Business Diversity Advisory Council
Consisting of business and community leaders, the Business
Advisory Council helps guide the NTTA in its efforts to encourage the
participation of disadvantaged, minority-owned, woman-owned and small business
enterprises (D/M/W/SBEs) in NTTA contract opportunities. The nine-member group
assists The NTTA's Business Diversity Department with outreach activity,
serves as a primary resource in identifying specific industry groups to target
for procurements and helps identify barriers experienced in contracting by
D/M/W/SBE programs. Business Diversity Director Moses Aito serves as
facilitator to the council.
Similar to the structure of the NTTA Board of Directors, the Business Diversity Advisory Council consists of two appointees from each of the four counties currently served by the NTTA and one at-large member appointed by the governor’s office.
Collin County Appointees:
Terri
T. Thomas
Terri
T. Thomas is a local ambassador for Chase bank. She builds and nurtures
relationships with key community leaders, nonprofit partners and small
businesses at the neighborhood level. Terri hosts financial health workshops,
facilitates non-profit partnerships and offers community programming. She helps
advance racial equity by supporting Black and Hispanic communities with tools
and resources to help them improve their financial wellbeing.
With
25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Terri has held
several positions within Chase, including Branch Manager, Private Client Banker
and Business Relationship Manager. She has been with Chase for 19 years. She is
currently a member of BOLD, Adelante, PRIDE, Women on the Move and Aspire.
Terri is a founding member of the Collin County Black Chamber of Commerce and
serves on its board.
Terri
lives in McKinney and spends her free time traveling with family and friends.
Board
and Organization Memberships:
•
Chairwoman, Collin County Black Chamber Foundation
•
Board Member/Founding Member, Collin County Black Chamber of Commerce
•
Board Member, Max-A-Millium Inc.
•
Community Relations Council Member, North Texas Job Corps
Honors
and Awards:
•
Women of Empowerment
•
Chase National Achiever
•
Community Award Recipient
•
Collin College Terri Thomas Scholarship
•
Collin County Black Chamber Recognition
Ken
M. Tse, AIA
Ken
M. Tse, AIA, founding Principal of KMT Architects, has more than 35 years
experience in a diverse range of architectural disciplines. Ken’s experience
includes Vice President and Senior Designer with one of the nation’s largest
architectural firms. He has led design efforts on many large-scale and
award-winning projects throughout the US and internationally.
Ken
is also the President of the Asian American Contractors & Professionals
Association (AACPA), advocating for small businesses in construction,
professional services, suppliers, and minority and woman-owned businesses for
diversity inclusion and capacity building.
He
serves on the City of Dallas Advisory Diversity Task Force and is a member of
the DFW Asian- American Citizens Council. He has served on the advisory
board for the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University and the
Board of Directors for The Greater Dallas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce.
He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, National Council of
Architectural Registration Boards, and is a LEED Accredited Professional with
the US Green Building Council.
Ken
received the Mayor’s Proclamation from The City of Dallas as a top building and
construction industry leader and was a recipient of the “Outstanding
Asian-American Business Achievement Award” by the US Pan-Asian Chamber of
Commerce Southwest.
Beyond
architecture and advocacy for business and diversity, he applies his skills to
complement his nonprofit work as the Executive Director of New Hope Compassion,
an organization that provides hope and compassion through outreach, education
and training to those in need. Ken has passion for giving back to his
community, mentoring students and emerging professionals, helping the
underserved, and serving missions locally and globally.
Dallas County Appointees:
John H. Martinez
BDAC Chairman
John H. Martinez- is the President of the Regional
Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA). His career has been dedicated to
developing and growing D/M/W/SBE firms. Martinez has worked in community and
minority business development since 1990. The RHCA serves the community through
its outreach programs. The RHCA has two major initiatives: The Women’s Business
Conference & Luna Awards and RHCA Pillar Awards. During his tenure the RHCA
has experienced unprecedented growth and achievement. In four years, RHCA membership
has grown from 42 members to over 800 members.
Open Seat
Denton County Appointees:
Kerry Goree
Kerry Goree, a graduate of the Grambling State
University, has served as the Chair of the Denton County Black Chamber of
Commerce for the past 14 years. He also serves on the Board of the Texas
Association of African American Chambers of Commerce and on the North Central
Texas College Foundation Board. He is the past Chair of the Economic
Development Committee of the Denton NAACP. He is the retired CEO and owner of
the Kerry Goree State Farm Insurance Agency in Denton, TX. Mr. Goree currently
works as an insurance consultant on commercial and personal products and
specializes in marketing employee benefits products.
Ray Martinez
Ray Martinez provides business development and sales
strategies consulting services to small and medium-size, minority-owned tech
companies. Martinez has decades of F300 B2B expertise planning, selling, presenting,
and observing buying decisions at global entities such as Disney, CNN, Nissan,
Exxon, Macy's, HCA, states of Texas and Tennessee, and the public-school
systems of Los Angeles, New York City and Houston. He has led 15 award winning
national sales and engineering teams in the west, east and southeast regions of
the U.S. and now helps clients with everything from company and solution
positioning to understanding buying decision data, and what’s needed to
compete, differentiate, and win business in today’s world. Martinez works with
company principals, internal sales teams, and solopreneur start-ups. Martinez
also serves on the board of Achieve—a non-profit for adults with disabilities
in DFW and the Principals Leadership Team of DeLay Middle School in Lewisville
ISD. He is a volunteer life mentor at Dallas, Plano, Ft. Worth and Lewisville
ISDs helping economically disadvantaged students. Martinez attended high school
in Los Angeles, California and Osaka, Japan and is a graduate of the University
of Southern California.
Tarrant County Appointees:
Florence Bruner
Florence Salazar-Bruner is an award-winning businesswoman
serving the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area for over 25 years in the auto
industry. Her business, Firehouse Auto Sales, LLC., is celebrating its tenth year in 2022. Her business is known for its
concierge auto service, where she finds and masterfully hand selects the car
you desire that will meet your personalized and budget needs. Florence has
developed a customer experience that thrives on a luxury experience for all
budgets, including high-quality communication, flexible scheduling, no haggle
and straight forward purchasing. This business truly puts the customer
experience as their priority. Florence serves on the board of several advocacy
organizations including the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic
Women’s Network of Texas Fort Worth Chapter, Texas State Board of Hispanic
Women’s Network of Texas, chair of the Fort Worth Sister Cities International
for Toluca, Mexico, and she is a mentor of Girls Inc Tarrant County since 2017.
Jeffery Postell
Jeffery Postell is the President/Operations at Post L
Group, LLC., construction with a career of over 22 years in the industry. He
actively serves as the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC-DFW
Chapter) Board Chair and the City of Fort Worth District 8 Building Standards
Commissioner. Jeff also demonstrates his dedication to the community through
the social responsibility for the Post L Group. He provides philanthropic
resources to a diverse group of community organizations. These charities include
United Way, homeless shelters, and countless volunteer hours at the Como
Community Center.
Member-at-large
Appointee:
Amanda
Smith
Amanda Smith, President of Mahuya Industries, LLC., has
over 20 years of experience in the construction industry. She has a passion for
helping other small businesses grow. She is an active member of the Regional
Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA) and serves on the Luna Committee.
Amanda was involved in the formation of the Native American Business
Association (NABA) and currently serves as President. Amanda holds an MBA and
Graduate Certificate in Project Management from UT Dallas and BS in Paralegal
Studies from Texas Wesleyan University.