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NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL FORMED FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP -

Sixteen outstanding entrepreneurs from all over the US were appointed by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education to encourage the growth of entrepreneurship education for youth and adults in America. Charter members of the National Advisory Council include:

  • Al Abney - Queens Village, NY: past owner of the Everyready Carburetor Co.; longtime entrepreneur in the auto parts remanufacturing industry; former commissioner for the New York City Planning Board, and recipient of many leadership awards including being active in Rotary International.
  • Richard T Amarosa - Pembroke, NH: combined his machinist background, industrial sales experience, and administrative experiences as a Vocational School director to create Tech Ed Concepts, Inc, a supplier and developer of software/hardware for the scientific and educational communities.
  • Chad Atkins - St. Louis, MO: young entrepreneur who emerged from the high school DECA program with his first invention- a reusable system to fax odd sized, valuable or damaged documents- refined it in college, and is now marketing it nationally and internationally through his business, FaxPax, LLC.
  • Doug Calaway - Orlando, FL: owner of Nex2u, brings over 25 years of domestic and international expertise in the business of computer and digital imaging technology and management.
  • James S Davis - Charles City, IA: owner of the Iowa Title and Realty Company, a full service title evidencing company providing services nationwide for 25 years, and an active member of the North Iowa Venture Capital Fund as well as serving on the Governors Small Business Advisory Council for the State.
  • Joe L. Dudley, Sr. - Kernersville, NC: president and CEO of one of world's largest manufacturers and distributors of haircare and beauty products, Dudley Products, Inc., recipient of many awards such as an honorary doctorate and induction to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
  • Phillip Forsythe, Florence, AL: president and CEO of Forsythe and Long Engineering where he is involved in engineering design work, his own fabricating company, and wife Margaret spun off an Environmental Consulting company. He provides space for four to five new industrial businesses and four years ago Phillip started One Stop Manufacturing, a chemical processing plant, its primary activity centers on food production for the dairy industry. Phillip and Margaret have had a long standing interest in youth entrepreneurship.
  • Daniel Francis - St. Louis, MO: Starting with ownership of a pizza parlor at age 17, he created St. Louis Pre-Sort, Inc, a contract-based business that sorts first class and third class business mailings, has accumulated or created many other businesses, and holds a powerboat racing team world speed record.
  • Adam Gonzalez - Austin, TX: Starting in the 1980's with one restaurant, he is now head of a chain of about 50 full-service restaurants in Texas, Serranos Café and Cantinas and Ninfa's, was president of Texas DECA while in high school, and is an active supporter of entrepreneurship education in Texas.
  • Richard Hempel - Union KY: based on his staff management career with IBM, he has started three companies including Belcan Partners, People Strategy, and AFKelly for HR Outsourcing Services, and is on the Governor's Kentucky Innovation Commission, spearheading the education component.
  • Darleen Johns - Raleigh, NC: leading the way into technology applications since 1979, she created Alphanumeric, Inc. to solve business problems via computers, has won numerous awards, and actively supports high priority state issues including the problems of non-traditional groups in the workplace.
  • Carol Majors - Lee's Summit, MO: as an entrepreneurship curriculum expert, both in writing, training and marketing it to teachers, she has recently retired from the Kauffman Foundation and brings her educational expertise in entrepreneurship and economic education to the Council.
  • Alan Miller - Lathrup Village, MI: from his career as manager of Chrysler Corporation's Diversity Public Relations Program he created A Miller Group, Inc., a diversity events programs and public relations firm, and as a Michigan poet and playwright he founded the Literary Foundation in 2001.
  • Lisa Nichols, Inglewood, CA: outstanding motivational speaker for disadvantaged youth and adults and author of Chicken Soup for the African American Soul. She is founder and CEO of Motivating the Teen Spirit, LLC (MTS), a personal empowerment company that uses cutting edge techniques to teach teens how to fall madly in love with themselves and how to make integrity-based decisions.
  • Erik Sander - Tampa and Gainesville, FL: as the Director of Industry Programs at the University of Florida, College of Engineering, he has used his expertise and contacts to form a number of medical-related companies as well as invented technology for food catering through Diversified Mobility, Inc.
  • Dian Thomas - Salt Lake City, UT: with over 25 years of public relations experience, she has authored 12 books including Roughing It Easy, a NY Times bestseller, she assists others to practice her unique and creative approaches to getting free publicity through The Dian Thomas Company and her new, innovative system called How to Get a Million Dollars Worth of Free Publicity.

The National Entrepreneur Advisory Council assisted the Consortium in developing National Standards for Entrepreneurship Education that cover educational programs from elementary school through all secondary, post-secondary and adult education. They will participate in committees to find new ways to promote the concept of entrepreneurship education, expand partnerships in cooperation with the Consortium, and assist in finding new ways to bring funding necessary to help the field of entrepreneurship education grow in America.