About Us

Kenneth White is the President and CEO of the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce.  Prior to taking on this role, he held the position of Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager for Sandy Spring Bank.

Mr. White’s career in banking and economic development spans over 40 years.

He has held positions at Signal Financial Federal Credit Union, M&T Bank, Bank of America, Working for Success Economic Development Corp; The Washington Project; New Day Consulting; and Southeastern University’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

Mr. White serves on the Board of Directors of the following organizations:  Prince George’s County Board of Social Services, Montgomery County Black Collective and the Maryland Association of Social Services Board Foundation.

He is a former Board Member of the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Prince George’s, Maryland Commercial Lenders Association, and FSC First.

He also serves on the Maryland State Comptroller’s Business Advisory Council.

Mr. White is a graduate of Potomac College with a BS in Management. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, Carey School of Business, Minority Leadership Development Graduate Program as well as Leadership Prince George’s.

Mr. White was recognized in 2022 by The Daily Record with the Power 30 Business Leaders Award.

He has also been recognized for his community involvement with awards from Leadership Prince George’s, Prince George’s FSC First, Prince George’s Small Business Initiative Alliance, and the US Small Business Administration.

1^st Vice President, SBA Lending Team

38 years of lending to Small Business Investment Corporations(SBICs), Large Corporate, Middle Market, and Small Business Lending experience at money center and community banks.

Jerry T. Sanford is a seasoned professional with three decades of experience in corporate growth, public policy, public private partnerships, community engagement, external affairs, and economic development.  Mr. Sanford has strong connections with key business, government and community stakeholders throughout the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD metropolitan areas with many additional key contacts nationally and internationally.  Jerry is known for being an impactful leader who gets results.

David Smith is an experienced nonprofit leader and strategist with a strong record of advancing equity and economic opportunity through program innovation, coalition building, and stakeholder engagement. Currently the Director of Diversity Programs at the International Franchise Association (IFA), he has led national initiatives supporting diverse entrepreneurs, built high-impact partnerships, and driven policy advocacy across multiple sectors. Previously David has worked with the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) – the largest network of diverse-owned alternative investment firms, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and served as Chief of Staff at the US Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC). With over a decade of experience, David is passionate about empowering communities, mobilizing resources, and creating pathways for underrepresented voices in business and finance.

Stacey Brown is an entrepreneur and visual communications leader who has spent her career turning ideas into something visible and impactful—connecting strategy, creativity, and community impact across every role she has held.

As Owner and Chief Image Builder of Signarama Silver Spring and Signarama DC North, Stacey brings an uncommon blend of corporate leadership and creative entrepreneurship to the sign and visual communications industry. Before entering the industry, she spent 17 years at Mars, Incorporated, where she led global and regional initiatives and developed the “power skills” that continue to shape her leadership today—collaboration across cultures, strategic thinking, stakeholder management, communication, and the ability to move complex projects from concept to execution. Working on global business teams and managing large-scale projects sharpened a disciplined, systems-oriented approach that now informs how she leads her business, serves clients, and solves problems.

Her foundation in marketing, paired with an MBA from the University of Maryland and a business degree from Rutgers University, has shaped a career centered on connecting strategy with execution. That perspective has become a hallmark of her work in the sign industry, where she approaches signage not simply as a product, but as a powerful business and branding tool. What drew Stacey to the sign industry was the rare convergence of strategy and creativity—the opportunity to help ideas show up in the world. She often describes her passion as helping transform ideas into something tangible, visible, and impactful.

For Stacey, there is deep satisfaction in this work—transforming concepts into branded environments, placemaking experiences, environmental graphics, and visual expressions that elevate identity, communicate meaning, and make businesses more visible. It is where her love of marketing, project management, and visual problem-solving meet.

Known for running her company “more like a marketing business that sells signs than a traditional sign shop,” Stacey leverages her background to bring a consultative, highly strategic approach to clients, particularly in complex, compliance-driven and multi-stakeholder environments. Her expertise in project management and business systems has also positioned her as a thought leader in operational excellence and innovation within the industry. In 2025 and 2026, she has taught at ISA International Sign Expo on project management and AI-driven sign shop productivity, reflecting her passion for helping the industry evolve.

Stacey serves as Board Chair of the Sign Research Foundation, where she has served on the board for four years. In this national leadership role, she helps advance research, education, and thought leadership around signage, placemaking, and the built environment.

Equally central to Stacey’s identity is community engagement and expanding opportunity for others. Her leadership and professional service include the following roles:

As Steering Committee Chair of the Lyttonsville Business Group, Stacey advocates for local businesses and helps address issues affecting the district’s economic vitality, development, and visibility.

As a Board Member of the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce, Stacey supports efforts to strengthen, connect, and expand opportunities for Black-owned businesses across Maryland.

As a member of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, Stacey remains actively connected to the regional business community and initiatives that support local economic growth.

Her commitment to education and workforce development runs deep. Stacey mentors and creates opportunities for high school graphic design students through a local technical high school, has supported first-generation college students through Future Link and MTIP internship programs, and has served for eight years as an adjunct professor at Prince George’s Community College, where she teaches Creating Visuals to Brand Your Business.

She also believes business should be a platform for inclusion. For more than a decade, Stacey has partnered with Cornerstone Montgomery—which supports people living with mental health and co-occurring challenges—providing employment opportunities and demonstrating her belief that everyone deserves access to meaningful work and opportunity.

Whether leading a business, teaching in a classroom, advancing the sign industry, or mentoring young people, Stacey brings the same philosophy: business can be both high-performing and deeply human. Her work reflects a lifelong belief that great ideas, when nurtured and made visible, can strengthen businesses, communities, and lives.

Patrice Jones Forbes is Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations for Prince George’s Community Federal Credit Union, where she leads the organization’s brand strategy, public relations, community engagement, digital marketing, internal communications, and strategic partnerships. With more than 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, and business development, she has built a career helping organizations strengthen their brands, deepen community relationships, and drive measurable growth.

Throughout her career, Ms. Jones Forbes has led award-winning marketing initiatives across the financial services, nonprofit, and entertainment industries. She has played a key role in advancing the credit union’s community presence through innovative campaigns, strategic partnerships, financial education initiatives, and member engagement programs.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce and as a Board Advisor and Voting Member for the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs) Washington, D.C. Chapter.

Ms. Jones Forbes is passionate about building strong organizations through strategic communications, collaborative leadership, and meaningful community engagement. She is committed to advancing economic opportunity, supporting minority-owned businesses, and fostering partnerships that create lasting impact throughout Prince George’s County and the greater Washington metropolitan region.

Ms. Jones Forbes earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bowie State University and a Graduate Certificate from the University of Virginia. She is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration at The George Washington University.

Nelson Davy’s 15-year career spans from one of the largest accounting firms in the world to the United States Senate, to serving as the Treasurer for the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce.  He currently owns and operates a Commercial Health Insurance Brokerage and helps hundreds of business owners scale their companies to attract and retain employees by implementing alternative funding methods as well as wellness and risk management ideas to contain health care costs.  He’s an experienced leader who knows the ins and outs of what it takes to launch and operate a successful Start-up in this rapidly changing workforce and economy.

Sanita Alrey DeBose is the founder and owner of BrandUworld, a certified MBE woman-owned small business providing promotional products and custom brand solutions. She brings extensive corporate experience from working with Fortune 100 companies, where she managed domestic and global projects and gained expertise in product development, marketing, and business operations. Through BrandUworld, she partners with companies, organizations, and municipalities to create impactful branded experiences. Sanita is also an active community leader, serving on multiple nonprofit boards and supporting initiatives that strengthen local businesses and communities.

www.branduworld.com

| (240) 461-6477

Eddie Egesi currently serves on both the Montgomery County Advisory Board and the Marketing Committee for the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce (MBCC). He is a brand consultant and founder of Apricot Branding, LLC, a strategic branding and design firm dedicated to empowering visionaries to amplify the impact and maximize the potential of their brands through strategic communications, design, and marketing solutions. He also recently launched Apricot Press, a new publishing imprint dedicated to guiding businesses and ministries through the self-publishing process so they can share their stories and connect with their audiences.

With more than 8 years of experience in the media and communications industry, Eddie brings deep expertise in branding, design, and marketing. He has authored over 50 articles on topics that range from marketing strategy to brand development. He has also partnered with the MBCC to deliver insightful presentations at events such as The Interactive Business Marketing Seminar, Business Leadership Academy: Cohort III and the M&T Bank Accelerator Program.

He is passionate about transforming meaningful ideas into lasting impact that helps organizations to grow and thrive. At Apricot Branding, he is committed to partnering with both small and large businesses to accelerate their mission through creative collaboration, content creation, workshops, seminars, and trainings.

Chris is a long-time resident of Prince George’s County.

Chris graduated from Howard University with a degree in Business Finance.

He has over 10 years of experience in the financial industry. Currently, he is a Senior Relationship Banker for Truist

Dr. Krystal Vernee’ is an international, award-winning Business Consultant, Strategic Advisor, and CEO of Simply SHE, a consulting firm that helps founders scale into confident, infrastructure-driven CEOs.

With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and operations, Dr. Krystal specializes in helping entrepreneurs eliminate chaos, close revenue leaks, and build scalable systems that generate consistent, predictable income without burnout. Her work bridges strategy and execution, guiding clients to move from hustle-based growth to sustainable, systems-led expansion.

Dr. Krystal’s expertise spans lead generation ecosystems, revenue architecture, business systems and automation, AI-enabled operations, marketing strategy (organic and paid), leadership development, and the creation of multiple income streams. She is known for transforming fragmented businesses into streamlined, growth-ready enterprises built to scale beyond the founder.

As a sought-after speaker and advisor, Dr. Krystal has coached and trained thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide and has been featured in major media outlets including The New York Times, Fox, NBC, The CW, and NewsOne Now.

At the core of her work is a singular mission: to help entrepreneurs rise into leadership, own their brilliance, and build businesses that create lasting impact and profit.