Executive Advisory Council - Leadership Development
For as long as she can remember, Charmaine has been groomed to see entrepreneurship as the key to empowerment. Her Father’s vision of her as a strong, independent business owner was continuously reinforced as he exposed her to business through his volunteer work with Junior Achievement and numerous articles in Black Enterprise and Ebony. That foundation was the genesis of a lifetime pursuit to prove that economic independence through business ownership is the pathway to freedom for the African American family and community.
Over the course of Charmaine’s professional journey, she has been instrumental in helping hundreds of business owners obtain financing for their business. She graduated from DePaul University’s Honors Accounting program and began her career at the public accounting firm of Ernst & Young while becoming a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois. Her career shifted when she joined a global finance company, gaining valuable experience in commercial underwriting for middle market leveraged buyouts. Her career eventually aligned with her passion for serving small business owners. She spent numerous years providing financing to underserved and emerging markets through SBA programs
and the last 10 years proving financing to growing importers in diverse industry segments.
As an unapologetic and uncompromising woman of faith, Charmaine’s core belief is that your foundation matters. In other words, having clarity about who you are, being synergistically partnered in the right relationships and developing the grit that it takes to execute a sound strategy is the formula for success. She is anointed in the marketplace as a trusted partner to women Visionaries. These unique business women are called to build organizations that will have a transformative impact on the world and leave a generational legacy of wealth,
inspiration and empowerment.