Jane is an experienced, committed professional with a record of high-impact accomplishments. Beginning her career in commercial real estate in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, she later relocated to Richmond to serve as Managing Director and partner of Advantis Real Estate Services Company. Jane left the private sector in 2005 to join the City of Richmond under Mayor Douglas Wilder’s administration. She spent the next fourteen years leading the City’s real estate, economic development, and business attraction activities and had the opportunity to travel while marketing the City to business and industry.

As a faculty member of the CCIM Institute, Jane taught commercial real estate investment analysis and real estate development courses to commercial real estate practitioners from around the country. She was named as one of the Top 20 Women in Commercial Real Estate by Richmond CREWE in 2009.

Jane was selected by Richmond’s current Mayor to serve as a fellow for the Daniel Rose Fellowship for Public Leaders, a partnership of the Urban Land Institute and the National League of Cities. She was also appointed by the Governor of Virginia to serve on the business development and marketing advisory committee for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

Jarrod Elwell is the Community Development regional manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, serving Virginia and Washington, D.C, and he joined the Richmond Fed in January 2023. He has over three decades of experience in community development.   

Prior to joining the Richmond Fed, Jarrod spent 12 years at Enterprise Community Partners, providing community development technical assistance and capacity building services. His previous experience includes leading a nonprofit housing and social services organization in Washington, D.C.; conducting regional and national fair housing and civil rights investigations and trainings; and, leading programs for a youth services and juvenile justice organization. 

He earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies (law/public policy) from Binghamton University, a master's degree in management from the University of Maryland, and a Leading with Impact Certificate from American University. Jarrod also served, Honorably, as a Legal Non-Commissioned Officer with the 10th Mountain Division in the United State Army.  

Astrid M. Gámez, MA is the founder and Executive Director of Family Services Network. For the past 29 years, Ms. Gámez has been serving local communities in the Northern Virginia and Washington DC area. Ms. Gámez developed the “Whom Should I Tell?” curriculum, a comprehensive child sexual abuse prevention program that teaches parents and caregivers the practical tools and techniques to prevent, recognize and report any type of child sexual abuse.  

As an ACT–RSK Master Trainer, Ms. Gámez has trained facilitators in Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, the Melissa Institute in Miami, FL., and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador.  

In addition, she has conducted training programs at the Instituto de Capacitación Los Alamos in Itagui, Colombia and the Universidad La Sabana, in Chia, Colombia.  

In 2021, Ms. Gámez published Whom Should I Tell?, an educational coloring and activities book for 4 to 12 year old children to help them understand and recognize signs of sexual abuse. Ms. Gámez holds an M.A in Prevention and Treatment of Family Violence: Children, Couples and the Elderly from the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain and a B.A. in psychology with a certification in child welfare from George Mason University.  

She was appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin to the Virginia Latino Advisory Board in 2022 where she was elected as Chair of the board twice. In 2025, she was appointed by Governor Youngkin as a member of the State Board of Health. 

Ms. Gámez was born and raise in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1994, she adopted Virginia as her “home state” where she raised her two children. 

Dan Kern is the Business Development & Training Manager for Virginia Housing.  After a 23-year career in the mortgage industry as a loan officer, Dan joined the Authority in 2016 for this newly created position. Drawing upon his product and sales knowledge as well as his industry contacts and passion for affordable housing, Dan is responsible for a variety of tasks including: Management of Virginia Housing’s Business Development Officer team; Lender trainings; New Lender approvals; Continuing education seminars offered in partnership with Realtor Associations throughout the state; Product development and marketing; Improved internal and external process efficiencies   

Dan is a native of Richmond and a graduate of the College of William & Mary.

Elmer has been Leading The Diaz Team for over two decades, and ensures his businesses prioritizes lasting partnerships and empathy. The Diaz Team has even been recognized as a top 10 real estate agent in the Southeast for 5 years in NAHREP. Elmer is known for breaking barriers, supporting local events, and is the first person of color in the past 111 years to have created "International Day" at Chesterfield County Fair. He has not only established this tradition but has hosted it now for two consecutive years, bringing the community together. The Diaz Team truly is a testament of a family and unity throughout the state of Virginia. 

As chancellor of Virginia’s Community College System, Dr. Doré provides day-to-day leadership for a system comprised of twenty-three colleges that serves more than 200,000 degree-seeking and workforce-career training students annually.

Like so many community college students, Dr. Doré was a first-generation college student. His decades-long career has been guided by a fundamental belief that every learner can be successful. He is committed to serving diverse and underrepresented populations to foster inclusive learning communities, supporting open access, student success, and economic mobility.

A self-described student advocate, Dr. Doré is focused on providing life-changing opportunities to students in all stages of their educational journeys - from high school dual enrollment students to the  “New Majority of learners” -- those twenty-five and older who face limited job prospects because they lack post-high school credentials.

Before taking the reins at the Virginia Community College System, Dr. Doré served as President of Campuses and Executive Vice Chancellor at Pima Community College. There, he led the college’s five campuses and workforce development initiatives. Dr. Doré has also served in higher education leadership positions in Tempe, Arizona and San Francisco, California.

Doré earned his Doctor of Education degree at Pepperdine University; master’s degrees at Georgetown University, Boston College, and Santa Clara University; an advanced degree in Philosophy from Gonzaga University; and his bachelor’s degree from Gannon University.

Named a Presidential Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program in 2017, Dr. Doré is active in community leadership and is a staunch proponent of community college education at the state and national levels.

Dr. David Doré is the tenth chancellor to lead the Virginia Community College System, which was founded in 1966.

Dr. July P. Coleman is a higher education administrator and researcher committed to expanding college access, persistence, and graduation outcomes for underrepresented, first generation, and Pell eligible students. She earned her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, where her dissertation titled Dame la mano, somos hermanos examined the lived experiences and success pathways of Latino male students attending a Minority Serving Institution.

At Virginia State University, Dr. Coleman leads strategic student success initiatives through the Virginia College Affordability Network (VCAN) and supports more than one thousand scholars each year through affordability efforts, mentoring, advising, academic recovery, and career development. She also supports the Pell Initiative for Virginia PIV SHEV at Virginia State University where she advances data informed strategies to increase enrollment, retention, and degree completion for Pell eligible students through peer-to-peer mentoring and coordinated academic support.

Dr. Coleman developed the VCAN Scholar GPT platform to provide students with on demand guidance and real time resource navigation, ensuring students receive answers when they need them most.

Her work reflects a steady commitment to removing barriers, strengthening student belonging, and building clear pathways to degree completion and future opportunity.

Manuella Escobar is a Colombian-born communicator, researcher and emerging public relations professional studying Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. With experience in digital strategy, social media management, communications, and content creation, she has worked with different organizations including Reynolds Community College, the Office of Senator Ghazala Hashmi, Marketing University, and local Virginia businesses. She also serves in leadership roles with TEDxVCU and the Mellon Pathways Program and has earned multiple honors for academic excellence and campus involvement. Passionate about storytelling and digital communication, Manuella focuses on creating accessible and relevant content that drives meaningful connection across communities and generations.

Elizabeth Creamer is Vice President of Workforce Development, Community College Workforce Alliance (CCWA), a shared division of Reynolds and Brightpoint community colleges.  Previously, Elizabeth served as Advisor for Workforce Development in Governor Terence R. McAuliffe’s and Governor Bob McDonnell’s administrations.  She also served as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Career Pathways and Workforce Programs for Virginia Community College System (VCCS) and in administrative positions at Virginia Peninsula and Paul D. Camp Community Colleges.  Creamer is a board member of Go Virginia Region 4, ChamberRVA, and the Alliance for Building Better Medicines.  

Douglas Garcia of Alexandria, VA currently serves as Senior Director, US Federal Government Relations for Pearson Education.

Douglas served as Director of Government Relations at the College Board where he built partnerships with government officials to increase college access and opportunities for students. He previously served as Senior Director at Educational Testing Service. Prior to that he served as Executive Director of federal relations and outreach for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. Douglas also served two terms on the Virginia State Board for Community Colleges, including service as State Board Chair. A graduate of James Madison University, he was Assistant Secretary of education for former Governor Tim Kaine. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Sorenson Institute for Political Leadership class of 2009.

The Hon. James E. Campos currently serves as a Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade as well as the Executive Director for the TRRC, a $1.4 billion dollar economic development agency/fund focused on energy development, innovation and infrastructure advancement in Southern and Southwest Virginia under Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration. Prior to joining the Youngkin administration, Mr. Campos worked as an American political, business consultant and speaker on energy issues.

Nicole Riley serves as Director of Virginia Government Affairs for the Data Center Coalition (DCC), the member association serving as the voice of the data center industry.

Nicole is a seasoned government relations professional who recently represented clients before the Virginia General Assembly and executive branch in various industries as President of Blue Ridge Public Affairs. She also advised clients on advocacy activities, including policy development, grassroots engagement, coalition building, and political activities.

Nicole has over twenty-five years of experience in government relations across both private and public sectors. Before starting her own firm, she worked at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade, where she led policy development and advocacy efforts for funding critical economic development projects and programs.

Nicole led the Virginia state office for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), representing over 6,000 small business owners on issues like tax, health care, energy, and unemployment policies. She successfully implemented grassroots campaigns on protecting private property rights and tax reform, and co-led a coalition of over thirty business trade associations.

A graduate of Roanoke College, Nicole holds a B.A. degree in Political Science with a Minor in History. In her free time, Nicole enjoys camping with her family and attending live music shows. She was raised in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has lived in Richmond for over two decades.

Jeffrey Miller is the vice president of business development at TerraPower, developing relationships, new business alignments and strategic partnership opportunities in the Natrium and TerraPower Isotopes programs. He has more than 20 years of industry and government experience in nuclear power, including advocacy, business development, strategy, policy, program, and project management.

Prior to joining TerraPower, Miller had established the Japan office of Centrus Energy, an enrichment company working to re-establish production in the United States with domestically owned, controlled and operated enrichment technology. In this capacity, he grew and maintained the company’s market share in low enriched uranium sales in Asia. While leading Centrus Japan, he was responsible for business generation, advocacy and relationship management in Japan and Asia at all levels. After returning to the United States, Miller served as the director of sales and marketing for Centrus Energy’s American Centrifuge Operations business unit, leading international customer engagements and strategic planning for new technologies and market approaches.

Earlier in his career, Miller supported the early stages of Fukushima Dai-ichi accident response on the U.S. Department of Energy Accident Response Team in spring 2011. Subsequently, from July 2011 to August 2016, he continued to support Fukushima’s recovery while serving as the director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Japan Office in the U.S. Embassy Tokyo, managing the office and representing DOE and its program offices in Japan at all levels, including on behalf of the secretary and deputy secretary in the nuclear, clean energy, security, science and environmental sectors.

Miller entered the United States government as a presidential management fellow in 1999. In addition to DOE, he also worked for the U.S. Department of State and the National Nuclear Security Administration on a range of national security and critical infrastructure protection programs. In addition, he worked for Battelle Memorial Institute at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where he managed radiation detection deployment projects in seaports and land border crossings throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. During his junior year of college Miller studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law and is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland.

Brad Viator serves as CEO of b strategic’s advisory services, focused on guiding clients

through complex legislative, regulatory, and media challenges. With fifteen years of experience in the energy industry, Brad has become a recognized expert in his field, speaking at industry and legislative events about all aspects of the energy industry, from electricity markets to the value and benefit of the regulated utility model. Brad is a frequent contributor to energy trade publications such as Utility Dive, RTO Insider, RealClear Energy, and various industry podcasts.

He also serves as a Board Member of Power For Tomorrow, the nation’s leading resource for providing practical research, commentary, and information regarding how the regulated utility model protects customers and supports public policy goals.

Before launching b strategic, Brad served as Vice President of External Affairs at The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the national trade association representing America’s investor-owned electric utilities. In that role, Brad led both federal and state external engagement, including advocating for America’s largest electric companies with elected lawmakers and regulatory officials. At EEI, he oversaw the association’s PowerPAC, as well as managed labor relations and local and community affairs.

A Texas native, Brad earned his Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Texas A&M

University. He serves on the board of the Bipartisan Leadership Project and coaches youth sports.

Spencer Silverman serves as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), where he oversees the agency’s day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives advancing next-generation energy technologies. His work supports ARPA-E’s mission to de-risk high-impact innovations and accelerate their commercialization and adoption by the private sector to strengthen American energy security.

Mr. Silverman has more than a decade of experience managing multi-million-dollar budgets and complex projects, leading diverse teams, and developing efficient organizational workflows. Before joining DOE, he led national analytics and voter-engagement programs for senior congressional leadership and major committees, integrating data science, finance, and strategy to drive measurable results and improve return on investment.

Mr. Silverman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Franklin & Marshall College.