Today, Donald R. Cravins, Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development, announced the formation of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council. As stated in The Minority Business Development Act of 2021, this council will advise and assist MBDA in their mission to promote the growth of minority owned businesses.   

“The Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council is a critical lever of MBDA’s role as a leading authority for minority and underserved businesses,” said Donald R. Cravins, Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development. “We have selected nineteen leaders from the public and private sector with proven experience advancing opportunities for the businesses we serve. Their leadership and influence will be invaluable to MBDA’s impact and mission to create a strong, equitable economy that gives every American a shot at building a successful business.”  

The Council is composed of nine private sector members and one representative from each of ten Federal agencies that support business formation, labor development, monetary policy, national security, energy, agriculture, transportation, and housing. Members of the Council serve a two-year term and may be reappointed.  

The Council will advise the leadership of the Agency by: 

• Serving as a source of knowledge and information on developments in areas of the economic and social life of the United States that affect socially or economically disadvantaged business concerns; and   
• Providing leadership with information regarding plans, programs, and activities in the public and private sectors related to socially or economically disadvantaged business concerns. 

Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council Members 

Private Sector Members 

• Janice Bryant Howroyd, CEO of ActOne Group  
• Ron Busby, President and CEO of U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. 
• Harry E. Johnson, Sr., President and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Foundation 
• Ying McGuire, President and CEO of the National Minority Supplier Development Council 
• Frances Perez-Wilhite, Program Manager of the North Carolina Military Business Center  
• Kip Ritchie, CEO of the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation 
• Rosa Santana, Founder and CEO of the Santana Group 
• David Steward, Chairman and Founder of World-Wide Technology 
• Melanie Matter Welsh, Executive Director of Alaska Unlimited 

The Council will also include representatives from the following Federal agencies:  

• U.S. Department of Agriculture 
• U.S. Department of Defense Federal Reserve System 
• U.S. Department of Energy  
• U.S. General Services Administration  
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  
• U.S. Department of Labor  
• U.S. Small Business Administration  
• U.S. Department of Transportation 
• U.S. Department of Treasury 

About the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA): 

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency is the only Federal agency solely dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority business enterprises (MBEs). For more than 50 years, MBDA’s programs and services have better equipped MBEs to create jobs, build scale and capacity, increase revenues, and expand regionally, nationally, and internationally.