Preceding his higher education career, Dr. McKinnon spent fifteen plus years in the restaurant and hospitality industry. There he gained an extensive amount of hands-on leadership and management experience with roles in general management, district management, and regional training management.

Dr. McKinnon can often be found speaking at DECA Leadership Conferences, during WBW programs, and at the Black Male Summit at Highline College. He gets to live out his life-long dream lakeside in Kirkland, Washington. His interests are education (life-long learning), jazz, and learning to play chess.

BECU is a credit union originally established to serve employees of The Boeing Company. BECU was founded as Fellowship Credit Union in 1935 by 18 Boeing employees, and was named Boeing Employees’ Credit Union for much of its history. Its headquarters are located in Tukwila, Washington.

Stacey Black – Stacey Black is a fierce advocate for financial literacy, and through financial education, she’s able to help people act on their finances and make a real impact on their lives. For over two decades, Stacey has frequently spoken on behalf of BECU’s financial education programs for adults, school-age children, teenagers, and college students. These programs cover topics such as budgeting, understanding credit, debt reduction, and more.

Aditya Sharma is a distinguished Military Veteran and a Business expert and was awarded the Commission Award by the President of India. He has also won the International Outstanding Leadership Award at the CXO 2.0 Global Conference and will be a speaker and mentor at the Internet 2.0 Conference. He excelled as the Military’s Best Instructor and topped his batch in MS in Supply Chain Management at the University of Washington, earning the Dean’s Award. Currently employed as a Business Ops Manager at Zūm he is at the forefront of implementing Data and Technology driven Modernized Student transportation systems around the United States and is poised to bring about a transition in the bus fleet to all EVs. Aditya has been an Author and Reviewer at various International Research Journals and has had his contributions recognized for a supply chain analytics publication book. He also commits to sharing his knowledge through publishing research aimed at industry professionals and supports special needs children with tech education and career guidance. Aditya Sharma’s career is characterized by his drive for innovation, leadership excellence, and dedication to making a societal difference.

Aditya will be the Business breakout speaker at our virtual camp.

Fred is currently the Marketing Director of True World Foods. He has over 40 years of retail and wholesale experience. During those years he has mentored and coached multiple people up through the ranks of corporate leadership. He is a proven leader with expert knowledge in all aspects of retail advertising, marketing, merchandising, operations, and sales.

Fred has been involved with Washington Business Week for the past three years and has enjoyed the role of CA, and Judge during our virtual programs. He also sits on Washington Business Week’s Board of Directors and serves as the Treasurer.

Fred will be the Advanced Business breakout speaker at our virtual camp.

Clark Roberts is the Executive Director and founder of Ultimate Vision. Ultimate Vision “Inspiring Others to See in New Ways” is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that teaches people of all ages that life does not stop when adversity occurs. It is not a matter of if, but when, life is going to happen. At age 24 Clark lost his sight to Retinitis Pigmentosa. He discovered that when life hits, you must learn how to embrace the challenge, find your potential and live life to its fullest! 

Clark is a subject matter expert who has dedicated his life to sharing a message of hope and encouragement. From CEOs in Corporate America to students ranging in age from Preschool – High School, Clark, accompanied by his guide dog, has shared with thousands of people, providing tools and knowledge to inspire and motivate them to see their life and their opportunities differently. He shows each person how to reach beyond their limitations inspiring them to live a life of significance, one with compassion, kindness, and confidence. Through this increased awareness each person learns how to overcome the challenges that life can bring, celebrate their differences, and live a life that is full and rewarding, inspiring others to do the same. Clark has recently added to his subject matter the importance of “Resilience” and “Adaptability”. 

Clark has a natural gift of humor, is married to his amazing wife Karrie, who he met on a blind date, and 2 adult children. His son Jacob is married and has a 1½ year old daughter which makes Clark an enormously proud grandpa “Papa” and a daughter, Rebekah who has just graduated from college and is now taking her Masters. All of them love to mess with him regarding his sight loss but also embrace fun adventures alongside of him. Clark is also an author and enjoys story telling. He is an outdoor and sports enthusiast, who loves to downhill ski, tandem cycle, water ski, drive rally cars, swim, and hike in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Clark will be the Opening Speaker at our camps at Northwest University and at University of Puget Sound.

Bamana Larsen is an educator, writer, speaker, and consultant. Her educational and professional backgrounds are in business, church leadership, higher education, and consulting. She is the Program Coordinator for the School of Business at Northwest University where she is also an adjunct faculty, teaching courses in business and management. Bamana is the founder and CEO of She Ascends, LLC – a faith-based business helping women embrace their uniqueness and live truly fulfilled in their life’s calling. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bethune-Cookman University, an MBA in Leadership Development from Jacksonville University, and she is currently completing her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at Northwest University.  

Bamana will be the Business Breakout Speaker at our camp at Northwest University.

Suvendoo is the current Chair for SCORE, Greater Seattle Chapter. As a volunteer leader, Chair’s responsibility is to focus all the passion, energy, and enthusiasm of SCORE’s volunteers into a successful organization to make a lasting impact to our community. This federally funded organization promotes new small business into success through mentoring, workshops for the business owners. 

 Prior to joining SCORE, Suvendoo worked in the field of aviation with global sales of commercial airplanes, enjoyed working in airline start-ups and engage with the management in taking the company to maturity. Maintained long-term trusting relationship with airline management, government entities and our company in the aviation industry. 

Suvendoo will be a CEO Roundtable Guest at Northwest University and at Renton Technical College.

Gunjan Paliwal is a seasoned tech professional renowned for her multifaceted expertise across product development, marketing, and strategy. She currently spearheads numerous technical product development and marketing initiatives at Meta. Before Meta, Gunjan played instrumental roles as the Global Tech Product Lead for eCommerce at Newell, where she led the global expansion efforts, amplifying its reach and influence. As the Director of Product Strategy at Sears Marketplace team, she played a pivotal role in shaping its growth trajectory. 

Gunjan’s professional journey is driven by a profound belief in the power of technology to create positive change. She advocates for using technology for good, her approach is rooted in the philosophy that technological advancements should benefit society as a whole, fostering a more equitable and sustainable future. 

Fueled by a passion for mentorship, Gunjan also dedicates significant time to guiding and supporting individuals as they navigate their careers. She serves as an active champion for inclusivity and innovation, taking on mentorship roles with Upnotch, the Inclusive Product Management Accelerator at the University of Washington, and iLab Veracruz, a leading startup incubator in LATAM. Through these initiatives, she strives to empower the next generation of tech leaders globally. 

Gunjan will be a CEO Roundtable Guest at Northwest University and the Business Breakout Speaker at our camp at the University of Puget Sound.

Anthony is a highly successful student service director who effectively partners with college staff and admin, community organizations, and industry representatives. He is committed to motivating and mentoring students and professionals in higher education.

Jen Reed is the Vice President of Public Relations at Sound Credit Union.

Sound Credit Union operates as a financial cooperative. The Union provides financial solutions such as saving and checking accounts, loans, investment, credit and debit cards, insurance, ATMs, online banking, and other related services. Sound Credit Union serves communities in the State of Washington.

Denise is currently working as a Community Relations Officer at Sound Credit Union, and is previously a business banker for Harborstone Credit Union, with a main territory in the Thurston County area. 
 
Additionally, she is a Thurston County Chamber ambassador, a board member for the Thurston County Chamber Foundation, a previous board member for the JOLT Online newspaper, along with her daily duties. She regularly attends networking events as an ambassador, or on behalf of Sound Credit Union.

During her tenure at TrueBlue Inc, she worked in Major Accounts. She started with invoice reconciliation for Republic Services and managed new accounts that included Cargill, Monsanto, and Performance Foods Groups. She moved to the waste vertical, helping to recover any service issues for their major waste accounts, including Republic Services, Waste Management, Advanced Disposal, and Waste Connections. 
 
Denise also has hospitality experience working for several catering companies and creating her own side business in wedding cakes to service private and public events.

Jim Schueren is a Certified FocalPoint Business and Executive Coach with a black belt in Lean Six-Sigma, specializing in helping business owners and executives improve their clarity, growth and leadership prowess. 

Prior to joining FocalPoint, Jim served as CEO of Kagwerks, a company that manufactures body-worn communication equipment for military and federal agencies. He led the company to grow annual bookings by over 350% within 18 months, developed the company strategy, and transformed his employees into a strong, cohesive team. He has over 20 years experience coaching owners, executives and employees in working with military, government agencies and prime contractors. 

Jim is a proud graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University with a Masters of Aeronautical Science, and the University of Phoenix with an MBA. He served as an F-16 fighter pilot (callsign “Flash”) and DoD program manager before transitioning to the business world. Before joining the Air Force, Jim was with the YMCA helping teens develop their leadership and volunteer skills in the YMCA Leaders Club as well as teaching swimming, lifesaving, and first-aid to all ages. 

Outside of his professional life, Jim enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, biking and scuba diving. He delights in spending time with his wife of 40 years, his two daughters and (so far) one granddaughter.

Dr. Stephanie Delaney is the Vice President of Instruction at Renton Technical College in Washington State. There, she oversees Instruction, including a team of 17 deans and directors and 85 full time faculty.  

Dr. Delaney has a strong background in Guided Pathways and eLearning and she has spoken nationally on issues related to leadership, equity, technology, and effective online teaching and learning. 

Dr. Delaney earned her PhD in educational leadership in higher education/distance education at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She also holds a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a master’s degree in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. She earned her B.S. at Georgetown University. Stephanie is an avid knitter and rower. She lives in Seattle with her husband and son. 

Steve taught high school students for 30 years at North Thurston HS and River Ridge HS in Lacey, WA. He coached cross country, track, and soccer at these high schools for 45 years. His teams, both male and female, have earned 10 league high school championships and one 4th place finish at state. He has coached premier league teams to 5 state championships, 1 district championship, and 1 national championship.

Steve has participated as a Company Advisor and/or Chair at Washington Business Week’s in-school, day, and international programs. He sat as a member of the Board of Directors for 5 years.