Prosperity Plenary - Virginia Governor's Housing Conference

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Save the dateNovember 11, 20219:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EST) Add to Calendar

Venue Location

Waterside Marriott

235 E Main St.
Norfolk, Virginia

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Organizer

Organizer: Black BRAND, Sentara, Truist, Cox Communications

Phone: +1 7572887400

Contact Person: Blair Durham

Email: blair@blackbrand.biz

Event Details

The world became intimately acquainted with what it would mean to have home as its actual home base over the last 18 months. This opening plenary centralizes a prosperity discussion that encompasses a holistic view. Then, participants can continue their engagement with subject matter experts to strengthen their resource network to constituents around the social determinants of health, financial wellness, career up-skilling, and economic and workforce development.

Agenda

9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Prosperity begins at Home
Prosperity begins at Home
Julian Baena
Director of Business Development at SimIS, Inc.
Dana Beckton
Chief Diversity Officer at Sentara
Nneka Chiazor
Vice President Public & Government Affairs at Cox
Blair Durham
President / Co-Founder of Black BRAND
Mark Johnson
Vice President, Community Development Manager at Truist
Panel discussion
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Break out Sessions
Break out Sessions
Blair Durham
President / Co-Founder of Black BRAND
Home as a Health Hub | Dr. Jordan Asher, Sentara

Home as a Financial Wellness Center | Truist

Home as a Career Builder | Lakysha Lang and Dr. Felicia Blow, Cox Communications

Home as a Business | Blair Durham and Julian Baena
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Home as a hotspot for Values, not Bias
Home as a hotspot for Values, not Bias
Dr. Ron Carlee

Speakers

Julian Baena

Director of Business Development at SimIS, Inc.

Dana Beckton (Chief Diversity Officer at Sentara)

Dana Beckton

Chief Diversity Officer at Sentara

Nneka Chiazor

Vice President Public & Government Affairs at Cox

Nneka Chiazor

Vice President Public & Government Affairs at Cox

Nneka Chiazor
Regional Vice President of Public and Government Affairs
Cox Communications Virginia &North Carolina

Nneka Chiazor is regional vice president of government and public affairs for Virginia and North Carolina. She leads a team responsible for devising and executing strategies that advance Cox’s community, employee communications, media and government interests in the region.
Prior to joining Cox, she was the Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs for Verizon Communications where she was the leading advocate before Congress and several government agencies on a variety of policy areas, including supplier diversity, public safety, cybersecurity and network resiliency.
Active in numerous civic and business organizations, Nneka’s commitment to doing well and doing good leads her to serve on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association, Public Affairs Council, Dress for Success Washington DC, Virginia Public Access Project and the Virginia Beach Economic Development Authority. She’s received notable awards and recognitions. Among these, in 2019, she was named by the Washingtonian magazine as one of the Outstanding Women in Washington and was recognized by Engaging Black America for her commitment to diversity and inclusion. An alum of Harvard Business School, Nneka lives in Virginia Beach with her husband and two daughters.

Ask her about surviving a wild goose attack!

Blair Durham

President / Co-Founder of Black BRAND

Mark Johnson

Vice President, Community Development Manager at Truist

Mark Johnson

Vice President, Community Development Manager at Truist

Mark is the Vice President & Community Development Manager at SunTrust, now Truist. In this role, Mr. Johnson is responsible for overseeing the Community Development activities in the state of Virginia.
An exemplary steward of community service and champion of philanthropic efforts in the Hampton Roads community, he is consistently working to align the bank with charitable organizations and initiatives that promote positive change within the community. Mark’s continued efforts have been recognized through several awards, such as the Hampton Roads Inside Business Top 100 Power List - the people who shape and influence Hampton Roads, the Urban League of Hampton Roads Silver Star and MLK Community Leader Awards, which recognizes leaders who have made a difference in their communities; the SunTrust Bank Performance Excellence Award, which recognizes the outstanding performance of teammates in both sales and non-sales roles who demonstrate exceptional achievements in support of the bank’s guiding principles (the first professional in his position to receive the award); the National Association of Leadership Program’s Distinguished Leadership Award, which recognizes exemplary service and commitment to the community (only 1 of 15 professionals that received the award across the country in 2015) and the Hampton Roads Community Action Program’s Community Builder’s Award (given to recipients based upon their proven track record of outstanding leadership, exemplary service and advocacy for positive change). Mark was also the lead visionary in the creation, planning, and organization of SunTrust Bank, Hampton Roads first annual of Diversity and Inclusion Awards Celebration in the Greater Hampton Roads Community in 2011 and led the effort that brought the cast members of the hit nineties TV show A Different World, which emphasized the value of higher education and the value of HBCUs – Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Norfolk State University in April of 2015.
Prior to his arrival to the Hampton Roads area, Mark made significant inroads in the Buffalo, New York, and Washington, DC, metro areas. He received the 40 under 40 Award from Business First Magazine in his role at United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, the Trailblazer Award from the Buffalo Educational Alliance, and the John H. Garber, Jr., Award from United Way of Worldwide (formerly United Way of America) – one of the youngest United Way Professionals to ever receive this particular honor.
In a 2017 and 2018 leadership endeavor, Mark was a Co-Chair of the Hampton Roads UNCF Mayors’ Masked Ball in Norfolk, VA. More than 800 people attended both events that raised over $200,000 to support scholarship efforts within the Hampton Roads community.
Mark serves on number of boards and committees, including, Life Enrichment Center of Norfolk, American Diabetes Association, WHRO, LISC Richmond and Hampton Roads Advisory Boards, Tidewater Community College Education Foundation Board, Hampton Roads Workforce Council (Co-Chair of the Board), the VA UNCF Advisory Council, the Green Run Collegiate Foundation Board and the Hampton Roads Chamber Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DE&I)
Mark resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Shonder, and his two children Imajae’ and Mark II. He is a graduate of Canisius College, in Buffalo, NY, and the ExecuStep Program, United Way Worldwide, formerly United Way of America.

Bryan Stephens

President/CEO of Hampton Roads Chamber

Bryan Stephens

President/CEO of Hampton Roads Chamber

https://hrchamber.com

Mr. Stephens has extensive leadership and business experience. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as President and CEO of Kalmar in San Antonio, Texas; a $250M/year manufacturer of material handling equipment, after serving a distinguished 28 year career in the U.S Army, retiring as a Colonel. In the Army he served in a variety of progressive operational leadership and command positions. His last assignments include Infantry Brigade Commander and Division Chief of Staff, 10th Mountain Division (LI) Fort Drum, NY and Chief of Operations and Chief of Staff, Joint Warfighting Center, USJFCOM in Suffolk, VA. His military qualifications include, among others, Ranger, Airborne, Pathfinder, Air Assault and Joint Staff Officer.
Since taking the helm of the Hampton Roads Chamber, Mr. Stephens has lead the Chamber to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce “5 Star Accreditation”, an achievement only obtained by the top 1 percent of the over 7,200 Chamber’s in the Nation. In 2016 he was awarded the Chamber Executive of the Year for the Commonwealth of Virginia by the Virginia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and in 2017 and 2018 he was #15 on Inside Business’s Top 25 Most Powerful People in Hampton Roads. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Mr. Stephens was recognized on the Inside Businesses Top 25 list while also being on the Virginia 500 Power list for economic development.

Sponsors and Partners

Community

Prosperity Plenary - Virginia Governor's Housing Conference

Prosperity Begins at Home

Prosperity begins at Home

Prosperity begins at Home

Break out Sessions

Break out Sessions

Home as a hotspot for Values, not Bias

Home as a hotspot for Values, not Bias

Julian Baena

Director of Business Development at SimIS, Inc.

Dana Beckton

Chief Diversity Officer at Sentara

Nneka Chiazor

Vice President Public & Government Affairs at Cox

Blair Durham

President / Co-Founder of Black BRAND

Mark Johnson

Vice President, Community Development Manager at Truist

Bryan Stephens

President/CEO of Hampton Roads Chamber

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