Community & Guest List

Brandyn Campbell is the owner of Brandyn Campbell Communications, which provides dynamic digital content strategy and solutions for small businesses. For over a decade, she has leveraged her writing talent to provide compelling content for media outlets and companies around the world, including the Philadelphia Eagles and National Football League. Brandyn is passionate about helping companies authentically share their stories to connect with their audiences and grow their brands.

Brandon is the CEO and Founder of Parkes Philanthropy, a social impact consulting firm, managing over 90+ years of collective experience. Parkes Philanthropy is dedicated to equip the non-profits, corporations and individuals with the ideas and resources and support they need to positively impact the world.

He previously served as a Senior Consultant for Bridge Philanthropic Consulting LLC, nations largest African-American fundraising firm. Prior, he was the Nonprofit Engagement Manager at CariClub, an AI tech company that connects young professionals to leadership roles on nonprofit boards.

He has formerly worked in a corporate philanthropic capacity for companies such as Morgan Stanley and Toyota.

Through these professional titles, he gained experience supporting effective philanthropic strategy that increases social impact, external/internal engagement and nonprofit capacity building. He was humbled to be named one of CauseArtists’s “20 Inspiring African Americans Impacting the World Through Social Impact & Social Innovation,” named one of Startup Boost’s NYC 33 under 33, and has been featured in several publications such as Black Enterprise, Blavity, Nonprofit Technology News, and Blacks in Technology. It’s Brandon’s passion to empower any constituent looking to make a positive social impact on the world.

Brenda Batista is the Founder of Inspiring Company Culture where she helps leaders transform their work environments to be places where everyone is heard, valued, and appreciated. Brenda is an expert in establishing high-performing teams and helping business leaders eliminate the bottlenecks that are limiting their growth.

For the past 25 years, Brenda has focused on performance improvement and how the power of teams helps sustain business results. She helps teams engage and align with desired business outcomes through coaching and consulting engagements.

Brenda holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Systems Engineering, a Masters in Health Administration, and a Juris Doctorate.

Buwa Binitie is the CEO and Founder of Dumas Collective where he directs the acquisition, development, management, and financial activities of the firm. Under the development division Dantes Partners, Mr. Binitie obtained extensive tax credit financing experience (LIHTC, NMTC and HTC) and has closed on financing from nearly every public capital source available including HOME, HPTF, NSP, CDBG and NIF. Mr. Binitie maintains a narrow focus on creatively structuring deals that strive to address the need of his clients, community stakeholders as well as various government agency partners. By narrowly focusing on efficiently financing community development transactions, Mr. Binitie has been successful in adding value beyond the numbers. His career is underscored by a commitment to creating and preserving affordable and workforce housing. Since founding Dantes Partners, Mr. Binitie and the collective have closed nearly $1.6 billion of unconventional real estate transactions that utilize low-income tax credits, new market tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, and various other forms of alternative financing. Mr. Binitie is the former Chairman of DC Housing Finance Agency Board of Directors and a Board Member of DC Building Industry Association.

BWS Johnson is a purveyor of terrible puns and artisanal flower arrangements. Brooke's work has appeared in local galleries as juried impermanent art.

She is a proud member of Alexandria, Virginia's West End Business Association.

Addicted to sowing and tending the seeds that bind communities, Blooms of Paradise has been giving away the store since 2018. In 2020, the Commonwealth certified it as a woman-owned micro-business.