Gary Dunn is Vice President and Community Reinvestment Officer for Capital Source Bank, a state-wide financial institution based in Los Angeles, CA. The parent company, Capital Source Inc. (NYSE: CSE), is a commercial bank that provides financial products to middle market businesses. As the bank’s head CRA officer Gary designs, implements, manages and puts into place comprehensive CRA program planning for the bank’s state-wide presence including formulation of polices and procedures that best serve the credit needs of the company’s assessment areas. Mr. Dunn is a recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration 2011 Financial Services Champion of the Year award and serves as an active board member of various affordable housing, financial advocacy and community development organizations across the state. Gary resides in Gilroy, CA.
Michael Ocasio President & CEO of Small Business Financial Development Corporation of Orange County (FDC), an economic developer for more than 16 years and former senior commercial banking executive, Mike also serves in the capacity as president of The Association of Financial Development Corporations, the state-wide industry trade association representing the FDC organizations. Mike’s civic involvement includes service as Board Treasurer/Director of Family Services Association, the largest non-profit social services agency in the Inland Empire and vice-chairman of its subsidiary, FSA-Community Housing Development Organization. Mr. Ocasio is also chapter president of Inland Empire Risk Management Association and a past Commissioner with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Commission on Recruitment, Retention and Diversity. A graduate of the University of Illinois-Carbondale, Mike has achieved certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) from the National Development Council and is a local resident of the City of Redlands, CA.
Milton Flores is Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer at Sunwest Bank. Sunwest Bank was founded in 1970 and is the oldest Bank founded and Headquartered in orange county. The Bank has thirteen branch offices located throughout California and Arizona with total assets of $617 Million. Mr. Flores has over 20 years of extensive experience in banking, mortgage and real estate accounting and financial management. Prior to Sunwest Bank, Mr. Flores has held senior level management positions at both publicly and private companies. Mr. Flores is a graduate of California State University, Los Angeles.
Linda Pinson is the author of nine business books (including two Spanish-language entrepreneurial books) and the developer/publisher of the popular stand-alone business plan software, Automate Your Business Plan. Linda’s twenty-five-year-old entrepreneurial publishing company, Out of Your Mind…and Into the Marketplace™ was named Small Press Publisher of the Year. Her best-seller book, Anatomy of a Business Plan (winner of the Ben Franklin Award for “Best Business Book of the Year”) now in its 25th year and 7th edition, has been utilized by over 1 million business owners. Her books are in libraries and bookstores throughout the U.S. and have been translated into several languages. The books and business planning software are currently used as course material in universities, colleges, SBDCs, technical colleges and economic development agencies. Linda is the founding California State President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO California). She was an elected delegate and Tax Issue Chair to the White House Conference on Small Business and has worked extensively over 25 years with the U.S. Small Business Administration-Santa Ana District office. Linda Resides in Tustin, CA.
Abdi Ahmed is the founder, President and Chief Technology Officer of NetServe Systems, Inc. An Irvine, CA-based award-winning one-stop integrated technology solutions provider focusing on software engineering, technical staff augmentation and proactive managing and monitoring of critical network services and infrastructure support devices. Under his leadership, NetServe won the following coveted awards: Supplier of ther Year 2010 by Southern California Business Development Council as nominated by Honda Small Business of the Year 2006 by California Small Business Association Business of the Year 2008 by Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce African American Business of the Year 2007 by Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce
11 Congressional Awards and Cartifactes for Entrepreneurial Spirit and for Community Services
Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award by Orange County Business Journal 2008 runner-up. Prior to founding NetServe, Mr.Ahmed worked for Apple Computers a software engineer for 7 years where he participated in developing key features of the Macintosh. Mr.Ahmed has been a member of the 100 BMOC since 1998 and has served as the Secretary of the Board since 2002. Additionally, Mr.Ahmed is adjunct professor of Computer Science at Chapman University and Santa Ana College. He holds a BS and MS in Software Engineering.
Janet Coe, Economic Development Manager for the City of Anaheim, has been an economic developer for more than 15 years. Prior to joining the City of Anaheim in 2005, Ms. Coe worked for the City of Chino and the City of Lake Forest. She achieved professional recognition as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council and is chairperson of the Orange County chapter of the California Association for Local Economic Development. Ms. Coe has spoken at professional conferences on various economic development topics, including business attraction, business retention, and entrepreneurial development. A graduate of California State University at Fullerton, Ms. Coe resides in Irvine, CA.
Linda Sarno is a registered U.S. patent attorney who is also a patentee in the field. She is a technically trained scientist / chemist who prior to her law career, held various supervisory or managerial positions with Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Linda is a founder, board member/officer, council member or adviser of various religious, social, local and national business organizations and government agencies. She has gained the reputation as a small business advocate and has received numerous awards and recognitions related to her community and civic involvement including the SBA Small Business Advocate Award in 2005, the Citizen of the Year Award by the Lions Club in 2007, the Southern California Edison Leadership Award in 2010 and the Community Heroes Award in 2011 by Sen. Lou Correa and OCAPICA. Academically, she completed all her academic degrees with cum laude honors and was awarded 2011 Outstanding Thomasian Chemistry Alumni at the 400th anniversary and 80th anniversary of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, her alma mater.
Norman Walker retired from the United States Marine Corps after a successful military career over two decades working in aviation avionics, recruiting duty and his last assignment as a senior substance abuse educator assigned to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, CA. Mr. Walker owns and operates Extreme Automotive Care, Santa Ana, CA. The business was established over ten years ago providing full-service automotive and diagnostic services for domestic, foreign-car and heavy trucks.
Kari Irwin is Director for the Orange County Institute for Women Entrepreneurs (IWE) program hosted at Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD). As director, she provides business development resources to entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their business. Resources range from private business coaching, mentoring, and business seminars. Kari previously served as director of the Orange County Center for Excellence, a statewide economic development program housed at RSCCD. In this capacity, she assisted community colleges in the region with analyzing local workforce and employment trends to support the development of workforce and economic development programs in Orange County. Ms. Irwin also served as the director of the Santiago Canyon College (SCC) Foundation, where she was responsible for interfacing with the Foundation’s Board of Directors, overseeing the college’s alumni association, scholarship program, and spearheading all fund-development efforts. Kari is active in the local community and business organizations including Rotary Club of Orange and the Orange Chamber of Commerce. An alumnus of Santiago Canyon College Kari holds a bachelor’s degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and Master of Arts in Management from the University of Redlands.
