Deborah E. Lewis

Deborah E. Lewis is an experienced trial attorney who defends Fortune 500 corporations and other companies in personal injury, product liability, health care, environmental and commercial litigation. She has represented clients across the country, from California to New York, and from Washington state to Texas. In addition to her private practice defending clients, Ms. Lewis is a member of several professional associations, including the Health Industry Council of DFW Region, Defense Research Institute, National Bar Association, American Bar Association and Dallas Bar Association. She serves as an Advisor to the Executive Board of the Health Law Section of the National Bar Association, and serves as Co-chair of the Medical Device Action Alliance Association of the Health Industry Council in DFW. Ms. Lewis speaks often at legal conferences on a variety of topics germane to trial practice and risk mitigation. Before her legal career as a trial attorney, Deborah Lewis worked as a registered nurse and nursing professor.

Brandon Jones

Brandon Jones is a Senior Associate in the Corporate Development & M&A group of The Marsh & McClennan Companies.  Prior to this role, Mr. Jones was an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he advised companies on debt, equity and M&A transactions. Prior to attending Harvard Business School, Mr. Jones worked in management at McMaster-Carr, a private distribution and logistics firm, and at Johnson & Johnson, where he completed its Leadership Development Program.  Having several years of serving and advising non-profits, Mr. Jones currently serves on the Young Leaders Board of The Madison Square Boys & Girls Club and is a former Vice President of the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Center and has assisted non-profits on issues such as branding, long term funding objectives and strategic planning. Brandon is a an alum of Howard University in Washington, DC.

Emmet Pierson, Jr.

Emmet Pierson, Jr. is a principal/owner with North Forty Development, LLC in Kansas City, MO. North Forty Development is a development management and consulting firm, whose specialty includes Mixed Income Housing, Public Private Partnerships, Project Management, Redevelopment Strategies, Community and Economic Development Planning and development of Tax Increment Financing Projects. Mr. Pierson is a seasoned real estate professional with over 17 years of progressive experience in key areas of the real estate industry, including project management, finance acquisition, multi-layered development financing, program administration, property management, and asset management. Mr. Pierson understands the economic drivers in the real estate industry and understands taking calculated risks to produce desired results.

Kim Pompey

Kim Pompey is a native of Bronx, New York and began her career within the non-profit field in fund raising. A personal beneficiary of minority college prep programs, Kim has supported and volunteered with a number of  programs focused on increasing  young minority leaders including A Better Chance Inc and All Stars Project Inc. A graduate of Cornell University, Columbia University School of Social Work and Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Kim is able to unite her business acumen with her philanthropic convictions.  Kim currently resides in Southern California and works as a sales and marketing executive in office and consumer products.

Chaula Gupta

As Managing Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative at Teach For America, Chaula Gupta is creating an enabling platform to help alumni launch and grow their own social change ventures that target the systemic factors behind educational inequity. Prior to this role, Chaula worked for four years with Ashoka, where she supported the US Fellowship in screening social entrepreneurs, managed various projects in Ashoka India, launched and ran a new global staff recruitment program, and did due diligence on innovative ideas that employed technology for social change. Chaula has done research on small-arms disarmament at the Geneva-based UN Institute for Disarmament Research and co-authored a US government study on nuclear terrorism while working at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She graduated from Mumbai University majoring in telecommunications engineering and has a graduate degree in international relations from Syracuse University. Chaula and her husband live in New York City.