We’re excited to officially announce and e-introduce our 2026 Harvesting Partnerships Discussion Hosts. These accomplished small business leaders will guide engaging roundtable conversations focused on today’s most relevant business challenges, opportunities, and strategies for growth.
As Discussion Hosts, they will each lead three 30-minute roundtable discussions, sharing practical insights, real-world experiences, and actionable best practices with approximately 275 business leaders and professionals. We’re grateful for their willingness to share their expertise and help create inspiring conversations that spark new ideas, connections, and opportunities for our attendees.
Bridget Moon, Economic Development Specialist & Veteran Business Development Officer,
SBA DFW District Office
Topic: SBA Resources
Topic Description: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is dedicated to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs pursue the American Dream. Discover the myriad resources they have available.
Bio: Bridget brings over 25 years of dedicated service to the US Small Business Administration (SBA), currently serving as an Economic Development Specialist and Veteran Business Development Officer at the SBA Dallas/Fort Worth District Office, covering Texas's Northern 72 counties.
Beginning her illustrious career as an SBA Disaster Loan Officer and later advancing to Supervisory Loan Officer roles, Bridget has demonstrated exceptional expertise in home and business underwriting. Her commitment to public service extended to roles as a Public Information Officer, where she spearheaded direct disaster recovery efforts across the United States and Territories.
Complementing her extensive professional background, Bridget holds a degree in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Her entrepreneurial journey spans over three decades, during which she has not only founded and managed businesses but has also provided invaluable guidance to countless entrepreneurs, crafting business plans for startups and expansions alike.
With a firm belief in the power of mentorship and collaboration, Bridget is dedicated to empowering others to thrive in their entrepreneurial ventures. She remains steadfast in her mission to foster business success and economic growth within her community and beyond.
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Cecilia Cossio, CEO,
Nex Gen Legacy
Topic: Leading from Operations to Ownership
Topic Description: Drawing on decades in real estate and asset management, I'll lead a conversation on how leaders shift from an operator mindset to an ownership mindset, with three actionable best practices attendees can apply right away, whether they run an established business or are building one.
Bio: Cecilia Cossio is a real estate investor and host of The Great Equalizer Podcast. With decades of leadership across property management, affordable housing, and operations spanning more than 10,000 units nationwide, she focuses on helping women and minorities shift from an operations mindset to an ownership mindset. Her mission: real estate as a path to opportunity, ownership, and generational wealth. She is a featured contributor in Real Women in Real Estate and Extraordinary Latinas, and a proud mother and grandmother who believes in teaching legacy in real time. Cecilia Cossio is a real estate investor and host of The Great Equalizer Podcast. With decades of leadership across property management, affordable housing, and operations spanning more than 10,000 units nationwide, she focuses on helping women and minorities shift from an operations mindset to an ownership mindset. Her mission: real estate as a path to opportunity, ownership, and generational wealth. She is a featured contributor in Real Women in Real Estate and Extraordinary Latinas, and a proud mother and grandmother who believes in teaching legacy in real time.
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Dawn Evans, Founder,
SQ Leadership Institute
Topic: Coming soon
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Deb Purvin, Founder,
Business Owner's MBA
Topic: Six Simple Steps to Grow Cash Flow
Topic Description: Many business owners are surprised when they look at their P&L and see profits -- but then they look at their bank statement and wonder why there's no cash. YIKES! I will give you 6 Simple Steps to find the Cash hidden on your P&L and Balance Sheet. We'll estimate how much your cash flow can grow in the next few months.
Bio: Deb skied on the US Ski Team, then attended Dartmouth and Harvard. After a few years in banking, she turned entrepreneur. She grew 2 businesses to $100M and successfully exited both, but not without challenges -- defaulting on $82M of debt on the first and racking up $25M of operating losses on the second. Overcoming obstacles requires perseverance, patience, and a sense of humor.
Not ready to retire, Deb returned to banking. She was uniquely qualified to lend to CEOs, having “been there, done that.” She founded Business Owner’s MBA (BOMBA) to give back by teaching owners to scale profitably (and avoid the mistakes she'd made). She's taught finance for the Goldman Sachs 10KSB program for the past 13 years.
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Debbie Mrazek, President,
The Sales Company
Topic: Sales Strategy to Finish Strong in Q4 - Start Powerful in Q1
Topic Description: Do you think it is too late to make your number for Q4 2026...it is NOT! Are you thinking of giving up for 2027? KNOCK IT OFF!! It is not too late! Join us for practical real ideas and methods to do what needs to be done with your sales! Bring your problems, concerns, questions and let's make a plan.......there will be no whining or excuse making!
Bio: Mrazek is President of The Sales Company, a Texas based firm that helps hundreds of entrepreneurs, individuals and corporations better assess, understand and engage in practical purposeful selling. Mrazek designs and delivers sales programs as well as conducts individual and team coaching. She's also an author for 13 books including the best selling Field Guide to Sales and conference facilitator. www.The-Sales-Company.com
"You don't have to be great to get started but you do have to get started to be great!"
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Emily Anne Page, Speaker & Author,
Emily Anne Page
Topic: Turning Relationships into Partnerships and Revenue
Topic Description: Drawing on economics and neuroscience, attendees will leave with three practical habits for building trust quickly, strengthening influence, and turning first meetings into lasting business relationships.
Bio: EMILY ANNE PAGE is an author, keynote speaker and economist who has spent more than a decade proving that human connection is the most undervalued driver of success. She holds an MA in Economics from the University of Southern California, where she studied under Dr Richard Easterlin, whose famous paradox reshaped how economists think about money and happiness. “What actually makes a life rich?” That question became Emily’s life work. Her answer is the Economics of Human Connection, the framework at the heart of this book.
Emily bought her first company at thirty and built her second at thirty-two, selling it three years later. Today, she runs two companies and is the founder of START to SOLD®. She has advised leaders across Europe, Asia, and North America, speaking everywhere from rooms of thousands to boardrooms of one. She was born in Pasadena, California, and lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Dylan.
PEOPLE RICH: Build Relationships That Change Your Life. Stop Leaving Connection to Chance.
Every big break in life comes through a person, not a plan. Yet most of us keep our goals to outcomes, not relationships, and were never taught how to authentically build relationships on purpose, so we leave connection to chance. People Rich brings together the economics of happiness and real-world research to show why relationships are our most valuable asset in business and in life. Readers learn how to build trust before they need it, connect without feeling fake or "networky," and strengthen the relationships that matter most, starting the same day. The principles of building relationships that change your life apply to every area of life you care about, from your professional relationships to your personal ones. The skills taught in the book are explained with heartwarming personal stories from the author, Emily Anne Page, and practical, simple strategies you can use in everyday life to create a life that feels successful, happy and rich.
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Evelyn Molina, President & CEO,
All Janitorial Professional Services, Inc.
Topic: Customer Loyalty
Topic Description: Learn to build lasting relationships, generate consistent revenue, and grow sustainably.
Bio: Evelyn Molina is a seasoned industry veteran with over 20 years of experience in janitorial services. Evelyn’s mission is to develop lifelong business relationships, provide the highest quality and service to each and every client, and to ensure safety awareness for her employees. Evelyn has established a stellar reputation for adhering to the highest standards in her company and for her assistance to women and minority-owned businesses.
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Gail Stevens, MBA, MSW is a bestselling Author*, Speaker, Strategist,
Entrepreneur-Business Leader, Event Curator-Facilitator, and Educator
Strategic Impact Group
Topic: Workforce Transformation
Topic Description: With Employee Engagement at its lowest in a decade, 31% of the U.S. Workforce, there is tremendous need - and opportunity - for Workforce Transformation. This resulted in a loss of $10 trillion worldwide, 9% of global GDP (Gallup 2025). Workforce Transformation is addressed through Strategic Planning & Vision, Leadership, Engagement, Connection, Culture, Community, Productivity and Profitability.
Gail Stevens, Founder & CEO of the consulting firm, STRATEGIC IMPACT GROUP, specializing in Business & Community Collaboration, will discuss with participants the concept of Workforce Transformation, and share her company’s proprietary “STRATEGIC IMPACT Roadmap” of how companies can increase Employee Engagement & Retention, Productivity & Profitability. Workforce Transformation is not a quick fix Band-Aid. It requires synergistic commitment, support & engagement of Executives, Leadership Teams & their Companies over time, guided by a Strategic Impact Roadmap for intentionality, planning, implementation and success.
Gail often cites companies like Toyota, Southwest Airlines, JPMorganChase, H-E-B and others as Corporate Models in creating STRATEGIC IMPACT through Business & Community Collaboration. This results in Better, More Productive & Successful Companies, Lives, Children & Youth, Individuals, Families, Communities, Society, Nation & World for All.
Bio: As Founder & CEO of a consulting firm, STRATEGIC IMPACT GROUP, specializing in Business & Community Collaboration, she works with Executives, Leadership Teams and their Companies to be more STRATEGICALLY IMPACTFUL in the Community. This is accomplished through both curated and customized Speaking, Seminars, Workshops & Consulting.
As a proud Certified WBE with Women’s Business Council Southwest / WBENC, Gail’s broad-based yet focused life & career experience span from Flint, Michigan, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Dallas / Collin County, Texas.
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Holly Sechrest, Principal & Benefits Consultant,
Lone Star Benefits
Topic: The People-Cost Puzzle: Connecting Benefits, Payroll & Business Strategy
Topic Description: Your people are one of your business’s greatest investments and one of its most complex expenses to manage. Discover how employee benefits, payroll decisions, and workforce costs intersect to impact your bottom line and long-term business success.
Bio: Holly Sechrest helps employers tackle one of their biggest financial challenges: rising healthcare costs. She helps organizations move beyond traditional health plans and explore alternative funding strategies that deliver greater control, transparency, and savings. Holly brings more than 20 years of experience as a benefits advisor at Lone Star Benefits, an independent employee benefits agency representing over 100 carriers.
Known for her results-driven approach and commitment to lasting relationships, Holly serves as a year-round partner to employers, designing smarter benefit programs that support both their businesses and their people. Guided by her values of faith, family, and freedom, Holly enjoys life on her Celina farm with her husband and five children. Outside of work, you’ll often find her out for a jog or soaking in a Texas sunset.
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Kathleen Hunt, President,
Personalized Payroll Services
Topic: The People-Cost Puzzle: Connecting Benefits, Payroll & Business Strategy
Topic Description: Your people are one of your business’s greatest investments and one of its most complex expenses to manage. Discover how employee benefits, payroll decisions, and workforce costs intersect to impact your bottom line and long-term business success.
Bio: Celebrating 15 years in business in 2026, Kathleen Hunt founded Personalized Payroll Services, Inc. (PPS) with a passion for helping businesses, particularly women-owned businesses, thrive and prosper. She has built a nationally recognized company grounded in exceptional customer service, trusted relationships, and a commitment to helping businesses succeed.
As a WBENC-certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBE), PPS serves businesses nationwide, providing customized payroll, tax administration, human resources, and workforce management solutions. Through its strategic partnership with isolved, PPS combines innovative technology with personalized service that sets it apart. With an average client relationship spanning 10 years, PPS takes pride in building lasting partnerships. Kathleen credits much of the company's success to her dedicated team, including Allison Kauffman, Vice President of Operations, Nicole Lee, and Sherry Chamblee.
Kathleen's leadership has earned her numerous honors, including recognition as a 2026 Titan 100 honoree, 2023 WBENC WBE Star, and recipient of the Enterprising Women of the Year Award. She has also received Volunteer of the Year honors from both WBCS and WBEC South.
A passionate advocate for women entrepreneurs, Kathleen serves on the Board of Directors of the Women's Business Council Southwest (WBCS), where PPS is a proud Platinum Sponsor. She remains actively involved in the WBE community through mentorship, advocacy, and business development initiatives. Kathleen believes some of the greatest business opportunities begin with a simple introduction. Known for connecting women business owners, making referrals, and opening doors, she is committed to building relationships that create opportunities and help fellow entrepreneurs success.
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Kati Peterman, Founder,
Your Fractional Executive
Topic: Preparing for Exit
Topic Description: Review lessons and strategies business owners can use long before they are ready to sell including how to build a company that is valuable, transferable, and positioned to thrive without its founder.
Bio: Kati Peterman Founder of FRX is a business leader with firsthand experience building, growing, and navigating the complexities of privately held businesses. Her experience has given her a practical perspective on one of the most important and often overlooked parts of entrepreneurship: preparing a business for an exit.Kati is passionate about helping business owners think beyond day-to-day operations and begin making intentional decisions that increase enterprise value, reduce owner dependence, and create more options for the future. She brings a candid, real world approach to conversations around growth, succession, valuation, and exit readiness.
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Kelly Jedele, Owner,
Let Kelly
Topic: Reclaim Your Rhythm
Topic Description: For the woman running it all and quietly running on empty. This keynote unpacks why high-performing women lose their rhythm, the real cost of staying out of sync, and a practical framework to realign vision, energy, and power without burning the whole thing down.
Bio: Kelly Jedele is a 17-year business owner, single mom, and founder of Let Kelly, a $2M+ Austin-based residential cleaning company with 45 employees and 20 teams. Through the platform she created, Reclaim Your Rhythm, Kelly speaks to entrepreneurial moms and women in business about how to lead a real life and a real business, without losing themselves in the process. Her keynotes blend hands-on operator wisdom, brand-builder strategy, and the unfiltered truth of someone navigating real-time personal growth.
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Kristi Valentine, CEO & Owner,
Valentine Construction
Topic: Engaging 30-Second Introductions
Topic Description: Whether you’re networking, meeting a potential client, connecting with a corporate buyer, or building relationships with strategic partners, you only have a brief moment to make a memorable impression. A well-crafted introduction clearly communicates who you are, what your business does, and the value you bring to others. It sparks curiosity, opens the door to meaningful conversations, and helps others recognize opportunities to work with you or refer business your way. Your 30 seconds can be the beginning of your next big opportunity!
Bio: Kristi Valentine was a career ad agency executive that later transitioned into corporate marketing before starting a family and staying home to raise kids. She’s proof that you can reinvent yourself…after years of being a community volunteer and fundraiser as “just a mom,” she took those skills to the next level when she agreed to take the position as President & CEO of the Coppell Chamber of Commerce.
During Kristi’s successful tenure at the Coppell Chamber, her husband, John, started a roofing & construction business in 2014, Valentine Premier Construction. Although her family lost John to a battle with cancer, Kristi has continued to grow the business as the sole owner of a WBCS certified Woman Owned Small Business. The company serves the commercial, residential and multifamily markets as a full-service general construction and roofing company.
One thing has stayed the same for over a dozen years at Valentine Premier Construction, the dedication to serving the greater DFW community with exceptional quality & service, truly living out the VPC vision statement, “Building Relationships and Creating Customers for Life!”
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Dr. Marsha Anderson, Senior Manager, Sourcing Center for Excellence,
Oncor
Topic: Operational Excellence: Building Smarter, Scalable Business Processes
Topic Description: Learn practical strategies to streamline operations, eliminate inefficiencies, leverage automation, and build scalable processes that support sustainable growth.
Bio: Dr. Marsha Anderson is a strategic sourcing and supply chain professional with more than 25 years of experience across supply chain operations, strategic sourcing, supplier risk management, and operational transformation. She currently serves in a senior leadership role leading the Sourcing Center of Excellence for Oncor Electric Delivery, with responsibility for sourcing operations, process excellence, technology enablement, supplier relationship management, governance, and enterprise-wide sourcing capabilities within the energy industry.
Known for her ability to bridge strategy, operations, and leadership, Dr. Anderson has led initiatives focused on supplier risk governance, sourcing transformation, process standardization, training and development, and cross-functional operational alignment. Her work centers on helping organizations build resilient, scalable, and future-ready business operations while strengthening supplier partnerships and driving long-term value.
Beyond her corporate leadership, Dr. Anderson is the Founder of Envisage Business Solutions and creator of Voice of Impact, a platform focused on thought leadership, professional development, purposeful leadership, and industry influence. Through writing, speaking, and leadership engagement, she is passionate about empowering professionals, particularly women, to lead with confidence, alignment, and purpose.
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Nikita Tiffany, EVP of Business Solutions,
GTN Solutions
Topic: Coming soon.
Topic Description: Coming soon.
Bio: Nikita Tiffany is the EVP of Business Solutions at GTN Solutions, providing creative options to clients for recruitment needs.
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Ruth Ellen Heaton, Principal, Founder,
StratOps Chief Solutions
Topic: From AI Overwhelm to Workflows That Keep Up
Topics Description: You don’t have to keep up with every AI tool. Redesign work around your people’s expertise. We’ll follow a workflow every business can recognize: what happens between a customer saying “yes” and receiving the value they expected. Participants will consider that journey through the lens of their own product or service business.
We’ll explore which handoffs and routine tasks consume people’s time, where AI, automation, or technology already in the business could carry some of that load, and how to make those changes secure and usable for the team. The payoff: more of your people’s time and expertise going toward customers, sound decisions, and the work that moves the business forward.
Bio: Ruth Ellen Heaton is the founder of StratOps Chief Solutions, a WBENC-certified Women’s Business Enterprise and SBA-certified Women-Owned Small Business. She helps mid-market and enterprise businesses translate strategy into day-to-day business outcomes. With more than 20 years of experience leading business and technology transformation, her work spans operations, customer success, change management, and AI transformation. Ruth Ellen is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner and holds an AI Business Strategy credential from Johns Hopkins University. Today, she helps organizations redesign how work gets done and build the structure needed to support it, using Human-AI Collaboration to make the most of human expertise as technology changes what is possible.
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Sheryl Pinckney-Maas, CEO,
TAB North Texas
Topic: Community, Accountability, and Growth
Topic Description: Coming Soon
Bio: “When you started your business, you had a vision: freedom, impact, and building something that truly lasts. But somewhere along the way, the hiring decisions, cash flow stress, and endless problem-solving made the business feel like it runs you, not the other way around. Most business challenges fall within these six categories: Time, Money, People, Vision, Strategy or Exit (succession plan). What’s your biggest challenge?”
Sheryl Pinckney-Maas is a U.S. diplomat turned entrepreneur turned CEO, a rare combination of global experience, startup grit, and people-centered leadership that she now channels into transforming businesses across North Texas. As CEO of TAB North Texas, Sheryl partners with business owners and senior leaders across the region through The Alternative Board's peer advisory boards, one-on-one coaching, and structured planning tools. She understands the quiet isolation that often accompanies leadership and she is committed to changing that. Her leadership style blends strategic clarity with genuine care, offering accountability, structure, and an unwavering belief in each leader's potential to grow with intention.
Sheryl's path to this work is anything but conventional. She spent 25 years as a U.S. Diplomat and Senior Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, living and working in six countries, China, South Africa, Mexico, The Netherlands, Jordan, and Peru, leading diverse teams to help U.S. companies enter global markets, grow their operations, and create jobs back home. She then channeled that expertise into founding Guardian Zone, a first-of-its-kind crowd-sourced security technology company in Colleyville, Texas, whose mobile platform connects smartphone users directly with on-site security officials to keep people safe during emergencies.
Having navigated both the complexity of global diplomacy and the everyday challenges of running a small business, Sheryl brings a grounded, real-world perspective to every leader she coaches. Sheryl is a results-driven, human-centered professional who values the bottom line while building trust and relationships that sustain long-term, meaningful success from the C-suite to the front line.
Areas of Expertise: Business Development, Strategic Planning & Execution · Organizational Alignment · Leadership & Team Development · Cross-Cultural Advisory · Risk Mitigation · Executive Coaching · Government Relations & Advocacy · Complex Global Operations · Startup Advisory · Project Management · Spanish
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Swathi Nelbhatla, CEO,
SHEJOBS
Topic: Coming soon.
Topic Description: Coming Soon
Bio: Coming Soon
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Dr. Tajiri Brackens, Founder,
Heritage Leadership Consulting LLC
Topic: Stop Leaving Money in Your Inbox: Save Time with AI Follow-Up That Protects Your Profit
Topic Description: Your inbox holds more than messages. It holds opportunities that can go cold when follow-up takes too much time. Join Dr. Tajiri Brackens, The Profit Protector™, to explore how AI can help you respond faster, reduce repetitive email work, and follow up consistently. This practical discussion will share three best practices for saving time and protecting revenue opportunities while keeping your personal voice and judgment in every customer conversation.
Three Discussion Points:
• Prioritize: Identify inquiries and conversations that need your attention.
• Respond: Use AI to draft personalized replies you can review and send.
• Follow through: Pair AI-assisted messages with reminders so opportunities don’t get forgotten.
Attendees will leave with practical ways to spend less time managing email and give more consistent attention to potential revenue.
Bio: Dr. Tajiri Brackens is the founder of Heritage Leadership Consulting LLC and The Profit Protector™. With more than three decades of experience in leadership, business, and sales, she helps organizations identify where people, leadership, culture, and inefficient systems are quietly costing them money—and then builds practical solutions to protect profit. As a Certified AI Consultant, she helps leaders and business owners use AI strategically to recover time, strengthen execution, and improve business outcomes.
