Karen Kerrigan is leading SBE Council into its 25th year of protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship.For nearly twenty-five years Karen Kerrigan’s leadership, advocacy and training work has helped foster U.S. entrepreneurship and global small business growth. She is president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and is the group’s chief advocate for its members.
Kerrigan regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on the key issues impacting entrepreneurs and the economy, and has been appointed to numerous federal advisory boards including the National Women’s Business Council, the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialog, the U.S. Treasury’s Taxpayer Advisory Panel, and the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements. Kerrigan regularly engages with the President’s cabinet and key advisors, and has spoken or led roundtables at several White House economic summits, scores of events hosted by the Small Business Administration, U.S. Treasury Department and other federal government agencies and departments.
Kerrigan is a collaborative and well-respected individual within the advocacy and business community who has led numerous coalitions and initiatives with diverse partners and organizations. She has written hundreds of Op-Eds and newspaper columns, and regularly appears on national television and talk radio programs.
President & CEO
National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE)
Chiling Tong is the Chief Executive Officer and President of the National Asian/Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ACE). Ms. Tong previously served at the Chief Executive Office and founding president of the International Leadership Foundation (ILF). She also serves as a member of the National Advisory Council of Minority Business Enterprises at the U.S. Department of Commerce and as an Ash Center research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Ms. Tong has intensive experience in domestic and international economic and business development, with a focus on researching and enhancing the growth of small minority business enterprises competing in the global market. Previously, she served as chief of staff and associate director at the Minority Business Development Agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Prior to Ms. Tong’s appointment with the MBDA, she served as the deputy assistant secretary for Asia and the Pacific at the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce. She has also served as a co-chair for the Coalition of Asian American Business Associations (CAABO).
Ms. Tong has received numerous awards due to her dedication and volunteer work for the AAPI community including the Ellis Island Award and President’s Volunteer Service Award. She is married to Joel Szabat, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Gil Pontes
Executive Director
NextGen Chamber of Commerce
Gil Pontes serves as Executive Director of the NextGen Chamber of Commerce, leading the mission to reduce barriers to entrepreneurship through policy, promoting diversity in entrepreneurship, and creating an inclusive economy.
Gil is a champion of next generation leadership, a voice within the LGBTQIA+ community, and passionate about the intersection of politics, policy, and business. He understands the power of connection in order to build coalitions, move policy, and grow organizations.
Prior to joining NextGen, Gil was Managing Director at The Nora Project, a national disability inclusion organization, where he led their revenue operations, board relations, along with strategic marketing and communications insights. He has also served in the development department for one of Rhode Island's largest nonprofits, Thundermist Health Center. He has previously served in leadership positions at Options RI, and as Selectman for the Town of Berkley, Massachusetts, the executive branch of town government, where he championed diverse and inclusive economic measures, and was a staunch ally of the small business community.
Gil received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and resides in Wilton Manors, Florida.
Angela Dingle
Acting President & CEO
Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
As President and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), Angela Dingle leads a national nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of women entrepreneurs, strengthening their impact on our nation’s public policy, creating economic opportunities, and forging alliances with other business organizations. She is an award winning business owner, that brings to bear 25+ years of technology and leadership experience consulting in the public and private sector.
Angela holds a MS in Management Information Systems from Bowie State University, a BS in Computer Science from DeVry University, is Certified in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology (CGEIT), a Certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Practitioner, and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). Angela is a member of ISACA and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Justin Nelson
Co-Founder & President
National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
Justin Nelson is the Co-Founder and President of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), the business voice of the LGBT community and the largest LGBT economic advocacy and business development organization in the world.
In addition to over 45 LGBT affiliate chambers in the United States representing America’s 1.4 million LGBT business owners, NGLCC leads economic development opportunities at over a dozen international affiliates. NGLCC is responsible for major victories for the LGBT business community, among them the first-in-the-nation inclusion of LGBT suppliers in statewide contracting opportunities with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Justin regularly advises senior leaders at the White House, in Congress, and corporations throughout the world to build business opportunities through commitments to LGBT-inclusive supplier diversity programs. He is a sought-after speaker at conferences and meetings around the globe promoting the business case for LGBT inclusion and creating equity for the LGBT business community.
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