For more than 16 years, April Day has brought her unique passion and “sheer willingness” to her mission to develop communities and improve lives through education and economic sustainability. Her body of work demonstrates that she has always been on the front end of active service, challenging the status quo in order to create, deliver and preserve programs that achieve her personal goal to change the world.
Today, serves as president of the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance (WBEA). The WBEA is a leading third-party certifying organization that serves women-owned business enterprises representing 15 billion dollars in revenue and more than 40,000 jobs. April’s primary role is to increase opportunities for women-owned businesses through procurement, education and executive networking.
Appointed by Mayor Sylvester Turner to serve as the Chief Diversity Officer and Director for the Office of Business Opportunity for the City of Houston, Carlecia D. Wright leads economic opportunity and workforce inclusion initiatives. She also serves on the Hurricane Harvey Recovery Leadership Team, ensuring that the recovery maximizes economic inclusion. Under Carlecia’s focused and strategic direction, the City of Houston has a renowned record for economic inclusion awarding over $2.7 billion dollars to diverse businesses. She also leads workforce initiatives that connects historically disenfranchised individuals to workforce opportunities. Carlecia has received several awards for her achievements, including being named one of the 2016 Women to Watch in Business by the Houston Chronicle and awarded 40 Under 40 by the Houston Business Journal. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Columbia College of Chicago and a Master’s Degree from the New York University’s School of Public Service.
Debra L. Johnson, Director of Procurement for NASA Johnson Space Center spends billions of dollars annually acquiring space vehicles, training and care for US, foreign and commercial Astronauts, and supplies and services for the operation of the International Space Station and the Mission of Mars. Her office provides global support to NASA's International Partners which includes Russia, Japan and the 22 countries of the European Space Agency, and new space commercial companies such as Space X, Sierra Nevada and Orbital Sciences. Ms. Johnson believes in giving back to the organization, and the community which is evidenced by her outreach and mentoring of members in her organization, across geographical locations of the 10 NASA Centers and to schools and colleges across the nation. Speaking engagements with various Women's Organizations, reverse mentoring of college business students, and sponsoring STEM Science Fair Projects with Elementary schools are only a few examples..