CARLA HARRIS, MODERATOR, is a Vice Chairman, Global Wealth Management, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She is responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm. In August 2013, Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council. Ms. Harris began her career with Morgan Stanley in the Mergers & Acquisitions department in 1987. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Carla received from Harvard Business School an MBA, Second Year Honors and an AB in economics from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude. She is the author of Expect to Win and Strategize to Win.
ALEJANDRA Y. CASTILLO is the National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). She is the first Hispanic-American and the second women to lead the Agency since its creation. In this capacity, she directs the Agency’s strategic efforts to enhance the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises (MBEs). Under her leadership, the Agency has expanded its effort to help MBEs grow and succeed through access to capital, contract and business opportunities both domestically and abroad.
LISA PRICE, Founder of Carol’s Daughter, Inc., transformed her beloved hobby of mixing up fragrances and creams at home into a multi-million dollar beauty empire from humble beginnings in her Brooklyn kitchen. In 1994, Lisa officially established Carol’s Daughter (the company lovingly named after her mother). Initially starting out with a handful of steady customers, those numbers grew in leaps and bounds as women outside her neighborhood and circle of friends began to take notice. Almost overnight, celebrities like Jada Pinkett-Smith, Erykah Badu, Rosie Perez and Halle Berry became loyal customers.
She is also the author of Success Never Smelled So Sweet, a remarkable memoir that chronicles her transformation from a young Black woman deep in debt and burdened by low self-esteem to the president of a multi-million dollar business.
Lisa is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the National Black MBA Association’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2000), the Working Woman Magazine’s Entrepreneurial Excellence Award (2001), the National Book Club Conference Terrie Williams Inspiration Award (2004), the YWCA “W” Award (2010), the FFAWN I’m Power – I’m Beauty Award (2010) and a Cosmetic Executive Women Achiever Award (2010) and most recently, has been appointed as a member of the National Women’s Business Council.
ROBIN RICHARDS is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO for the CareerArc Group. His previous leadership includes Blackboard Connect (formerly The NTI Group); CEO of Vivendi Universal Net USA; Founding President, COO, and Director of MP3.com; Managing Director of Tickets.com, Inc., and Founder, President, and CEO of Lexi International. Robin also currently serves as president of the Chase Foundation. Honored as a Readers’ Favorite in Inc. Magazine’s 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Robin has also received Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the LAVA (Los Angeles Venture Association) Award for Best M&A. He is a member of several boards, including LASEC (Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission), Morehouse College Board of Trustees, and the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business – Board of Leaders.