Over much of her career, Nepal has created, managed, and maintained strategies that have helped organizations develop with long-term planning. Her steadiness, which led her to become a serious tennis player as a child, places minds at ease even when the path forward may not be clear.
For generations, her family owned a durian orchard in the middle of Bangkok. When it ceased to be productive in the mid-1990s, Nepal would hangout at a wooden pavilion in the middle of the land. It was a pavilion her ancestors would go to eat lunch day after day while seeking refuge from the sun. When Nepal was growing up, she would sit in there listening to the sounds of the breeze, proud to feel the sensations that generations of her family had felt. Those were serene times on a farm in the middle of a chaotic city. This calmness is a strength she still has today, which make her a firm and reassuring presence during moments of work-related chaos.
She joined UMA because she believes the organization is at an inflection point in its development and is poised for great growth with the current team in place.
When she’s not helping organizations see years and decades into the future, she enjoys cooking many of her favorite Thai dishes.
For over five years, Laura worked on behalf of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts to lead a coalition of community partners to rebuild a
downtown district in Springfield, MA into a vibrant center for local
entrepreneurship, arts & dining. Before that, Laura helped evaluate
and scale national programs for Interise, a nonprofit focused on
growing established small businesses owned by women and people of
color. Early in her career, Laura worked for Public Consulting Group
focused on improving state government programs around the country. She
also spent a period in Bolivia supporting a microfinance institution,
ProMujer.
In her spare time, Laura founded a makerspace, a community bike shop
and has served on the Board of an urban agriculture and youth
development organization. Laura loves working with her hands and has
felt especially at home while working on an organic berry farm and in
a Mexican popsicle shop. She has also been an athlete all her life and
is pursuing certification as an Integrated Positional Therapy
practitioner to help more people reduce their physical pain and learn
to heal themselves.
Laura is a graduate of Wesleyan University, has a Certificate in
Nonprofit Management from the Boston University School of Management.
Katy’s biggest strength is her ability to be a connector within a community. Prior to joining UMA, she worked in campaign politics across the country for 10 years. In one of her proudest moments in politics, she worked her way up from intern to deputy campaign manager for a Wisconsin congressional campaign. It was in a traditionally conservative district, but her progressive campaign won anyway because of her ability to help the community connect with the candidate.
Seeing disparate communities come together despite differences and divergent concerns is what drew Katy to UMA. She aids groups from different cities, as they form a network under the UMA banner, sharing what they know, and working towards a common goal. Katy is the junction between the businesses, workers, trade programs, and economic development agencies that make up the UMA community.
Katy’s central role on the UMA team is similar to her role as a nationally-competitive frisbee player. She’s played the sport for almost 20 years, training and traveling all over the world. She just loves being part of a team. Every campaign and every team needs a Katy.
The secret to her biggest strength may be found in her morning ritual: eating pie with a cup of coffee.
Elmer Moore Jr. is the executive director of Scale Up Milwaukee, an ecosystem project using Dan Isenberg’s proven model for infusing growth into an ecosystem. Scale Up Milwaukee runs a number of programs including the Scalerator, CEO Forum for Growth, Meet the Masters series and a growing membership platform. Scale Up Milwaukee has helped create more than 150 new jobs in the region.
Elmer came to Milwaukee as the director of business development for Allen Edmonds Corporation, a manufacturer and retailer of premium men’s footwear, apparel, and accessories. He previously led multicultural student recruitment as associate dean of admissions at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and has traveled extensively speaking and teaching on the topics of admissions, diversity and public speaking. Elmer also teaches entrepreneurship at Marquette University.
Elmer serves on the board of Make a Difference Wisconsin, an organization teaching financial literacy to teens. He earned his B.A. from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, and his MBA from Columbia Business School in New York City.
When a problem appears too complex to solve, Andrew’s one of those people capable of pointing you in the right direction. He once completed a 30-mile obstacle course in 11 hours, so overcoming challenging feats comes natural to him.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design from North Carolina State University, Andrew uprooted his life in Raleigh and moved to Austin, Texas to work in a design-build architecture firm creating everything from custom furniture to an outdoor kitchen. Immediately after graduating with a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from The University of the Arts (Philadelphia), Andrew jumped straight into entrepreneurship without any experience. Instead of getting a full-time job, he taught himself how to work with an entrepreneurial spirit, taking on many small projects. At the time, he may not have known how to run a business, but he figured it out. For a long time, Andrew was on the path to being a lifetime small business owner, providing services as a designer, maker, and consultant while also teaching design and making in product design, architecture, and crafts.
His desire to move forward into complex industries without reluctance comes from a couple of inspirational educators in his past, all of whom have influenced his career. He was first introduced to technology by a high school teacher who opened his eyes to what was possible in the physical world. In college, he learned to disrupt the conventional boundaries of manufacturing from two vanguard professors.
Andrew loves that UMA’s work is meaningful and impactful. He loves that he gets to engage with communities, learn about what they need to succeed, and then help them respond to those challenges.
When Andrew is not working, he loves woodworking in his small garage, gardening, and learning about vegetables. He can make a mean chicken pho and his pork dumplings might be better than any you’ve tasted in a restaurant.
Hon. Evan J. Segal is a business leader, social entrepreneur, philanthropist, public speaker, former senior government official
and mentor.
Evan was the President/Owner of Dormont Manufacturing Company, the inventor and leading manufacturer of flexible stainless steel gas appliance connectors. Dormont, a global manufacturing business, developed products used in
multinational foodservice chains and sold in leading appliance retailers and distributors throughout the world.
Mr. Segal also served as the Chief Financial Officer at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate. The CFO is responsible for the financial leadership of an enterprise with over 100,000 employees, $128 billion in assets and a budget greater than $100 billion. Mr. Segal also served on The White House Innovation and Information Policy Task Force and Co-Chaired the Federal CFO Council.
Evan currently serves as the Co-Chair of the NYU Stern Leadership Fellows and serves as an Executive-In-Residence in the Department of Management and Operations. After participating in the LF Program as a speaker, Evan joins Brian Ruder in leading this prestigious and highly acclaimed program. He previously served as an Executive-In-Residence at the CMU Tepper School of Business.
Evan is a Co-Founder of the 412 Venture Fund, which is focused on early stage companies with growth potential and strong ties to the Western Pennsylvania Region. He has also invested in (and mentored) early stage start-ups through Segal Ventures LP. These include BlastPoint, PathSpot Technologies, Gridwise, Honeycomb Credit, Welly Bottle, 2048 Ventures, The Fund and Shine Registry.
Evan has appeared on television, radio and in print discussing a wide range of business and leadership topics. He has spoken at numerous business schools, corporate meetings, conferences and industry events.
Mr. Segal is active in the philanthropic world and has served on the board of numerous non-profit organizations, including Venture For America and Kiva City Pittsburgh. In addition, Evan serves as the Chairman of The Segal Family Foundation supports innovative approaches to human kindness and social justice
As the Co-founder of Nashville Made, Audra has always understood the intersection between locally-made goods and small business economic development. As the founder of Audra Ladd Studios, she does pottery and hand weaving, so she knows what it’s like to run a small business. She sees UMA as sitting at the nexus of helping local businesses and manufacturing that support family sustaining wages. She loves the renaissance that manufacturing has experienced in recent years and wants to see that continue. Audra is not interested in doing anything that doesn’t make the world a better place for her kids. Working in manufacturing toward a different future is important to her. She also sees manufacturing as an industry where climate change and economic development come together.
Audra cares about protecting the environment and puts her concern to action. Her late grandmother gave her some irises from her yard that Audra has kept even as she’s moved around Tennessee. Regardless of where Audra’s residence was, every spring she looks forward to the bloom of the irises. Her dream job would be to run an organic sheep and flower farm, where she could weave. Although, she may leave the sheep shearing to someone else.
As a small business owner, you have to be comfortable with some risks, and Audra is no stranger to risk taking. She’s repelled down the inside of a defunct volcano in Guatemala, dove into Oregon’s Crater Lake, and learned to water ski behind her father’s boat when she was seven.
What makes Audra proudest of all is her ability to balance a rewarding career and being an attentive parent of two girls. She loves that she sets a good example for them to follow.
Tanu has spent her whole career in urban planning, and brings a broad perspective to the conversation about manufacturing. She’s been with UMA almost since its inception. She understands the best way to give residents of a community what they need is by engaging with them. In many of the projects she’s worked on, she gets stakeholders to the table early so that their opinions can be heard and implemented before decisions are made.
If she wasn’t an urban planner, she would want to be a historian to understand what came before, and capture the living history of a place to help city builders create the communities people need. The closest she gets to this ideal situation is when she travels to a new city. Tanu loves to wander around new places to explore their neighborhoods and get a feel for how they tick.
Experiencing the pulse of a city is something she remembers feeling growing up during the dynasty years of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. Tanu was a huge fan of the team, but especially remembers how much those championships meant for her city, which was evident in the euphoria of fans celebrating in the streets. It was those moments that showed how shared experiences can impact the history of a city.
Tanu loves kayaking and downhill skiing with her kids. When she’s not on the slopes, she likes gardening, hiking, making Chole Bhatura, and using the best two gifts she’s ever received: a Schwinn lavender bike her parents gave her when she was 8 that she still uses to run errands, and a mountain bike her husband gave her.
Phil Roberts is a writer based in Montreal, Canada. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, where he majored in Architectural Design, and minored in Canadian Studies and Spanish. He writes about design, urbanism, technology, creativity, innovation, architecture, and books. For several years, he worked as an architectural technician producing drawings for architects and interior designers.
Regionerate LLC is a woman-owned consulting firm based in Bethesda, Maryland. The president, Linda Fowler, has extensive expertise in community and economic development, inclusive innovation, and re-engagement strategies for individuals who are unemployed or underemployed. Regionerate has an orientation towards equitable outcomes and increasing the degree of inclusive planning and decision-making processes and structures to deliver viable solutions and long-lasting impact.
Linda Fowler, who founded Regionerate LLC in 2009, specializes in high-impact consulting with civic leadership groups, federal, state, and local governments, workforce and economic development organizations, universities, community colleges and industry to activate and support transformative regional partnerships. Focusing on manufacturing competitiveness, entrepreneurship support, innovation strategy, talent development, smart growth and sustainable communities, Linda has guided and facilitated regional prosperity and revitalization efforts in emblematic U.S. cities, including: West Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Flint, MI; Detroit, MI; Cleveland, OH; Toledo, OH; and SE San Diego. Linda has provided support to the German Marshall Fund as a Senior Non-Resident Fellow for their Urban Policy Program, created strategic partnerships and networks with multiple approaches to economic diversification for regional economies and consulted on Advanced Industries Strategies for the state of Colorado.
Linda was a Senior Technology and Business Advisor to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST-MEP) for 13 years. NIST-MEP is a Department of Commerce program focused on strengthening the competitiveness of small and mid-sized manufacturers. She led an external team for the U.S. Economic Development Administration to facilitate community investment strategy in Central Florida that focused on the transition of the Space Shuttle Program.
Currently, Linda works with federal agencies including Commerce, Labor, and NASA to support talent migration, manufacturing community partnerships, economic recovery, and small business assistance. For the past four years, Linda has supported NASA on designing and implementing Strategic Regional Innovation Partnerships that leverage the agency’s expertise, technologies, and facilities. Pilot sites include regions across nine states: Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, New York, Virginia, and Maryland.
Regionerate supports national funders and local foundations to engage communities in developing economic inclusion strategies and link economic, workforce and community development agendas. Her philanthropic clients include: New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan, Skillman Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Lumina Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, Ruth Mott Foundation, Lake County Community Foundation, Toledo Community Foundation, Arthur Blank Family Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Jacobs Family Foundation.
Linda supported an Entrepreneurs of Color Initiative in Detroit, Michigan for a funder network led by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In this role, she assessed the programmatic, cultural, financial and structural barriers to Entrepreneurs of Color. Linda conducted several focus groups and one on one interviews. One of the successful outcomes of the project was a new source of business capital and technical assistance for Detroit businesses owned by Entrepreneurs of Color and businesses committed to hiring primarily persons of color. The loans range from $50K to $150K. Several rounds of funding have been raised and disseminated to date.
Lee Wellington is the Founding Executive Director of the Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA), a national nonprofit that builds robust, inclusive manufacturing sectors in more than 250 cities across the United States. Through a mix of collaborative research and ecosystem building, and under Lee’s leadership, UMA has become nationally recognized for knowledge transfer across public agencies and community-based organizations. She has led the UMA team in building national learning communities on a range of issues including access to capital, community-embedded workforce programming, and mission driven industrial real estate development. In 2018, Lee guided UMA’s flagship research project, the State of Urban Manufacturing, a six-city study on small-scale manufacturing involving multiple Federal Reserve Banks, research universities, and hundreds of local manufacturing practitioners. Lee is a frequent presenter on urban manufacturing at conferences nationally and internationally, including Berlin’s Urban Tech Summit, The White House’s National Week of Making, the International Business Innovation Association’s Conference on Business Incubation, and the National League of Cities’ City Summit.
Prior to UMA, Lee worked in the public sector at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses and the New York City Council, at nonprofit planning organizations including the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Waterfront Alliance, and at legal services organizations including the Urban Justice Center’s Street Vendor Project and South Brooklyn Legal Services.
Lee holds a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, an M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute, and a B.S. in Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Crystal Marie has been an event planner specializing in destination weddings, corporate events, and private gatherings since 2008. Even if she could do it for fun, she would still love creating luxury travel experiences with food and fabrics. Trips that celebrate femininity, freedom, and leisure.
With a successful career in the private and public sector, she excelled at event planning despite not knowing if she had a successful future in the profession. She wasn’t charging enough, and wasn’t finding clients that valued her work. Then a well-known Detroit event planner named Melinda Anderson saw her work, and encouraged Crystal Marie to place a higher value on herself and her events. Melinda became her mentor, which gave Crystal Marie the confidence every new entrepreneur needs. It was a daring move when she left her corporate career to become a full-time event planner in 2016, but it paid off. With her two Bachelors of Science, in Biology and Nutrition & Food Science, she knew she could always find a job, but wanted to find her purpose and passion.
That is why she believes the best gift you can ever give someone is your time. For her, when you spend time teaching others, as Melinda did for her and how she now does for other novice event planners, you’re demonstrating that you value them as people. As an event planner, she charges for her time, and this sets a standard for how people should treat her.
It is through planning events for Detroit Design Core that she became the Events Leader for UMA. When she’s not planning weddings in Barbados and putting UMA events together, she loves reading, experiencing anything music related, teaching fitness classes (cycling, hula-hoop fitness, step aerobics) and eating fine cuisine, because if any meal happens to be her last, she wants it to be epic.
The UMA Board of Directors is made up of volunteer members who represent the diverse needs, aspects, and interests of the larger UMA Membership. If you’d like to invite one of our directors to speak at your event, please fill out this form.
American Progress
Evergreen Exchange
Echoing Green
Clear Impact
American Progress
Growing up in Seattle, Livia watched her parents adapt to life in a new country simply by working two jobs just to make ends meet. As a first generation Chinese American, she was surrounded by a family, including her grandparents, as well as an immigrant community that contributed to her development as a person. When Livia thinks about the 10 years she spent in Congress as the legislative director for U.S. Senator Patty Murray and the senior labor policy advisor for the Committee on Education and Labor chairman George Miller, she’s thankful for the opportunities her community gave her growing up that let her witness what working families need to survive. This positioned her to collaborate on the drafting of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
Livia joined UMA because she saw the connection the Alliance has with the community. The way UMA engages with programs and groups across the country with policy ideas that are in tune with their needs felt very genuine to her. That worker-centered, community-first approach reflected in the work and she wanted to get involved.
Most Christmas holidays, when she’s not advising elected officials and nonprofits on policy, Livia can be found enjoying the bright lights and Yuletide ambiance of Paris.
Evergreen Exchange
Leah has seen much of the country in-person. As a mother of a young baseball player, she travelled with her son to his games from state to state from the time he was eight until he reached 18. She spent countless evenings and weekends on the road seeing many sides of the country. Joining UMA was a relatable experience. She met colleagues with similar missions from all over the country and observes how the manufacturing industry is developing in certain markets.
Besides travelling for her son’s baseball games and travelling for work, Leah travelled a lot for leisure too. Back in her hometown of Buffalo, New York she was active in a Rock’n’Roll band as a musician and songwriter where she met other aspiring musicians. Leah knows she would make a great travel blogger because she loves seeing the world and learning from the people she meets. Her deadpan humor makes her instantly likable. As a masters graduate in Urban Policy Analysis and Nonprofit Management from the New School for Social Research, Leah’s insight comes from the experiences people are willing to share with her.
At home in her almost 160-year-old house, Leah is an excellent cook who can make anything. She likes to grill beef tenderloin with chimichurri sauce in the summer, and oven roast chicken tagine in the winter.
Echoing Green
Clear Impact
Carlos is a self-declared city nerd who spends his time studying urban landscapes for work and in his leisure time. Although he calls Ecuador home, and enjoys returning every now and then to visit his family, Carlos has no problem fitting in anywhere. From Denver, to Syracuse, to Washington D.C., Carlos loves exploring new cities, observing how people live, and becoming one of their citizens.
He lived in Toronto for several years, advising mayors and regional elected officials in equity-conscious economic development. Carlos became highly sought-after by municipalities within the Greater Toronto Area for his understanding of the complexity of how foreign investment, the private sector, academia, and nonprofits can partner on issues with all levels of government. Then Carlos left his public sector career to work for the National League of Cities.Life is D.C. was an adjustment compared to life back in Canada, but as usual he made it work. After a few years in the nation’s capital leading economic development initiatives in urban centers and watching his beloved Toronto Raptors from afar, he returned north of the border, this time settling in French-speaking Montreal, where he is currently learning a third language while managing global partnerships for Clear Impact.
Economic development is something Elizabeth would do even if she didn’t need to work for a living. No matter how big or small an organization might be, she is willing to help. She’s up for the challenge, regardless of the situation.
Her adventurous side comes from her childhood trips to the beach. As a little girl, she enjoyed running into the ocean and jumping into the waves as they crashed onto the beach. The joy she remembers from those moments surpassed the terror of facing the force of the water. That is the courageous attitude Elizabeth brings to her job as Director of Economic Development for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
Elizabeth’s desire for exploring unknown territory goes beyond her career and is evident in how she spends her leisure time too. She once travelled across Italy with her spouse without making any plans. She treats herself every year during the week of her birthday (which coincides with the week of Thanksgiving) with a trip to anywhere in the world, either alone or with a friend. When she’s at home in New York City or visiting other cities, this member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) with a Masters of Urban Planning from Hunter College (CUNY) loves walking around and seeing different neighborhoods. Activities like that help her to see firsthand how residents live and use their neighborhoods, but also observe the potential of the areas.
Elizabeth is proud to be an advocate for urban manufacturing, because most American cities lack leaders who champion the industrial sector. Without people like her, real estate interests miss opportunities to add economic development in and around their projects. She feels blessed to have joined UMA where other advocates of economic development like her share ideas, perspectives, and collaborate on initiatives.
Adam is someone people turn to whether their starting a nonprofit or want economic development advice to bolster a run for elected office. At least twice in his life, people have asked him to start new organizations. First, as the Executive Director of the Garment Industry Development Corporation and then the NY Industrial Retention Network. Both cases were risky endeavors, but the organizations outperformed their expectations and are doing even better today. As someone who used to do triathlons and long endurance bicycle rides, Adam knows how steady determination can often lead to success in the long-run.
When the time came to launch UMA, Adam already knew what it was like to start an organization without a net. Throughout his career he saw how limiting operating in silos was to people working to create economic change, so he wanted UMA to be a network. Adam is most proud of this cooperative approach to sharing best practices, research, and support.
He credits three people with giving him the wisdom he now imparts on others: the former head of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and active union politician, Edgar Romney; the late NYC Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch, who Adam considers to have been a brilliant strategist who thought many steps ahead as he analyzed problems; and former NYC councillor Ed Wallace who is a can-do mission-driven person.
For leisure, Adam likes reading escapist espionage novels by Walter Mosley and Alan Furst. But he doesn’t just read books, he publishes them too. He once published a cookbook for everyone at The Pratt Center, and one day he’d love to publish a UMA cookbook with everyone’s favorite meal that they like to cook. On his pages will be boeuf bourguignon and a big salad.
Tulsi has seen firsthand the value of entrepreneurship and manufacturing. For as long as she can remember, her mother has been a small business owner. Without a formal education, it was the only path her mother saw for herself as a means to support a family. Tulsi sees her mother as an example for people who face barriers and limitations to joining the traditional workforce. Currently, her father works in manufacturing, so she also sees the benefits of the industry from the worker’s perspective. This mixed insight has informed much of her career, which explains why she’s dedicated to helping people see that working for a manufacturer is a viable career path and being a maker selling your own products is too.
In 2016, she designed and launched an employment program called the Biotech Leaders Academy, connecting students from East Los Angeles College with internships at startups and research centers in the life sciences industry. The program showed students the options they have in the field, both as workers and entrepreneurs. Connecting youth to places of economic opportunity and mobility where they can sustain families and build wealth is the reason Tulsi is attracted to UMA.
As an aficionado of exquisitely made products, Tulsi would love to one day curate a selection of crafts and handmade items from India. She envisions a gathering place full of textiles, carved products, decorative items, jewelry covered objects, and even furniture. A place where she and the public get to select items while talking to the artisans about pieces, colors, and patterns. On one of her most memorable trips through Southern India with her mother and other relatives, she spent a week visiting many craftspeople throughout the country and thinks it would be great to bring that experience to Los Angeles.
When she’s not helping people become makers, Tulsi’s loves to go hiking. With her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Economics and Policy from UC Berkeley, plus a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA, she appreciates the beautiful green spaces Angelenos have on their doorstep, in the San Gabriel Valley, Hollywood Hills, and Griffith Park.
Bernadine Hawes is an executive level, nonprofit professional and economic development specialist working in the areas of project management, strategy development, workforce, and evaluation. She is considered a subject matter expert in the areas of technology, manufacturing and economic development. Recently, she has begun consulting with medical cannabis and research companies in PA, NJ, and Nevada.
She serves as Vice Chair of the National Advisory Board for the Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP) a division of the National Institute for Science and Technology (US Department of Commerce). She is Chair Emeritus of the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC), which provides top-level growth services to the region’s manufacturing sector.
Bernadine retired as Vice President from the University City Science Center, where her career spanned programming large-scale databases, research and analysis, and incubating over 100 information technology and biotech start-ups.
Her career experience at the Science Center led her to direct other entrepreneurship programs including entrepreneurs from underserved populations. She has authored a best practices manual for growing African American businesses that was funded in part the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Her community service includes serving as Interim President and CEO of the People’s Emergency Center, Chair of the PEC Community Development Board and past Chair of its Foundation. She also serves on the board of the Quest for Educational Excellence, a nonprofit organized through the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund.
Bernadine grew-up in Washington, DC, and came to Philadelphia to pursue her graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania [all but dissertation]. She graduated summa cum laude from B.A. Lincoln University (PA).
Ron is someone who has given much to his family, his community, and the emerging professionals whom he teaches. For Ron, one of the greatest gifts that you can give to someone is your time. When he sees former students become his colleagues, and watches them go on to do extraordinary things with their careers, he is filled with pride. That example of investing in youthful potential was set for him by his parents.
When he was 17, his parents sent him on a five-week trip to Europe with the American Institute for Foreign Studies where he met people from all over America. It was an eye-opening experience for him as an African American teenager from West Virginia. It was his first time on a plane, first time leaving the country, and first time away from his family for so long. What Ron appreciates to this day is the parental investment he witnessed. His parents were raising seven children at the time, three of them were in college, yet they still paid for him to go on the Europe trip. So when Ron became a parent, he took his kids everywhere. Their first trips came early in their lives, because of the example his parents set for him.
Even when he chose to do his undergraduate at the University of Tampa, his father worked extra jobs to ensure that he could graduate without any debt. Though Ron was the most academically underperforming of his siblings, his parents believed in him nonetheless. Ron’s upbringing and his faith is why over the course of his career he has been so generous with his time, caring with his students, and encouraging with colleagues.
It’s that same openness that drew him to UMA, because he saw that it is an organization that lets people operate within their strengths and has a tolerance for uncertainty. When Ron’s not chairing the board or teaches, he loves cooking any type of well-seasoned seafood.
Louis’ path to manufacturing started in college when he studied engineering during the day and attended law school at night. He was led to take on those two challenging subjects after a trip he and his cousin took the summer before his senior year of high school. In what Louis calls the most daring thing he’s ever done, he and his cousin hitchhiked across Canada for 2 months. After the two travelled from Atlantic Canada to British Columbia, they re-entered the U.S. in Washington state. It was there that Louis fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and decided that area of the country is where he wanted to go to college.
He worked in industrial engineering for various manufacturers in Charlotte and Pittsburgh, along with being a mentor to a number of legal professionals, some of whom have gone on to be federal judges. Later in his career, he handled internal human resources disputes for the TSA for several years.
As he was nearing semi-retirement, Louis was searching for a way to continue giving back to the community and to keep himself occupied. So he did some research online and that’s how he found UMA. When he read the mission of the Alliance, he knew someone of his experience had to get involved.
When he’s not sharing his wisdom on the Board, Louis likes fly fishing, reading, and his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. After all his years living in different cities, he now resides back in the Pacific Northwest.