Long Jackson is a Financial Advisor at Pinnacle Financial Partners. She formerly served as Vice President and Business Banking Relationship Manager with Fifth Third Bank. She has more than 30 years of successful financial industry experience in the commercial, business banking, and retail segments. During her career, Jackson has managed a diverse loan portfolio that ranges from $95MM to $500MM.
Jackson began her career as a teller and then quickly progressed to various management roles such as retail branch manager, dedicated lender sales coach, financial specialist leader, business banking, real estate financial services, and domestic strategies. Prior to serving in her current position, Ms. Jackson served as Senior Vice President and Banker at First Citizens Bank and Senior Vice President at Wachovia Bank. With her vast experience and resources, Jackson diligently works to boost the financial productivity for area business owners and their employees. Her current client base consists of businesses with annual sales between $2MM and $20MM.
Jackson also stays equally involved in her community helping numerous organizations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). As their market champ, she is committed to organizing women conferences and promoting women small business owners. She is also past president of Triangle Commercial Real Estate Women (TCREW) and current member of the Executive Committee of the Carolina Theater of Durham and Durham County Economic Small Business Advisory Committee. In 2019, she was appointed to the North Carolina Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Board and has held her CCIM designation for more than 15 years.
Lisa Long Jackson was former Recorder of the Durham Compact Board of Advisors. She was also a member of the Core Team that worked on the development and implementation of Built2Last.
Adam Clark has worked with refugees and immigrants since 2007. He worked in direct services for years at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, was the Refugee Data Analyst for the Kentucky Office for Refugees, and currently leads World Relief Durham’s services to immigrants as its Executive Director as he has since 2015. Adam graduated magna cum laude from Wheaton College double majoring in Philosophy and Theology in 2006. He also graduated with a Master of Divinity as valedictorian from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2010. He is the winner of 5 theological awards, is certified in non-profit management from Duke University, and was the project manager for the recent book 
Dr. Paul K. Baker is currently Executive Director of the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) in Raleigh, NC. CAM is a museum that prides itself on developing the careers of emerging arts and exposing nationally known artists to the region through exhibitions and programming. Artists that have shown at CAM include Kennedi Carter, Clarence Heyward, Alena Mehic and Adam Narcross among others. Baker has launched a new initiative, Art in Educational Spaces, that will place short term art exhibitions in schools and libraries in underserved communities. Previously he served as the Director of the University Galleries North Carolina A & T State University where he still serves as a tenured Professor of History in the Department of History and Political Science. With over 25 years of experience in higher education, Dr, Baker has served in administrative and faculty roles at North Carolina Central University, Saint Augustine’s University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Fayetteville State University.
Dr. Oriana Leach is an accomplished research scholar, filmmaker, and educator who has devoted the last fifteen years to creating equitable spaces in P-20 education through research and practice. Dr. Leach attended New York University where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television Production from Tisch School of the Arts, and she went on to pursue a Master of Science degree in Education at St. John’s University where she graduated with highest honors. After several years in the advertising and education sectors, she decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Educational Psychology from North Carolina State University where she graduated in 2018 after producing a ground-breaking dissertation study and related documentary film that centered the academic experiences of gifted Black girls attending predominantly White schools, and used a Critical Race Theory lens to understand how those experiences were shaped by the girls’ racial identity development, parental socialization messages, and sense of belonging.
Angela Liu is the Chief Operating Officer of Unity Web Agency, a woman-, queer- and disability-owned Certified B Corporation that creates inclusive websites for other positive mission-driven organizations. She has an innate curiosity and love for solving team and operational business challenges in a way that honors the humanity of each person. Part of her mission at Unity is to implement humane work management — an approach to managing work on an individual and team level by prioritizing the holistic wellness of team members beyond their professional endeavors. To do so, Angela believes the success of any business hinges on consistent productivity, which requires work to be managed sustainably with respect to human capacities and an individual’s ability to comfortably provide for themselves.
Yolandra Shronne Powell, a faithful wife, proud mother, and indebted humble servant to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She holds an associate degree in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management & Human Resources. Yolandra is no stranger to hard work. She recognizes that perseverance, dedication, and overcoming life’s many challenges have been instrumental to her success.
