Carl Gray (Chair)

Carl Gray III is a Business Consultant, Information Security expert in the Washington DC, Metropolitan area. He has over 20 years of professional experience in Politics, Marketing, Consulting IT and related industries. As Carl seeks to master the areas of assurance, business development, and risk management, Carl really digs deep into the many industry standards and not only uses them to assess his clients’ security, but also bring added value to make their processes more efficient. He uses an array of automated and manual tools to perform network vulnerability assessments and internal control reviews to ensure integrity, confidentiality, and availability of system resources. As founder of "Learn From a Hacker" Carl teaches cyber security awareness courses to businesses, organizations, and individuals to help to keep individuals safe on the internet from hackers and other negative threats. Mr. Gray has also developed courses to train the next generation of ethical hackers. Carl has a desire to help 1,000 new entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses in 2022!

Meagan Jones

Meagan is a global marketing communications manager with experience in the higher education, finance, fintech, healthcare, and global law industries. With 15 years of experience in building brands and developing marketing and communications strategy plans, she is currently a Senior Global Marketing Communications Manager. She is also an adjunct professor of Mass communications and has been teaching on the college level for over 10 years. As a leader in her field, Meagan has developed multimillion dollar digital marketing campaigns for non-profit, finance, and major global organizations. She has also helped spearhead strategies for popular brands you may interact with everyday such as Geico, Google, X-Games, Hilton hotels and more. Most recently she has been focused on developing marketing strategy for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion model that will be used globally in the legal industry to benchmark and grow DE&I efforts. Meagan is extremely passionate about developing marketing strategies that enable organizations and brands to not only reach their intended target audiences, but exceed their reach goals by connecting with consumers in the most creative ways. Meagan received her BS from Norfolk State University in Mass Communications and her MS from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter also in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Advertising and Communication Strategies. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Grant Emerson Harvey

Grant Emerson Harvey is a seasoned theatre professional, educator, and arts administrator with over 15 years of experience in the performing arts. With a BA in Theatre Arts from Morgan State University and an MFA in Acting from The Actors Studio at Pace University, Grant has dedicated his career to fostering creativity and nurturing talent in diverse educational settings.

Grant's teaching portfolio is extensive, having instructed courses in Theatre History, Acting, Scene Study, and Sound Design at renowned institutions including Towson University, New York University (Atlantic Studio), Atlantic Acting School, New York Film Academy, and AMDA. His work has spanned across the United States and internationally, enriching students from the DMV area to California and Taiwan. Currently, he teaches at Morgan State University, where he continues to inspire and mentor emerging artists. Grant's professional journey has also seen him excel as a stage actor, with notable roles on stages up and down the East Coast; most recently on stage at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, MD.  


In addition to his academic contributions, Grant is the Programs Manager for Theatre Major LLC, an education consultancy that supports high school students as they navigate the college application and audition process for theatre programs. His role involves strategic planning and program development, ensuring that students are well-prepared and confident in their artistic pursuits.

Beyond the classroom and stage, Grant Emerson Harvey is committed to building bridges between education and the arts. His work is centered on creating opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and growth within institutions and the broader community. Emphasizing the transformative potential of the arts in education, he is dedicated to fostering environments where creativity can thrive and lifelong learning can flourish.

Derrick Taylor

Mr. Derrick Taylor is an experienced Public and Private Sector strategy, assurance, information technology (IT), and financial management (FM) advisor. He is a graduate of Hampton University, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, and currently publicly serves as a Senior Program Manager with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Secret Service (USSS). His comprehensive portfolio focuses on delivering leadership, strategy, program management, assurance and compliance, audit management, policy management, robotic process automation (RPA), FM solutions, business process reengineering (BPR) and business process management (BPM), IT operations and integration, system and process implementation, contract acquisition and management, business proposal development and review, community service, and youth athletic training. He became a champion of comprehensive diversity and inclusion based on his socialization, collegiate matriculation, and professional collaboration and continental U.S. (CONUS) or domestic travel. During his 16+ year Public and Private career, he obtained multiple Public Sector and Department of Defense (DoD) professional internal controls, IT assurance, and leadership certifications. In the last five years he has sat on multiple DoD audit panels and completed the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) DoD DSS, now DCSA, Leadership Development Program and Graduate School USA Executive Potential Program (EPP) Leadership Development. Additionally, Mr. Taylor has led organizational teams and chaired committees in college, his social fraternity, local public-school classrooms and school boards, residential real estate, community organizations, youth sports, entertainment and promotion companies, and church. He has gained direct financial services experience and investment opportunities from working with his licensed financial advisors and hosted multiple community knowledge sharing events. Mr. Derrick Taylor’s diverse professional experience makes him well-versed, capable of bridging gaps, and a thought leader of the future.

Rob Joell

Mr. Rob Joell is retired from the United States Air Force and is a Manager, Coast Guard Headquarters Security and Intelligence Division, in Washington D.C. and has been described as a "cultural carrier" as Rob is an advocate in promoting fairness in opportunities in the workplace. Rob is a member of his employer's Leadership, Diversity, Advisory Council and was selected earlier this year to participate on a panel at the Intelligence Community's - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conference this year, representing the Coast Guard - an honor, indeed. Rob is a strong advocate for creating mentoring relationships and connecting people with those that can assist them to their professional goals. To attest to this, he created Ethos 108, a virtual hub of 100s of leaders from a bunch of spaces/industries, around the USA and a few, internationally. A community-action-leader, Rob enjoys being involved in community-based organizations to better our communities. In the past he served most recently on The Ora Lee Cancer Research Foundation and he was a Board member for The Institute for Creative Community Initiatives. As a musician since being a child and growing up in the performing arts, as Rob's late dad was a leader in music education in Philadelphia, he is grateful. to be selected to serve on CFAs board. Rob earned a Bachelor's in Adult Education as he enjoys teaching adults as well as a Master's Degree in Business and Organizational Security Management.