MBN USA

January 26, 2024

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MBDA's new advisory council supports growth of MBEs

The Minority Business Development Agency recently announced the creation of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council.

As stated in the Minority Business Development Act of 2021, this council will advise and assist MBDA in its mission to promote the growth of minority-owned businesses.   

The Council is composed of nine private sector members and one representative from each of 10 federal agencies that support business formation, labor development, monetary policy, national security, energy, agriculture, transportation and housing. Members of the Council serve a two-year term and may be reappointed.  

The Council will advise the leadership of the Agency by: 

• Serving as a source of knowledge and information on developments in areas of the economic and social life of the United States that affect socially or economically disadvantaged business concerns; and   
• Providing leadership with information regarding plans, programs, and activities in the public and private sectors related to socially or economically disadvantaged business concerns. 

Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council Members 

Private Sector Members 

• Janice Bryant Howroyd, CEO, ActOne Group  
• Ron Busby, president and CEO, U.S. Black Chambers Inc. 
• Harry E. Johnson Sr., president and CEO,  Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation 
• Ying McGuire, CEO and president, National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc.
• Frances Perez-Wilhite, program manager, North Carolina Military Business Center  
• Kip Ritchie, CEO, Potawatomi Business Development Corporation 
• Rosa Santana, founder and CEO, Santana Group 
• David Steward, chairman and founder, World Wide Technology Inc.
• Melanie Matter Welsh, executive director, Alaska Unlimited 

The Council will also include representatives from the following Federal agencies:  

• Federal Reserve System 
• U.S. Department of Agriculture 
• U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Department of Energy  
• U.S. General Services Administration  
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  
• U.S. Department of Labor  
• U.S. Small Business Administration  
• U.S. Department of Transportation 
• U.S. Department of Treasury 

 To learn more about MBDA, visit mbda.gov