Government Coins

Shemeka Davis is an MWBE Analyst in transition to become the MWBE Officer for the City of Rochester effective January 15th, 2023. As the MWBE Analyst supporting the MWBE Officer, Shemeka processes the MWBE plans for public works construction, professional services, as well as commodities goods and services. Shemeka gathers and reports all MWBE participation for the City of Rochester. To maintain m...

Sylvia Warren, a native Floridian, is a graduate of St. John’s River State College where she received a degree in Business Administration and Management, Santa Fe College where she received a BAS Degree in Organizational Management, and Saint Leo University where she received her MBA. She is also currently a 2023 doctoral candidate. She began her career in the Finance industry, where she gained ov...

Adrina Gibson joined the City and County of Denver’s Denver Economic Development and Opportunity (DEDO) in 2019 serving as the Chief Officer of the Division of Small Business Opportunity (DSBO). In this role, she leads DSBO’s key program areas: Certification, Business Utilization, Contract Compliance, Forensic/Investigation, Strategic Development, and Community Engagement/Outreach programs. Foster...

Sky Williams, Diversity and Inclusion Manager Sky is a seasoned expert with over two decades of experience in municipal government. She's not your average professional; Sky is a visionary leader and change catalyst, known for her exceptional skills and dedication to fostering equity and diversity. Sky's journey is marked by a strong educational foundation, holding a Bachelor of Business Ad...

In this week's episode, we will be guested by Kevin Jennings, founder and CEO of Government Cheese. Kevin Jennings embodies resilience and determination. After facing a complete loss in the 2008 crash, he fought back, carving a niche in real estate and construction, and generating over $350 million in revenue. His tenacity led him to secure significant government contracts and a 10-year Super...

Bogdan Avasiloae is a Purchasing Manager at the City of Deerfield-beach Florida. He is working with and under the direction of the Chief Financial Officer, this position is responsible for highly specialized, professional administrative and supervisory work to oversee and unify the City's purchasing and contract administration functions; serves as the City's central point of contact regard...

Charles Spencer is the Procurement Director for the City of Plantation. He has been working in the Public Procurement/Purchasing profession for the past twenty-three (23) years. He is a Florida Certified Contract Manager and a Florida Certified Contract Negotiator, Certified Public Procurement Associate, and a Certified Public Procurement Professional. Charles Spencer is an active member of the Na...

Mr. Marcos possesses close to 30 years of public procurement professional experience, with 25 years at the executive/managerial level. He is known to be a transformational organizational leader, a subject matter expert in his profession, and recognized for his leadership in attaining organizational excellence in procurement. Throughout his career, he has implemented new technologies and software p...

Sandra Hammerstein is the SBE M/WBE Programs Compliance Officer for the City of West Palm Beach. She is an accomplished professional with over 20 years of experience in the communications and procurement fields. Hammerstein has had extensive experience in community outreach and education, public relations, and communication strategies to reach diverse audiences. Learn more about the City of West P...

Natalie Richmond Assistant Director of Procurement Learn more about the City of Miramar and the work they do: https://www.miramarfl.gov/

Colette Holt represents public agencies and private firms on issues related to civil rights, public contracting, and affirmative action. She has broad experience in conducting defensible disparity studies, expert witness consulting and testimony, drafting legislation and policies, designing programs, managing initiatives, defending affirmative action programs, and counseling private firms on compl...

Leveraging entrepreneurial vision and drive, Enovia Bedford thrives in startup and early-stage environments, working to drive profitable growth by coordinating clients with industry-leading companies, partners, and sponsors. Her experience encompasses diverse industries, with a special talent for marketing, p.r., social media branding, event planning, and relationship building. Enovia prides herse...

Dr. Kizzy M. Parks is the President of GovCon WinnersTM As a kid, she cleaned golf balls located in an alley behind her friend's house and them through a fence to golfers. She used the money to buy FUNYUNS® and Nutty Bars. Today, she owns and operates multiple businesses and has over $60 million in federal government contract awards. She’s been featured in Entrepreneur® Magazine has a successf...

Km! Ra was born in Jamaica. Previously he worked with the State Department, Immigration and naturalization service, the Department of Homeland Security, and Miami-Dade County. And currently the Purchasing & Contracts Director at the City of Palm Beach Gardens since 2012. Km! enjoys playing classical piano, among other things. Learn more about the City of Palm Beach Gardens and the work they do...

“Everything I do is in service of others. Every single thing I do, I was born to do.”  Danie Spikes is a certified professional relationship coach, public speaker, and award-winning businesswoman. As CEO of Beloved Inc., Danie approaches every business and project as an opportunity to fulfill the basic needs and desires most humans share: self-love, fulfilling relationships, confidence, and healin...

Dr. Lauren Josephs is a Social/Behavioral Scientist and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Visionary Vanguard Group, Inc. –a consulting firm which uses research, evaluation, training & technical assistance to help organizations eliminate disparities and achieve equitable outcomes. Her work has been done on the national level for both private corporations and governmental entities. In...

Althea A. Harris has been helping businesses her entire federal career which began in 1993 at the U.S. Department of Commerce with the late Secretary Ronald H. Brown; there, she traveled worldwide in support of small and medium-sized exporters.  Then she helped small business owners compete for federal contracts while at the U.S. General Services Administration in the Office of Enterprise &nb...

Mrs. Dudly Etienne-Harvard is the President of Dudly’s Professional Services (DPS). DPS is a certified small and woman-owned business within the tri-county areas in South Florida and Atlanta, GA. Mrs. Etienne-Harvard has been providing Community Engagement, Project Control, Technical Services, and Project Administrative and Small Business Support within the construction industry since 2010. Mrs. E...

Ms. Tisha Blue-Warren is currently the Industry Liaison for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Procurement Operations (OPO). Her role as the Industry Liaison is to interface with the industry, to the maximum extent practicable, to increase awareness of OPO initiatives and priorities and to provide insight on how to do business with DHS.    By trade, Tisha is a seasoned a...

Mariel Reed is co-founder and CEO of Pavilion, a venture-backed marketplace for state and local public procurement. Pavilion enables public servants to save time and money by purchasing from suppliers that have been pre-qualified by other public entities, and helps reduce the cost of selling into the $2T state and local public sector for businesses.  Before founding Pavilion, Mariel served at...

Entellect is a full life-cycle Business Development boutique company that works with companies to help scale their current processes and resources. Our cadre of experts helps companies scale up by augmenting their current resources and elevating their marketplace status to make them more competitive. In addition, we offer tailored solutions to expand a company’s capabilities and efficiently suppor...

Jakayla Leathers is an entrepreneur, mom of 3, and the owner of Transform Floor Care & JS LLC. Transform is a DBE WOSB Facilities Maintenance firm that provides flooring solutions, installations, maintenance, janitorial services, and more.    Jakayla’s journey with the government included mistakes and lessons that she and her partner ultimately used as a stepping stone to their succe...

Zach Berke, Founder & Managing Partner at Exygy Zach oversees Exygy's strategy, design, and engineering work. He serves as the Account Manager for clients such as Children’s Council, CARE, REDF, Benetech, and the SF Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. Zach founded Exygy in 2004 with a vision: innovation and technology will accelerate progressive social change. This vision led...

Colleen Finnegan is the Executive Director for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI).  She is responsible for oversight of programs that promote small business participation in DOI procurements, with special emphasis on socio-economic programs including Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Women-Owned Small Businesses, Servi...

Nicole Jews grew up and currently lives in the small city of Rialto, California. Nicole has been in the field of Purchasing for over 15 years. She started her career as a part-time clerical aide with the City of Rialto, moved on to a non-profit as an Accounting Assistant, then worked at the San Bernardino International Airport as a Purchasing Supervisor.    To gain additional contract ba...