued as she took on the role of Program Manager and eventually Director of Program Operations at 3 Day Startup, focusing on programming entrepreneurship education.

One of her most notable accomplishments in this capacity was the design and successful execution of an entrepreneurship student exchange program with the U.S. Embassy Vienna, underscoring her profound dedication to fostering global partnerships and emphasizing the significance of knowledge sharing.

Most recently, Sophia played a pivotal role at a startup, Chany Ventures, actively contributing to the establishment of the organization dedicated to supporting female identifying entrepreneurs across Mexico. This work reflects her deep commitment to diversity and inclusivity within the entrepreneurial world.

Throughout her career, Sophia has expertly curated and managed events of varying scales, catering to audiences spanning from 20 to 200 individuals, in both virtual and in-person settings. Her meticulous approach and strategic event planning have been instrumental in creating engaging and impactful experiences for entrepreneurs and stakeholders alike. Beyond her professional life, Sophia is an individual with a wide range of interests.

She enjoys board gaming, traveling, reading, camping and exploring different cultures through cooking. Reid Jackson serves as a Junior Research Associate at the Association for Enterprise Opportunity. Reid brings a combination of academic and professional research experience to the team.

He graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and holds a Master of Science in the History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Reid has delivered on research projects that span a variety of industries, and across countries, on behalf clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to governmental organizations.

Reid maintains a strong interest in community and economic development, both nationally and internationally. His volunteer work includes time spent as a research volunteer with the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, a Tbilisi based Civil Society organization, where he developed reports and communications materials on comparative law topics as well as the role of non-governmental organizations in helping civil society thrive.

He enjoys reading literature in his free time and moonlights as a language-learner. Having grown up in Southern California, he currently resides in the District of Columbia. A passionate social justice advocate and strategic entrepreneur, Kelly Powers has dedicated her career to leading innovative work to positively impact people.

An accomplished entrepreneur and organizational leader, Kelly has spent her career building and leading impact-driven organizations. Kelly is an advocate – she believes deeply in the potential of people. She is also a builder – having built programs, solutions and relationships throughout her career.

And, Kelly is a strategist – aiming to merge private-sector best practices with on-the-ground work in communities. Kelly’s 15+ years in the social sector have impacted thousands of lives. Throughout her career, Kelly has co-founded and led a start-up, non-profit education organization, building it from the ground up.

She has worked in the classroom with young children and in systems change teaching other teachers. Kelly has led operations, finance, and human resources as the chief operating officer at an established non-profit agency.

During her tenure as COO, Kelly led and re-built the people & culture department, supported the reorganization of the finance function, spearheaded the implementation of a new HRIS system and successfully operationalized an acquisition with a local community organization. Prior to her COO role, Kelly was founding Executive Director of VOCEL, an early childhood education non-profit she co-founded in 2013.

Under Kelly’s leadership, VOCEL grew from an early-stage start-up working with 18 children to a well-established organization in the early learning sector deploying programs in 17 community areas across Chicago impacting over 300 children and families annually. Before founding VOCEL, Kelly’s career included teaching 1st & 2nd grade in St.

Louis, Missouri as a Teach For America corps member; coaching teachers in community-based organizations and elementary schools across Chicago; and managing a team of educational coaches at Teach For America. Kelly holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business with concentrations in Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Managerial & Organizational Behavior and Operations Management.

She was a member of the inaugural cohort of Neubauer Civic Scholars at Booth. In undergrad, Kelly was a Hunt Leadership Scholar at SMU where she earned her BA in Communications & English. Brendan Landry serves as an Innovation Portfolio Manager for AEO.

Brendan brings over 15 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector where he has focused on providing access to education and learning for people who do not fit into educational and employment norms and therefore have limited opportunity to realize their full potential.

His extensive background in community economic development includes co-founding a Denver-based CDFI and heading up the design and delivery of a comprehensive business development and lending program serving entrepreneurs from marginalized communities.

Additionally, he brings expertise in innovation and human-centered design, having served as Innovation Program Manager for Denver Public Schools supporting community-based projects that address inequities in the district. Brendan’s driving belief is that all people have an innate ability to do something great and that often the difference between where someone is and where they want to be is the presence of a meaningful opportunity.

As such, he has devoted his career to finding creative ways to ensure that learning and education remain accessible to all people, regardless of the barriers they face. Brendan lives in Beverly, MA and when not at work, he enjoys getting outdoors with his wife and 2 kids (Eliot and Esmae), trying out new recipes in the kitchen, or strumming his mandolin on the back porch.

Keir Zander is the Innovation Project Manager at AEO and joined the team in 2022. Keir has been working to democratize access to entrepreneurship and education for the past 15 years. His passion for this work was first forged through personal experience as an entrepreneur.

Keir launched and scaled three companies in his early career, including a training center in Guatemala which provided workforce readiness and language instruction to adult learners. This experience taught him the significant barriers to entrepreneurship that plague under-resourced communities.

He soon after joined Community Investment Collaborative (CIC), a US based nonprofit to help grow their microlending and entrepreneurship training programs. As Vice-President of CIC, Keir helped to scale the organization’s operations and to build a culture of inclusion and strategic decision making.

In 2019 Keir moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he worked to support the rapidly developing entrepreneurship ecosystem there through work with the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Fulbright University Vietnam, as well as providing strategic consulting and coaching for several emerging startups.

Keir studied Educational Psychology and History at the University of Virginia and is deeply interested in the impact that human centered design and experiential education can offer when designing inclusive products for adult learners. Keir is also passionate about criminal justice reform and enjoys volunteering as a personal finance instructor to incarcerated citizens approaching re-entry.

In his spare time, Keir loves the outdoors, and spends much of his time camping, fishing and traveling. Sibyl Edwards is a digital strategist, designer, innovator and advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in tech. For over a decade, Ms. Edwards created successful digital, design and branding campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, non-profit associations, NGOs and tech startups.

Working with organizations to help expand their brand and meet their organization goals, Sibyl develops solutions and strategies utilizing best practices in digital marketing and design. Past work includes the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, projects for organizations such as USAID, The World Bank, DC Government, Ogilvy, Rosetta Stone, Edelman Financial Services, Gannett/GO Digital, Cision and Marriott.

A native Texan, Ms. Edwards holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Corcoran College of Art + Design, and a degree in web design and multimedia from the Art Institute of Dallas. In 2018, Ms. Edwards was listed in Essence Magazine’s Woke 100 list for her work supporting black women entrepreneurs as a co-founder of Black Female Founders.

In her downtime, Sibyl loves SciFi/fantasy and mystery movies and books, watching anime, abstract painting, crafting and cooking. She lives in Washington, DC. Vice President – CED Lending & Investment Strategies Director Tara L.

Campbell serves as Vice President – CED Lending & Investment Strategies Director at Fifth Third Bank. In this role, her primary responsibilities include managing the CRA lending and investment program, cultivating national partnerships and executing community development strategies across the banks regional footprint.

Prior to joining Fifth Third Bank, she held the position of Signature Initiatives Manager within the Business Impact Group at U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation where she supported the development and implementation of new products, services and experiences in partnership with business lines across the U.S. Bank enterprise to advance their social impact strategy of closing persistent and historic gaps in outcomes for women, people of color, and low-income communities.

Most notable accomplishments in this role include leading a $50 Million Paycheck Protection Program liquidity fund for CDFIs and the launch of the $25 Million U.S. Bank Access fund for women of color microbusinesses. Chair, U.S. Large Clients and Global Chief Quality Officer Shane Dolgin is a senior communications executive with significant global leadership experience working in more than 50 countries.

He has spent much of his career in the technology sector with a focus on financial services and mobile communications. He brings a strong background in corporate communications and public and government affairs, along with expertise in digital storytelling, crisis and issues management, financial communications and corporate reputation management.

Since 2018 he has led the international communications consultancy Edelman’s global relationship with PayPal, overseeing a team of more than 150 people in 20+ markets. Previously, he led international communications and government affairs at Scotiabank.

In that role, he was responsible for global external communications and reputation management, internal communications to the bank’s more than 90,000 employees, as well as government affairs in 50+ markets. Prior to Scotiabank, Shane led communications for TELUS, at the time Canada’s second largest wireless carrier. He lives in Toronto with his two children and is active as a volunteer supporting pediatric cancer and other causes.

Sean is the Innovation Portfolio Associate for the Innovation Hub at AEO. In this role, Sean helps with the launch and growth of various initiatives across the Innovation Hub. The goal of this work is to create a more inclusive marketplace for underserved microbusinesses.

Prior to working at AEO, Sean was a Program Coordinator for the Finance Leaders Fellowship at the Aspen Institute. In this role, he managed the nominations and sourcing process for the Fellowship. Sean believes that business can be used as a powerful tool for good.

At AEO, he hopes to amplify this idea by helping empower entrepreneurs through small business ownership. Sean is a graduate of Georgetown University. In his free time, he enjoys spending time in the outdoors and is passionate about conservation and sustainability.

Lori Smith is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Data and Analytics. Lori brings data, experience, and strategy together to uncover unique insights and actionable intelligence to support underserved entrepreneurs. She holds a Ph.

D. in sociology from Princeton University, and her experience spans multiple industries with a concentration in banking, community economic development, and economic policy. She focuses on applying rigorous quantitative and qualitative methods to these areas, including quasi-experimental approaches to policy and impact evaluation.

Lori’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and academic presses, and she has presented her research at numerous academic and industry conferences. Prior to joining AEO, Lori coordinated research at a Mexican government-owned social development bank, bringing customer intelligence and data analytics capabilities to financial inclusion strategies.

Lori has also consulted with the United Nations and the World Bank on a number of financial policy projects. Chelsea Maxwell serves as a Senior Research Associate at the Association for Enterprise Opportunity.

Maxwell is a trained social worker with a Bachelor’s of Social Work with minors in political science and sociology from Dordt University (formerly Dordt College) and a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice. Maxwell is a mission-driven professional with nearly a decade of experience focused on advancing social and economic justice through community-grounded research and advocacy.

A sixth-generation Iowan, Maxwell currently lives in the District of Columbia. John Stanford is a government relations and public affairs professional with experience leading multi-year advocacy and awareness campaigns. He specializes in communicating client objectives to government stakeholders to drive policy formation.

As a partner at Prism Group, John leads Democratic lobbying and engagement and the federal level, specializing in identifying champions for pro-growth and innovation agendas. His relationships on Capitol Hill build on nearly a decade of experience leveraging entrepreneurship to close wealth gap in low-income communities.

He also leads the firm’s advocacy practice, which is responsible for developing and executing a broad array of strategies including third-party activation and coalition development. Finally, John provides regular commentary on key issues around innovation and the economy, including in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CNBC and has been featured on cable television. Marieka Walsh serves as the Project Manager at AEO.

She is responsible for implementing AEO’s enterprise-wide project management framework, managing cross-departmental projects and collaborating with project owners to drive projects to completion. She also advises departments on project management best practices to ensure projects are completed in an effective and efficient manner.

Marieka offers eight years of global project management experience in the non-profit sector from both a professional and academic perspective. During her five years at PYXERA Global she managed innovative social impact programs and team-based projects with Fortune Global 500 companies that took place across India, Brazil, and the United States. Her corporate clients included Mastercard, Medtronic, and IBM.

Most recently she led client management activities of Mastercard’s pro bono portfolio and in 2020 successfully launched and implemented two new pro bono programs, one of which was focused on engaging employees in skills-based projects with non-profits on the frontlines of racial justice in the United States.

For nearly three years she served as the India Desk Officer where she acted as the HQ-based resource supporting India staff with program management and business development through business process roll out and training.

Prior to that Marieka managed student support for Alternative Breaks service-learning programs at American University, served as a Peace Corps Community Health Volunteer in Mozambique, and taught English in the Republic of Georgia. Marieka holds a MA in Public Administration with a concentration in Non-profit Management from American University and a BA in International Relations and minor in Economics from Mount Holyoke College.

She is proficient in Portuguese. Marieka is passionate about the non-profit sector and the power of organizations like AEO to help communities thrive. Currently she is the Community Relations Volunteer for the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and independently produces thought leadership content about how public, private and social sectors can and are collaborating to solve global challenges.

Head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy, Wells Fargo Flores is responsible for shaping the Wells Fargo’s small business growth philanthropy aimed at helping entrepreneurs access capital and technical assistance so they can expand their impact on the economy and ability to provide jobs. She has more than 20 years of experience overseeing philanthropic investments, employee engagement and corporate citizenship initiatives.

Most recently, she was head of community affairs and corporate social responsibility at Bank of the West, where she led the company’s strategy for small business engagement and impact including the creation of a new $30 million investment fund with community development financial institutions for small business owners.

In addition, Flores advocated for an enterprise small business strategy in support of women entrepreneurs, resulting in a coordinated effort across the bank’s resources to provide female founders with access to capital, tailored mentorship and networks needed to scale revenue.

Flores also launched a partnership with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance to accelerate the growth of innovative businesses focused on using the latest technology to protect the health of the ocean and the environment. Prior to Bank of the West, Flores spent a decade in community development at Citigroup, and also held roles at the Congress of California Seniors, Greenlining Institute, and the California State Legislature.

She currently serves as a mentor with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center’s Milestone Makers Program and sits on the board of directors for the Ocean Conservancy. Flores received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California–Berkeley and a master’s degree from the FW Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Head of Financial Inclusion and Public Policy Development Courtney Robinson serves as the Financial Inclusion Lead for Square. Previously she was the Senior Counsel on the House Financial Services Committee, where she worked closely with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA).

At Square she works on issues critical to underserved communities and financial services policy development, particularly related to equal access to banking services and the broader financial system. She is a graduate of North Carolina Central University and American University.

With over 20 years of experience in non-profit management, and fund development, Jose Martinez serves as both Executive Vice President of Economic Development, and President of Prestamos CDFI, LLC.

Mr. Martinez is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of Prestamos – a subsidiary lending division of Chicanos Por La Causa, and also leads CPLC’s strategy to improve economic conditions in low-income communities by providing investments and services that lead to job creation and economic prosperity. Mr. Martinez also provides strategic direction for CPLC’s Opportunity Zone initiative.

Under his leadership, Prestamos has more than tripled its annual lending, deploying over $89 million (2011-2018), and has led the institution in providing access to capital and technical support to small businesses and economic development projects in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. In 2018, Mr. Martinez had recorded and managed a portfolio of over $52 million in assets.

Mr. Martinez has dedicated over 20 years to CPLC in various capacities, including his service as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Throughout his career, he has raised over $165 million for CPLC programs and joint ventures. Mr. Martinez holds both a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Master’s in Business Administration from Arizona State University.

Gustavo is a seasoned microfinance practitioner passionate about advancing opportunities for underserved communities through capital. Prior to becoming President and CEO of PeopleFund he held leadership positions with top-tier community lenders where he was instrumental in their growth at a national level.

Highlights of his career include: the development of LiftFund’s MMS – an early “lending as a service” platform tailored to microlending in the US; the financial engineering of a $30M asset purchase agreement between LiftFund and Citibank – a first in US microlending; the expansion of Oportun (from 35 to 85 stores) where he was directly responsible for the production of 20,000 loans per month; he redefined the CFO role for Opportunity Fund and put together credit facilities that helped the organization become the largest non-profit microlender in US.

Most recently he co-founded and managed Listo, an organization providing financial products and services to thousands in California. Gustavo has served on the boards of Opportunity Finance Network, Foundation for Women and School of Excellence – San Antonio and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Batten joined the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) as President and CEO in January 2009. ABFE’s mission is to promote effective and responsive philanthropy in Black Communities and counts among its members some of the most influential staff, trustees and donors of grantmaking institutions in the U.S. Under her leadership, ABFE has expanded its base of programming and membership across the country.

Prior to joining ABFE, Ms. Batten was a Senior Associate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. At Casey, Ms. Batten served as staff in the Community Change Initiatives Unit which provided investments to help transform neighborhoods into family supportive environments.

She also coordinated a portfolio on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion where she worked across the Foundation to strengthen its’ focus on addressing racial disparities. Her duties also included assisting Casey in its efforts to build and employ equitable and inclusive management and administrative practices (workforce diversity, grantee diversity, vendor practices, etc.).

Prior to working in philanthropy, Ms. Batten held leadership positions in both federal and city government. She is a co-founder of the Race and Equity in Philanthropy Group and serves on the board of the United Philanthropy Forum. Ms. Batten received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science from Fisk University, and her Masters of Social Work degree from Howard University in Washington, D.

C. Interim Chief Operations Officer (COO) Tanya Y. Hughes, is the Interim Chief Operations Officer of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), is a non-profit organization of over 2,800 practitioners and advocates focused on creating economic opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs throughout the United States.

Since 1991, AEO and its members have provided capital and services to assist underserved entrepreneurs in starting, stabilizing and expanding their businesses. Together we are working to change the way capital and services flow to underserved entrepreneurs so they can create jobs and opportunities for all. We are the voice of microbusiness and look to provide Advocacy, Innovation, Research