Raised in inner-city Miami, Florida, Rodney C. Adkins was valedictorian of his high school graduating class and would matriculate university at Georgia Tech, where he would earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering; he also earned a bachelor of arts in physics from Rollins College. From 2007-2014, Mr. Adkins was Senior Vice President…
Raised in inner-city Miami, Florida, Rodney C. Adkins was valedictorian of his high school graduating class and would matriculate university at Georgia Tech, where he would earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering; he also earned a bachelor of arts in physics from Rollins College. From 2007-2014, Mr. Adkins was Senior Vice President…
Xavier Williams was raised in Washington, DC where he was raised by parents who were an educator and entrepreneur. He attended university in Pennsylvania, earning his BS degree in Business Administration and Mathematics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and eventually an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business. He began his career…
Ken Cowan attended University of Nebraska where he earned a Management degree before beginning his career working in the energy marketing. A merger between his employer and another company, led to him relocating to Houston to work for Enron. This began a long-running career fulfilling various leadership roles in energy marketing and trading, and ultimately…
Reuben Shelton was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was a standout high school basketball player recruited to play for the national powerhouse Kansas University Jayhawks. A career-ending injury focused him on his career objective of becoming a lawyer, and following a clerkship with St. Louis’ first African American federal circuit court…
Floyd Newsum was born and raised in Memphis, TX where his childhood gave him a front row seat to the Civil Rights movement, while being reared by an activist father who was part of the city’s first crop of Black firefighters. Determined to pursue his love of art from an early age, Floyd pursued his…
Kenny Frank was raised in Chicago, where his father who had a PhD in electrical engineering was employed at Bell Laboratories. An internship opportunity, as a high school student led to his eventual career path, where he would attend and obtain a BS in Computer Science at the University of Southern California. He transitioned from…
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Michael Harding began his professional career as a production manager trainee with Anheuser Busch in the 1970’s, a journey that will span a nearly four decade tenure with the same company. Michael would rise to become the second African American plant manager in the company’s 130 plus year history, and…
Dale Lockett spent the early part of his life moving from place to place due to his father’s career as a Methodist pastor, before his family settled in East Texas. He would attend the University of Houston where he pursued an education in TV production, before embarking on a career behind in the background of…
Born into a military family in North Texas, Gerald McElvy distinguished himself as a student at the University of Houston, before earning his MBA in Finance and embarking on a career in the energy industry. His storied 33-year career at ExxonMobil is a fascinating one that watched him rise to become the highest ranking African…
