Chamber Insider Blog

DEIA Summit 2022 Attendee Information

Thank you for attending the DEIA Summit: Building a More Equitable Loudoun!

Presented by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility (DEIA) Committee

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About the Event Keynote Speakers

Rick Wade, Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Outreach, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Rick C. Wade is senior vice president of Strategic Alliances and Outreach at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Wade develops and implements programs and initiatives to help the Chamber create new business relationships and partnerships across diverse audiences. He also provides counsel on policy issues and leads special projects. Wade’s wealth of knowledge and experience in both the public and private sectors enable him to give a megaphone to the voice of business across the country and share the positive impacts of the free enterprise system.

Before joining the Chamber, Wade was principal of The Wade Group, a strategic communications and global business development firm, and was a partner at Harves Investment Group, a consultancy that facilitated foreign direct investment into the U.S.

Previously, Wade was a senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke where he was a liaison to the White House, businesses, trade associations, civic organizations, and local governments. He was a member of the White House task forces on Puerto Rico, Small Business Contracting, Automobile Recovery, Military Families, and Historically Black Colleges & Universities. He also served on the Interagency Business Council and former Vice President Joe Biden’s Task Force on Middle Class America and worked with the White House on implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Wade also worked with Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to foster regional economic development in distressed areas, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on expanding broadband to rural and urban America, the Minority Business Development Agency to create jobs through the growth of minority-owned businesses, and the Census Bureau on executing the 2010 decennial census.

In addition, Wade was instrumental in expanding opportunities for U.S. companies to sell their products in the global market. He represented the U.S. at international trade forums including the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum, and the Conference on the Caribbean and Central America. He served as special envoy to the Caribbean, oversaw private sector initiatives in Haiti following the 2010 devastating earthquake, and led trade missions around the world.

He was a senior adviser to the 2008 Obama for America campaign and is a member of the Democratic National Committee. He was an executive at Hoffman-La Roche and Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. He also had experience at the South Carolina House of Representatives, the Cabinet of the Governor, and the Office of the President at the University of South Carolina.

Wade received his B.S. from the University of South Carolina and an M.P.A. from Harvard University. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Benedict College and South Carolina State University and has received numerous awards for exemplary leadership and public service.

Jason Wright, President of the Washington Commanders

As President of the Washington Commanders, Jason Wright is responsible for leading the organization’s business divisions, including operations, finance, sales, and marketing. In addition to leading a historic transformation of a sports franchise, he is the first Black team president in the history of the NFL and currently is the youngest team president in the League. He is the fourth former NFL player to become president of a team.

Prior to joining the Washington Commanders, Jason was a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Washington DC office. His work focused on expanding the value of large, complex organizations through operations and culture transformations. Jason specialized in steering companies through their toughest moments – in crisis and turnaround scenarios. From systemic personnel misconduct to financial distress to COVID-19 response, Jason’s tenure at McKinsey supported a range of multi-national, corporation-specific challenges, while also leading the company’s global inclusion and anti-racism strategies.

His deep passion for intentional change that profoundly expands opportunities for historically marginalized populations resulted in his work co-founding McKinsey’s Black Economic Institute. A research entity that analyzes the racial wealth gap, the Institute today serves as a prominent voice in public discussions regarding racial equity in corporate America. This advocacy, combined with his data- and results-oriented approaches, have been sought out by leading organizations, such as The Greater Washington Partnership, where Jason helps lead its Inclusive Growth Strategy Council as co-chair. The Inclusive Growth Strategy Council is a regional collaborative that dissects and identifies a blueprint for the region to address long-standing gaps in income, services, employment, and access to capital for lower-income populations.

Jason’s commitment to faith, family, and community is marked by his service on the Board of Trustees at Union Theological Seminary, where he is helping the institution better equip a changing student body focused on community organizing and social entrepreneurship.

His leadership, passion for community change, and business acumen have been noted nationally and regionally, with Jason being awarded as a “Top 40 under 40” by Black Enterprise magazine, Sports Business Journal’s “Best Hire of 2020,” and standing as a member of The Economic Club of Washington D.C., where he serves alongside DC-based executives supporting a range of initiatives in the DMV.

Jason spent seven years as a running back in the NFL and was team captain and NFLPA player representative for the Arizona Cardinals during the 2011 NFL lockout. He has a B.A. in psychology from Northwestern University, where he was an Academic All-American student athlete, a two-time All-Big Ten football selection, and the president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He received his M.B.A. in Operations and Finance with honors, from the University of Chicago-Booth School of Business.

Panelists

Panel I “Inclusive Capital and Sourcing”

  • Moderator: Beth Erickson, Visit Loudoun
  • Alice Frazier, BCT-The Community’s Bank
  • Tim Holtz, Stryker Spine
  • Cheryl Middleton, Loudoun Dept of Finance & Budget
  • Buddy Rizer, Loudoun Dept. of Economic Development

Panel II –  Inclusion in the Workplace

  • Moderator: Angela Mitchell, ARM Consulting
  • Threase Baker, ABBTECH
  • Sam Clarke, Equality Loudoun
  • Christopher “CJ” Gross, Ascension Worldwide
  • Lisa Kimball, The Arc of Loudoun

Event Timeline

  • 7:30 – 8:00 a.m. Event Registration & Networking
  • 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Welcome, Keynote Speaker: Jason Wright, President, Washington Commanders
  • 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Panel I – “Inclusive Capital and Sourcing” with audience Q&A
  • Short Break
  • 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Rick Wade, Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Outreach, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Panel II – “Inclusion in the Workplace” with audience Q&A
  • Conclude

Interested in Getting Involved?

Mission of the DEIA Committee: The DEIA Initiative’s mission is to build and sustain an equitable and inclusive business environment in Loudoun County and our region, and to become a civic model for the implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion strategies that advance education, innovation, and economic growth in Northern Virginia. Click here for more info

View the DEIA Toolkit: The Journey Begins Here

View the Toolkit

Your journey to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion practices within your organization begins here!  Our goal is to provide you with information that will positively impact your business’s bottom line and organization’s mission.