Our People

For the past 10 years Andre Fowlkes has been working to grow the technology startup ecosystem in Memphis TN, through a venture development organization he co-founded called Start Co. As President of Start Co. Fowlkes oversees and manages sales and business development, corporate and government engagement, smart cities activity, civic innovation efforts, and resource cultivation. Under Fowlkes’ leadership Start Co. has seen exponential growth not just in startups supported and investment raised but in the expansion of its business model providing corporate and civic innovation solutions.

Before Start Co. Fowlkes spent a decade in the capital markets, previously serving in roles as an Investment Counselor at Fisher Investments in San Francisco and as a relationship manager through an agency of Guardian Life Insurance in New York City.

Today, Fowlkes brings extensive experience in building new and unconventional partnerships to assist in the brokering of technology, talent, and capital for economic growth. He leads the charge at Start Co. to build and operate new programs and resources for the inclusion of minorities and women, students, and social organizations. He directly supports Start Co. companies by serving as an Executive in Residence and deliverer of programming in areas of growth and operating modeling, business development and sales, business operations, financial forecasting, and corporate development.

With great commitment to service and the community Fowlkes is Chairman of the Board for Orion Federal Credit Union and serves on the Advisory Board for Southern Sun Asset Management and Heartland Forward. Fowlkes was a Mayoral appointment to the Memphis & Shelby County Metropolitan Charter Commission directed with researching, analyzing, writing a recommendation, and bringing to voters a new consolidated metropolitan Government. Fowlkes recently served on City of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s Transition Team.

In acknowledgement of Fowlkes’ commitment to community and talent development, Governor Bill Haslam appointed him to the Tennessee Workforce Development Board of Directors and Mayor AC Wharton appointed Fowlkes to the Workforce Investment Network Board of Directors. Fowlkes also serves on numerous startup boards.

Recognized as a leader in social innovation, Fowlkes is a trainer on the” Power of Social Innovation” as designated by Harvard University Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. He is a co-teacher and creator of the University of Memphis’ Department of Journalism’s Entrepreneurial Journalism initiative and Certificate. Fowlkes also provided thought leadership as a frontpage business columnist for the Commercial Appeal, Memphis’ leading media outlet from 2011-2013.

Having worked in startups, wealth and money management, small business & entrepreneurship, government, non-profit, and economic & community development has allowed Fowlkes to accumulate a unique set of skills to build social, political, and financial capital for growing entrepreneurial ecosystems and startups as a diversifier to traditional forms of economic growth.

Michael (Mike) Hubert is Senior Vice President and Chief Communications, Government Relations and Business Development officer at Mercy. In 2020 Mike joined Mercy, one of the twenty largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state healthcare system including more than 50 acute care, managed and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has nine hundred physician practices and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and over 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Prior to Mercy, Mike was Vice President, Global Communications for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he led their communication, U.S. government relations and CSR efforts prior to Alexion’s acquisition by Astra Zeneca. Previous to Alexion, Mike was Vice President, National Physician and Provider Relations for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA Inc.), the nation’s largest provider of healthcare services. At HCA he was responsible for leading the physician and provider relations (PPR) communication and business development efforts organized across HCA’s 16 divisions. The PPR team is the interface between HCA’s hospitals and physicians, focused on engagement, communication, business development and growth for the company.

Before coming to HCA in 2015, Mike held leadership positions in communications, public & government affairs, investor relations and sales at Pfizer and Alpha Natural Resources over his career. At Pfizer, Mike led the communication effort surrounding Pfizer’s successful $68 billion acquisition and integration of Wyeth and went on to lead Pfizer’s U.S. Public Affairs and State Government Affairs team. At Alpha, he led the Corporate Affairs group including communications, government affairs, investor relations and philanthropy.

Mike graduated summa cum laude from Emporia State University with a degree in communication and currently lives in St. Louis.

Ken Levit is executive director of GKFF. Prior to taking on the leadership role at GKFF, Levit served as president of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa from 2001 to 2006. From early 1998 through 2000, Levit was special counsel to George Tenet, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Levit practiced corporate law at the firm of Crowe & Dunlevy in Tulsa from 1995 to 1998.

Levit is involved in several civic activities. He currently serves as chair of Teach for America-Oklahoma, as a member of the Teach for America National Council, and as chair of the Tulsa Regional Chamber Tulsa’s Future Commission. Levit also leads the board of the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Levit earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1994 and received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1987.

Anna is the managing partner at Ingeborg Investments and leads the day-to-day activity of the investing platform, including deal sourcing, portfolio management, investment recommendations and industry relationship management.

Prior to joining Ingeborg, Anna was a managing partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. While there, Anna helped lead the transformation of Rise of the Rest from a startup-community bus tour initiative to a fund with $300M in AUM and nearly 200 early-stage investments across 75+ cities.

Anna’s passion for innovation and entrepreneurship comes from more than eighteen years of experience in finance, startup operations and venture community programming. Anna was named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in 2020, Business Insider’s list of 100 People Transforming Business in 2019 and a Washingtonian Tech Titan in 2017 and 2018. Anna is also a 2022 Presidential Leadership Fellow. Anna earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her master’s degree from the NYU Stern School of Business. Anna lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband John, and their two daughters.

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team at TIAA, I led the Hispanic Market nationally while also leading Executive Relations for our CEO and executive team. My responsibilities included establishing strategic relationships with leaders across higher education, business and government. After over 20 years at TIAA I transitioned into a new direction where I could leverage my experience, expertise and relationships.

My work focuses on serving the needs of ultra-high net worth families and family offices by providing investment access and business development of portfolio companies. Through a variety of roles and companies, each with their own set of capabilities, I’m able to work in a very symbiotic way to create comprehensive solutions for clients.

I established MRamirez Group, LLC as a consulting firm with a mission to help high net worth families and their businesses thrive by blending experience, expertise and strategic relationships.

As Chief Client Officer of Goldenrod, I am able to provide a high quality solution of real estate as an alternative investment to high net worth investors while also sourcing unique projects for our partners.

My role as Managing Partner of Avalon allows me the ability to represent companies seeking growth capital from investors I work with while providing specialty finance solutions for growing companies.

My extensive board service in both private and public companies as well as non-profit entities gives me the opportunity to give back while at the same time help build the best possible path forward for companies, organizations and their missions.

Claudia San Pedro served as head of the Limited Service Category and president of SONIC Drive-In, part of the Inspire family of restaurants. Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes nearly 32,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco, and SONIC Drive-In restaurants worldwide.

San Pedro set the strategic direction for SONIC and was responsible for overseeing the brand’s marketing and operations teams. She was also responsible for the growth and success of SONIC’s company-owned restaurants as well as the brand’s relationship with its franchise community, driving a more than 30% increase in sales volume during her tenure as president.

San Pedro assumed her role in January 2018. She joined SONIC in 2006 as vice president of investor relations and treasurer before being promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2015.

Prior to joining SONIC, she served as the director for the Oklahoma Office of State Finance (OSF). Appointed by Governor Brad Henry in 2005, San Pedro was the first female and first Hispanic to serve as director of state finance for Oklahoma.

For her leadership, San Pedro was honored with a Maestros Award for Professional Achievement in 2024 by Latino Leaders magazine. In 2022 she was named Restaurant Leader of the Year by the editors of Restaurant Business. She was also included on the HERoes Women Executive Role Model List 2021, powered by Yahoo! Finance; honored as part of Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2021 Power List: Women of Influence; named one of LATINA Style’s 2020 Corporate Executives of the Year; and featured on Entrepreneur’s 100 Powerful Women 2020 list.

San Pedro presently serves on the Board of BOK Financial, Dot Foods and the Smith College Board of Trustees.

San Pedro holds an undergraduate degree from Smith College in Massachusetts and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Born in Mexico City, San Pedro resides in Oklahoma City with her family.

Over the course of more than two decades, Neal Sharma has become one of the most recognizable business leaders in the country, breaking new ground at the forefront of digital marketing and technological change and serving marquee clients across the globe.

Neal is the Co-Founder and former CEO of DEG, a full-service digital agency, and directed the growth of an organization that evolved from a small web development company in Kansas City to an over 600-person firm now a part of global agency, Merkle. During that time, DEG formed long-lasting partnerships with brands like Hallmark, Gap Inc., Nestlé Purina, Johnson & Johnson, Hub International, PepsiCo, and Sam’s Club/Walmart. Neal was also instrumental in completing DEG’s successful sale to dentsu – the fifth-largest agency holding company in the world – for one of the highest multiples in the industry. He currently serves as the President of Alliance Solutions at the network.

Under Neal’s leadership, DEG appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the US nine consecutive years, became one of the largest and most decorated Salesforce partners in the world, was recognized as a regional “Best Place to Work” for ten straight years, and in 2019, became one of only four agencies nationally to be named both an Ad Age “Best Place to Work” and a member of the Adweek 100 fastest-growing agencies in the same year. In 2014, Inc. Magazine named DEG one of “25 Companies That Are Changing the World” for its unique entrepreneurial approach to business, and in 2016, the company was inducted in the Kansas City Business Journal’s Champions of Business Hall of Fame.

Neal has also been widely acknowledged for his personal achievements. Most recently, he was awarded the William F. Yates Medallion for Distinguished Service by William Jewell College and was named to the Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City Business Hall of Fame. He has also been featured in the Kansas City Business Journal’s “Power 100” list of influential leaders five years in a row, included as an Ingram’s Magazine “40 Under 40” and “Ingram’s 250” honoree, noted as one of the 50 most influential Kansas Citians in tech by the Kansas City Star, recognized as the Asian-American Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and chosen as a Central Midwest Finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Neal’s varied experience successfully operating and consulting with fast-growing enterprises affords him the unique ability to understand and appreciate the essential role of effective governance in an organization. He has provided strategic clarity, financial acumen, global exposure, and a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by rapidly evolving trends in technology in a fiduciary capacity as a current Director of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVRG) and MRI Global, and as a past Trustee of American University. Neal also serves as a director and advisor to a number of startups in various industries in which he invests.

Rivaling Neal’s passion for business and his accomplishments in the field is his steadfast commitment to championing entrepreneurship, economic development, and civic advancement. Neal currently serves as the Vice-Chair of KC2026 – the organizing committee responsible for hosting the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City, a board member of the Truman Library Institute, an advisory board member of the Opportunity Now economic initiative of Overland Park, and a fellow of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program. Previously, he has given his time and expertise back to community organizations serving as the Co-Chair of regional collaborative KC Rising and as the Chair of the Kansas City chapter of the Young President’s Organization (YPO), as well as with organizations such as the University of Kansas Health System Advancement Board, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, Aligned, and the Salvation Army Central Territory as the Christmas Chair for the Kansas City region.

Prior to embarking on his professional career, Neal was a licensed commercial real estate agent while attending university. He also served in several capacities for former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert Dole, including as one of the youngest salaried members of Senator Dole’s presidential campaign staff.

He received his MBA from the University of Kansas in 2001 after graduating cum laude from American University in 1998 with an inter-disciplinary degree in Communication, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government.

Jonathan is a business and government executive with experience building and leading high-performing teams to deliver both growth and impact in the public, private, and social sectors across national security, finance, and economic development as a White House advisor; CEO of a $5 billion economic development fund; Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he managed operations for 22,000 employees in 48 countries; and an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Co.

Jonathan currently leads Mastercard’s Inclusive Growth team across the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean—driving strategic growth investments, data and tool creation in emerging payment and financial technologies, and strategic partnerships to achieve financial inclusion for 1 billion individuals globally, business digitization, and shared benefits from Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies. He previously served as an associate partner at McKinsey & Company and co-founder of an AI infrastructure technology platform.

In government and the social sector, Jonathan served as founding CEO of a public-private economic development organization that raised $5.2 billion for foreign direct investments and deployed $2.3 billion across emerging and frontier markets. He previously held leadership roles in the executive and legislative branches, including as an advisor to the President-elect of the United States on the 2020 transition team; national security aide in the White House; policy director in the U.S. Congress; and as a chief of staff in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he oversaw management of an agency with a $6 billion budget and 22,000 personnel in 48 countries.

Jonathan’s Board memberships include Chair of the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s Energy Investment Committee and board member of the U.N. Migration Agency’s U.S. body, the Walton Family’s economic development organization—Heartland Forward; INCAE Business School; and various technology startups including Arterra.ai and Agtools.

He is a consulting fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies and serves on advisory bodies and working groups of Amnesty International and the World Economic Forum.

Raised by a first generation Latino immigrant and refugee, Jonathan is a graduate of Harvard and Georgetown University and was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship and named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Anne-Marie Slaughter is the CEO of New America, a think ​and action ​tank dedicated to renewing the promise of America, bringing us closer to our nation’s highest ideals. She is also the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. From 2009–2011, she served as director of policy planning for the United States Department of State, the first woman to hold that position. Upon leaving the State Department she received the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for her work leading the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, as well as meritorious service awards from USAID and the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. Prior to her government service, Dr. Slaughter was the Dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School) from 2002–2009 and the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School from 1994-2002.

Dr. Slaughter has written or edited eight​ books, including ​The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World (2017)​, Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family (2015), The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World (2007)​, and ​A New World Order (2004), ​as well as over 100 scholarly articles. She was the convener and academic co-chair, with Professor John Ikenberry, of the Princeton Project on National Security, a multi-year research project aimed at developing a new, bipartisan national security strategy for the United States. In 2012 she published the article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” in the Atlantic, which quickly became the most read article in the history of the magazine and helped spawn a renewed national debate on the continued obstacles to genuine full male-female equality.

Dr. Slaughter is a contributing editor to the Financial Times and writes a bi-monthly column for Project Syndicate. She provides frequent commentary for both mainstream and new media and curates foreign policy news for over 140,000 followers on Twitter. Foreign Policy magazine named her to their annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. She received a B.A. from Princeton, an M.Phil and D.Phil in international relations from Oxford, where she was a Daniel M. Sachs Scholar, and a J.D. from Harvard. She is married to Professor Andrew Moravcsik; they have two sons.

Darrin Williams’ career is a unique combination of law, business, and politics. Currently serving as the CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc., Williams oversees the strategic direction and operations of each of Southern’ s three Community Development Financial Institutions: Southern Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company; Southern Bancorp Bank, one of America’s largest rural development banks; and Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a 501(c)(3) development finance and lending organization – collectively known as “Southern.”

Southern was founded nearly thirty years ago when some of the nation’s most notable political, business and philanthropic leaders, including Bill Clinton, Rob Walton, Muhammad Yunus and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation to name a few, came together around a central idea – that the economic challenges facing many underserved communities could in part be addressed through the creation of a values-based financial organization focused on providing these services to those who most need them. With an initial investment of approximately $10 million and a mission to create economic opportunity, Southern has grown to become one of the most effective and largest community development organizations in the United States, as well as a model for an entire industry of mission-focused financial institutions known as Community Development Financial Institutions. Southern Bancorp today is a $1.6 billion asset organization with over 65,000 customers and 49 branches located primarily in underserved markets in the Mid-South.

Prior to leading Southern, Williams served as managing partner at the law firm of Carney, Williams, Bates, Pulliam & Bowman, PLLC, where he focused on representing institutional investors and consumers in class action litigation against some of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies. Williams also served three terms of elected office in the Arkansas House of Representatives (2008-2013), serving as Speaker Pro Tempore of the 89th Arkansas General Assembly. As a lawmaker, he was recognized nationally for his legislative accomplishments, including being named a Champion of Small Business by the National Capital Coalition, an Aspen-Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership by the Aspen Institute, and listed as one of 12 state legislators from around the country to watch by Governing Magazine. Williams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hendrix College, his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law, and his Master of Laws degree in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.