The African Diaspora Economic Collaborative (ADEC)

Angeline is a native of Toledo, Ohio (U.S.A.) and graduate of Toledo Public Schools, the University of Toledo, and the University of Southern California. Angeline holds BA in Geography (Concentration: Urban and Regional Planning), MPA in Public Administration (Concentration: Municipal Administration), and MPl in Planning (Concentration: Economic Development). Her personal and professional passions center around work that addresses socioeconomic disparities related to race/ethnicity and income in urban communities in both the United States and throughout the African continent. Angeline has a 25+ year career that has centered on service to neighborhoods and communities. She has worked for both nonprofit and governmental entities where her responsibilities involved building relationships not only with senior-level organizational and political leadership, but also working directly in neighborhoods with community residents at the grassroots-level to further community progress. Angeline is the Founder and CEO of Community Connections Consulting Services, LLC ("C3S").  The mission of C3S is to provide high-level professional expertise and implementation guidance to support the earnest efforts of governmental, non-governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit entities working to improve the quality of life for individuals, children, and families.   

Veronica Njodinizeh has over 20+ years’ experience as a management consultant, and is highly adept at project management, delivering high quality results for clients.  She is the founder and independent consultant of VNIZEH Consulting Inc. Veronica takes pride in her business approach by focusing on people and purpose when delivering, with the key being bringing an intentional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens into the work that is usually delivered collaboratively with her clients. Her expert specialty areas include: Strategic planning, project management, program development, leadership coaching & training. Prior to starting her own business, Veronica spent nearly a decade at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as a Business Development Manager and Healthcare Advisory Consultant, where she served multiple industries of global and national clients. Veronica holds an MA in Health Administration from the University of Southern California and a BS in Chemistry from Wright State University. She also earned a Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University.

Dr. Thelá R. Thatch is the CEO & Founder of Thelá Thatch Consulting and Time2Dream (a non-profit organization). Dr. Thatch drives diversity, equity, and inclusion within organizations using human resource & policy strategies. Thelá has more than two decades of experience in human resources, talent management, organizational development, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. Prior to serving at Paychex as Head of DEI, she served as an executive consultant to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services where she developed a human capital and workforce strategy to recruit and train individuals to provide services to the homeless and other vulnerable populations. Thelá also led in the role as Chief Diversity Officer for Live Nation Entertainment where she laid the foundation to implement the first diversity initiative within a global organization of more than 10,000 employees. Over the years, she has worked with various Fortune 500 organizations such as Fox Television and Cablevision. She graduated from Kean University with a BA in Communications, earned her MBA with a concentration in Human Resources at North Greenville University, and her MPhil from Walden University. Thelá holds a Ph.D. in public policy and administration with a law specialization from Walden University where she also serves as a contributing faculty member for various universities.

 Norvell Thomas is an accomplished operations and management consultant with global experience in North America and Asian territories. He holds a Bachelor degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, with a special emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations. Mr. Thomas earned both his Master’s in Business Administration as well as his Doctorate in Political Science and International Relations at Claremont Graduate University. Mr. Thomas is the founder and CEO of Benchmarq, a management consulting firm, as well as serving as an Adjunct Professor of Business and Management at California State University at Los Angeles where he designs and delivers instructional curriculum for business and management students. In addition, he implements specialized training on negotiation seminars, and conflict resolution strategies as a consultant for small and medium sized organizations. He is a noted authority in delivering interactive training on negotiation, diversity, customer service, crisis management, active listening and global leadership.