National Small Business Development Center Advisory Board

Dr. Kim E. Armstrong was appointed to serve as the interim president of Fresno City College on August 1, 2024.

As the interim president of Fresno City College, Dr. Armstrong is responsible for leadership, budget oversight, and supervision of California’s first community college, established in 1910. The college serves over 25,500 students annually and is a Hispanic Serving Institution.

On January 3, 2023, she was appointed to serve as the third president of Clovis Community College. CCC, is California’s 113th community college serving over 13,000 students. She led CCC in implementing the new educational masterplan and strategic plan. She expanded the career technical education program and oversaw a $70 million new facili­ties project.

Previously, Dr. Armstrong served as the Vice Chancellor for Student, Eq­uity, and Community Affairs at Arkan­sas State University Three Rivers. She earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Howard University in Physiological/Neuropsychology. Dr. Armstrong has postdoctoral training in Electrophysi­ology from Northwestern Medical School and Developmental Neurobiology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Additionally, she has Strategic Leadership and Management Spe­cialization certifications.

Dr. Armstrong served on the Arkansas Community Colleges Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEi) Taskforce. Her DEi initiatives received several state and regional recognitions. Dr. Armstrong also has over 20 years of accreditation especially with the Higher Learning Commission.

Dr. Armstrong serves as Vice Chair for the ACCJC peer review committee. Since coming to Clovis, Dr. Armstrong has been appointed to serve on the CMAC Board, CVHEC Board, and SBA’s National Small Business Development Centers Advisory Board. She is a mem­ber of Soroptimist International of Clo­vis, BWOPA, and BPAC. In 2024, she was named Woman of the Year for Fresno County by 12th District Senator Shan­non Grove.

Adjoa B. Asamoah is a serial entrepreneur, seasoned executive, and founder of the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) certified leading edge impact strategy firm, ABA Consulting LLC. She is a lifelong racial and gender equity champion, award- winning social impact strategist, and longtime advisor to several local, state, and federal officials. She wears multiple hats daily and debunks the myth—you can’t master multiple trades.

She was entrusted to serve as the Biden-Harris Campaign’s National Advisor for Black Engagement and was then tapped to serve as the Black Engagement Director for the historic 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee. She developed the strategy for and leads the groundbreaking nationwide CROWN Act movement, in addition to having spearhead the legislative victory to codify the nation’s first Office on African American Affairs. A former adjunct psychology professor, Adjoa leverages cultural intelligence and behavioral insights to create meaningful systems change and develop winning campaigns.

She has provided subject matter expertise as an appointee to numerous commissions, committees, and boards for notable entities including Temple University, DC Commission for Women, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Commission on African American Affairs, and the federally mandated State Title I Committee of Practitioners she has chaired for six consecutive years.

Adjoa holds degrees in African American Studies, Psychology, Educational Psychology, and Applied Behavior Analysis. She studied abroad in Africa and is currently a doctoral candidate. She also earned licenses as a behavior specialist and psychometrist.

Adria Bagshaw co-owns the W.H. Bagshaw Company in Nashua with her husband, Aaron where she has worked since 2004.  As Vice President, her main areas of focus are workforce, finance, and strategic planning.  While it was never Adria's dream to own a factory, she's passionate about providing meaningful jobs to dozens of employees and preserving the family business legacy for a 6th generation, and she loves partnering with her husband. Since 1870, they have provided specialty pins as a job shop manufacturer and expanded to Swiss-style machining in 2005.  In 2021, they opened the Walter Bat Company, producing high quality wood bats; and in 2022 they opened a 10,000 SF baseball and softball training center to serve the local community.  They are a Recovery Friendly Workplace.  

Adria serves on the NH Small Business Development Center Advisory Board, the National Small Business Development Center Board, the Precision Machined Parts Association Executive Board, Enterprise Bank Advisory Council, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen's Small Business Advisory Council, the Granite State Worker’s Compensation Manufacturers Trust, the Nashua Chamber’s Legislative Advocacy Committee and the UNH President’s Business Advisory Council.  She graduated from UNH's Whittemore School of Business & Economics (now the Peter T. Paul School) with a B.S. in Business Administration.

Kristen Bailey is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sweets & Meats BBQ, which launched as a roadside BBQ pit stop in 2014 and has grown to operating a brick & mortar restaurant, 3 award winning food trucks, and full-service catering business. Prior to launching her business, Kristen spent 15 years working in the financial services industry and has worked for a diverse range of organizations, including US Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Vantiv, Key Bank and BB&T. Kristen worked a full-time job while building her business for the first five years as a start-up and transitioned to working solely in her business in 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Wittenberg University, where she graduated in 2003. She and her partner were both featured on the 11th season of the Emmy nominated show STARTUP (season 11, episode 5) in 2023 and Cincinnati Icons Project with Go Daddy in 2022.

Kristen was selected to be a Champion for the second class of Queen City Game Changers, a leadership program for women entrepreneurs and leaders in the corporate sector in Cincinnati. Kristen graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program at Cincinnati State in 2023 and serves as an Alumni Ambassador. Kristen graduated from WE Lead, a 10-month women's leadership program with the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce. Kristen participated in the SBA Emerging Leaders Program in Cincinnati in 2018.  Kristen graduated from MORTAR, a business accelerator in Cincinnati, in 2015 and serves as a mentor to several of her peers, having served as the Food Liaison for MORTAR foodpreneurs in 2023 and winning the Equity Award in 2018. 

From 2021-2023, Kristen has been voted Best Female Entrepreneur by Cincy Chic Magazine readers.  In 2019, Kristen was recognized as the Ohio Small Businessperson of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C. during National Small Business Week. In 2018 she was awarded the SCORE Cincinnati Client of the Year & Ohio SBDC Client with Most Growth awards. She was also inducted into the 2018 Cincinnati Business Courier Forty Under 40 class.

Kristen began serving on the Cincinnati Animal CARE Board in 2023 where she leads the marketing committee. Kristen serves as the Vice-President of the Purcell Marian High School Alumni Association.   Currently, Kristen serves as the Vice-Chair of the board.  She is passionate about entrepreneurship, education, animals and loves to travel when she is not building her business, mentoring other entrepreneurs or volunteering in her community.

With nearly 20 years of surety experience, Karen Barbour founded The Barbour Group in 2002, a nationally licensed surety agency focused on construction bonding and advocacy, with offices in Maryland and Tennessee.  TBG is a certified DBE, WBE, WOSB and WBENC firm. Her advocacy sparked in the late 1990’s when achieving a Federal Acquisition Regulation change permitting annual bond forms to support five-year contracts instead of one bond for five years, giving small and minority 8(a) firms the capability of bonding such projects. 

Karen successfully lobbied U.S. Sen. Cardin to sponsor an amendment to the Stimulus Bill that increased SBA’s Office of Surety Bond Guarantees the ability to support projects up to $10 million. For her efforts, she won the US SBA Small Business Person of the Year (MD). Upon request, she testified in person before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives as an expert in bonding and construction financing matters. In Maryland, she led the charge to alter several laws to create better lien laws, prompt payment and retention laws. She was instrumental in the passage of the Subcontractors Equal Access to Bonding Act (2013) and the Change Order Fairness Act, (2016) in Maryland.

Karen serves on the U.S. SBA’s National SBDC Advisory Board, MAA (BWI) Small & Minority Business Advisory Council, as Vice Chair for AMAC’s Government Affairs Committee, and on boards such as Women Construction Owners & Executives and Girls Scouts of Central MD. 

Karen co-founded the Alliance for Hispanic Commercial Contractors, Party For A Cure and the National Small Business Party.  She continues to manage an exclusive surety bond program with Hensel Phelps Construction Co. that to-date has bonded over $160,000,000 in subcontracts with no losses.

Cherie Edilson is the CEO and Founder of Member Marketplace, Inc., a platform that empowers small businesses to thrive through community-based online marketplace programs. With a mission to strengthen local economies by providing digital and e-commerce tools that help businesses grow and reach new customers, Member Marketplace has supported more than 3,500 small businesses across the U.S. Cherie has collaborated with a wide range of organizations, including Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), chambers of commerce, Main Street programs, and local and state economic development agencies.

Cherie’s entrepreneurial journey began 13 years ago as a micro-entrepreneur, crafting handmade products and gaining customers through local farmers markets. Those humble beginnings gave her valuable insights into the challenges of starting and growing a small business and navigating local business resource networks. Today, Cherie coaches and trains early entrepreneurs in starting their businesses and selling online. Having grown a startup herself, she has developed expertise in state-funded programs, access to capital, venture capital, startup ecosystems, resource partners, and broader economic development initiatives.

Cherie is passionate about supporting small businesses and fostering entrepreneurship. She is an Alumni Ambassador for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, where she advocates for small business growth. She also serves on the Business Support Innovation Council for her local Economic Alliance, contributing to initiatives that promote small business and community development.

Outside of her professional work, Cherie volunteers with organizations like Junior Achievement, mentoring young people in entrepreneurial skills. She enjoys spending time with her family, including her four children, and encouraging their own entrepreneurial spirit. Cherie holds a Master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa.

Louis Foreman is founder and Chief Executive of Enventys (www.enventys.com), an integrated product design and engineering firm. Louis graduated from The University of Illinois with a degree in Economics. He created his first company his sophomore year in his fraternity room. Louis has created 10 successful start-ups and has been directly responsible for the creation of over 20 others. A prolific inventor, he is the inventor of 10 registered US Patents, and his firm is responsible for the development and filing of hundreds more.

The recipient of numerous awards for entrepreneurial achievement, his passion for small business extends beyond his own companies. Louis is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Entrepreneurship Program at Wake Forest University. 

In addition to being an inventor, Louis is also committed to inspiring others to be innovative. Louis was the creator of the Emmy® Award winning PBS TV show, Everyday Edisons. In 2007, Louis became the publisher of Inventors Digest, a 35- year-old publication devoted to the topic of American Innovation. In 2015, Louis was awarded the IP Champion Award by the US Chamber of Commerce. In June of 2022, Louis was inducted into the International IP Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Carolinas Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in September of 2023.

Louis currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the James Dyson Foundation. He is a board member of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), The Federal Reserve Bank Industry Roundtable, Eightco Holdings, the Intellectual Property Owners Educational Foundation (IPOEF), the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Carolinas Region, and the advisory board of Park National Bank. 

In addition to serving on the SBA SBDC Advisory Board, Louis served seven years on the nine-person Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

Benjamin Kwitek is an entrepreneur, inventor, and investor from Colorado.

Benjamin has founded many companies including Gellyfish and InterForm.  He helps lead new product development and marketing strategies for new products and services.  He has over 20 issued and pending US Patents.  His inventions have been licensed by leading global corporations including Dell, Meta (Facebook), and Sony.

Benjamin is the Director of Innovation at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.  He leads the Innovation Program and teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation classes. His favorite courses include Introduction to Entrepreneurship in the Bachelor of Innovation degree program and Managing Innovation for Strategic Advantage in the MBA program. He is also the inaugural Inventor-in-Residence at the Kraemer Family Library.

He has lectured on entrepreneurship and mentored startup companies in Egypt, Bahrain and The Netherlands for the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative with the US State Department.

Benjamin holds degrees and multiple honors from Colorado State University and the University of Colorado. In 2005, he completed his Ph.D. at Colorado State University where his research, entitled Driving Economic Development, looked at partnerships between colleges and high-tech businesses. He has further studied innovation and intellectual property at Harvard Business School in Boston.

He has appeared in BMW Magazine, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Rhapsody, Robb Report, and newspapers across America.

Lea was appointed to the Arizona Corporation Commission by Governor Doug Ducey in May of 2019. The Corporation Commission regulates the state’s utility services and the incorporation of businesses. She is the first Latina to serve in a statewide seat in the state of Arizona.

Lea has been an entrepreneur in her community for many years and served as the President/ CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber from 2009 until November of 2018. The Tucson Hispanic Chamber serves the business community in the bilingual, bi-cultural region of the Arizona- Sonora border and was recognized as the Hispanic Chamber of the Year in 2013 by the U.S Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The chamber represents over 1800-member businesses and in partnership with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is one of the largest chambers in the State of Arizona.

She ran for Congress in Arizona Congressional District 2 in 2018 and won a competitive primary race though lost the general election. She previously served as the Executive Director for Greater Tucson Leadership (GTL) from 2005 to 2009 and owned and operated a Business Brokerage Firm from 2005 to 2009 and a chain of six gasoline stations / convenience stores with fifty employees from 1998 to 2005 in the Tucson region.

She has been appointed to serve on the Arizona Judicial Council which advises the Arizona Supreme Court, and the Arizona Finance Authority, the state’s bonding authority. She chairs the Board of Directors of Carondelet’s St Mary’s and St Joseph’s Hospitals in Tucson and is the former Chair of the Pima Association of Governments Economic Vitality Committee. She serves on the Boards of the University of Arizona Foundation and the Pima County Workforce Investment Board and is the President of the National Association of Women Business Owners in Tucson. She also formally served on the national board for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the National Women’s Business Council.

She received her undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona, and her master’s in business administration from Pepperdine University.