Tara Jones VP Commercial Relationship Manager at Fulton Bank NA
Tara Jones VP Commercial Relationship Manager at Fulton Bank NA Tara Jones has been in the banking industry for over 23 years. She joined Fulton Bank, N.A in 2006. She currently is Vice President Commercial Relationship Manager. Tara’s focus has been on building business relationships through partnership, mentorship, and strong communication. One of the ways Tara has shown her strong commitment to business owners is through financial literacy. Tara graduated from Virginia Tech and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. Tara is active in the community and has volunteered her time to the Food Bank, United Way, and SCORE. She currently holds a board seat with Virginia Beach Chamber of Commerce, Survivor Ventures, and the Regional Steering Committee for BANK ON Hampton Roads. She is a proud graduate of LEAD Hampton Roads in 2020 aka ‘Best Class Ever”. Tara was appointed to the Virginia Beach Minority Business Council in 2022. She has spent a vast amount of her banking career working with entrepreneurs and small business owners. Tara has made Hampton Roads her home for the last 16 years. She is a proud parent of two grown children.
Keith McKenna SVP – Market President, Virginia Peninsula at Truist
Keith McKenna SVP – Market President, Virginia Peninsula at Truist Keith McKenna is a senior banker who currently serves as the Market President & Commercial Banking Team Lead for the VA Peninsula Region at Truist Bank. Prior to his current role as Market President, Keith was a senior banker on the Aerospace, Defense & Government Contracting team, also with Truist Bank. December 2019, marked the merger of equals between BB&T Corporation and SunTrust Bank, Inc. Keith has held several leadership and sales positions throughout his 20+ year tenure with Truist Bank. In his current role, Keith actively manages a team of commercial bankers who focuses on delivering working capital solutions, acquisition finance, and other material financing events related to corporations and not-for-profits on the VA Peninsula. Keith also oversees the P&L and marketing efforts for the VA Peninsula region. Keith is a graduate from The Business School at George Mason University and from the BB&T now Truist Banking School at Wake Forest University. Keith and his wife have two daughters and a son, and currently resides in Henrico, VA.
Aazia Mickens-Dessaso CEO/Founder of Full Circle Venture Studio Aazia ("Aaz") Mickens-Dessaso is the Founder and CEO of Full Circle Venture Studio, a corporate innovation partner to the world's leading technology organizations. Through portfolio analysis, experiment design, concept development, and capacity building, Full Circle Venture Studio helps Fortune 500 companies and national research institutions unlock value in their dormant intellectual property. Prior to Full Circle Venture Studio, Aaz served as Techstars' Executive Director of Ecosystem Development for Hampton Roads, the Director of the Office of Innovation at Zel Technologies, and the Director of Reaktor, the incubator at The National Institute of Aerospace. She has been named one of five Emerging Global Entrepreneurs by the White House and Top 40 Under 40 by Inside Business, while providing thought leadership for organizations including World Economic Forum, Climate Reality Leadership Corps, and Cox Business. Aaz studied Economics at UNC Chapel Hill, Art Direction at Miami Ad School. Aaz and her family call Hampton, Virginia home.
Zack Miller Founder of Hatch/ Fervent Four Podcast Zack Miller started his first business at the age of 10. Since then he’s spent decades helping other people successfully start, grow and dominate their businesses through his company, Hatch. Zack has used the skills detailed in his book Anomaly: How to Finally Stand Out From the Crowd to land an interview with Daymond John, be chosen as the host of a business TV show on ABC, talk business at the White House, get featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, wow the audience at TEDx and raise money from the team that started the Weather Channel. Check out Zack on his podcast, “Fervent Four”.
Tim Ryan Executive Director of StartWheel Tim has a passion for entrepreneurship, early-stage startups, and angel investing. Tim serves as the Executive Director of StartWheel, an organization focused on consolidating and coordinating entrepreneurial efforts across Hampton Roads, Virginia. Previously, Tim was the creator and former Director of the Launchpad, an award-winning business incubator located in Greater Williamsburg. As an angel investor, Tim has invested in more than 30 startups from pre-seed to pre-IPO stages. Tim has an MBA from William and Mary and an undergraduate degree in Computer Information Systems from St. Leo University. Tim became a resident of Hampton Roads in 2001 when he was stationed at Langley Air Force Base. Tim is a 10x marathoner: including the 2021 and 2022 Boston Marathons. In fact, on average, Tim has run more than 6 miles every day for 3,150 consecutive days, a streak that started on June 6, 2014.