Jamal Robinson - Interim Board Chair and * Co-founder
Jamal C. Robinson is currently a Client Associate at J.P. Morgan Chase specializing in Commercial Mortgage Loan Originations for Multifamily and Mixed-Use properties; located within the 5 boroughs of New York City. Jamal has over 10 year of leadership experience with an emphasis on large scale IT Project Management, Real Estate Development and Commercial Real estate Investing.
Jamal Robinson is an 8-year Army Veteran who was commissioned in 2010. Captain (R) Robinson’s military assignments include Commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, United States Military Academy (USMA). Prior to that, CPT Robinson served as the Great Lakes Region Diversity Outreach Officer for USMA Directorate of Admissions. He also served in multiple positions of increasing responsibility as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery Executive (HHB) Officer for 12 months and HHB Platoon Leader for 18 months in the 4th Battalion 27th Field Artillery Regiment "Iron Thunder" of the 2nd Brigade 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas. Lastly, he served as an Athlete for the World Class Athlete Program in boxing representing the 1st Armored Division in the 2011 All Army Boxing Championships and the U.S. Army in the 2011 USA Boxing National Championships.
Jamal is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2010 with a Bachelor's of Science in Systems Engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Chemical Corps. Jamal has a MS in Environmental Management from Webster University, Masters in Public Affairs (MPA) from New York University (NYU) Wagner and is currently pursuing a MS in Real Estate Development from NYU Schack Institute Estate Development.
Brent Dial - Vice Chair
Brent Dial is the Chief Financial Officer of Personal Genome Diagnostics (PGDx), a global leader in the manufacture of cancer genomic profiling tests. At PGDx, Dial is responsible for Finance, HR and IT functions. Prior to joining PGDx, Dial was the founder of Chordata Ventures, a start-up advisory and investment firm based in Silicon Valley. Dial has led fundraising, M&A, strategy and operational improvements at a number well-known Bay Area companies.
Dial also previously has served as Chief Financial Officer of the High-End Division at Anheuser-Busch, helping the global leader revamp its beer portfolio through a number of notable craft beer acquisitions, such as Golden Road, Karbach, Four Peaks and Wicked Weed, recovering market share in the United States and growing its team to more than 1,000 national employees.
Dial also has executive investment banking experience with both Deutsch Bank Securities and JP Morgan in New York, leading a number of transformative transactions for major consumer product companies, both public and private.
Dial began his career as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army, completing two deployments to Baghdad, Iraq and an overseas posting to the Republic of South Korea.
Dial earned his MBA in corporate finance from The Wharton School and his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the United States Military Academy.
Shalela Dowdy - Member at Large
Shalela Dowdy is a native of Mobile Alabama She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in American Legal Studies (Pre Law) from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2012 and a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2017. She served 6 years in the United States Army on active duty as an Air Defense Artillery Officer and Human Resource Officer. She is currently in the Army Reserves where she holds the rank of Major and the position of Military Academy Liaison Officer where she supports the Directorate of Admissions at United States Military Academy at West Point.
Shalela is a member of Urban League Young Professionals, Kappa Epsilon Psi Military Sorority, a Silver Life Member of the NAACP, a Legacy Life Member of NCNW (National Council of Negro Women), a member of Delta Sigma Theta, and the Founding President of Stand Up Mobile a non-profit organization that does work centered around voter engagement in the Black Community within Mobile County.
Awards
Rho Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi- Citizen of the Year
Alabama State Conference NAACP Foot Soldier Award
Hise Gibson - Member at Large
Dr. Hise O. Gibson is a Faculty member at the Harvard Business School. He is also a retired Colonel in the United States Army who served on active duty for over 25 years. As a Master-rated Army Aviator, he led teams across Korea, Germany, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal for service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Dr. Gibson’s previous assignments include serving as Company Commander in Germany and Iraq; Executive Officer (Chief of Staff) and Battalion Operations Officer (COO) in Germany and Afghanistan where he was second-in-command of a 750-Solider organization with a fleet of 50 helicopters; and Battalion Commander (CEO) of a 650- person/35-aircraft unit in the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC.
Dr. Gibson served as Academy Professor of Systems Engineering (tenured) at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is also the inaugural Director of the Systems Design and Analysis Center focused on Cadet focused research. Earlier in his career, he taught mathematics at West Point.
Dr. Gibson serves as Class President of his West Point Class and graduated with a B.S. in Operations Research from West Point. He received an M.S. in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, a Masters in Operational Arts and Science from Air Command and Staff College, and a Doctorate from the Harvard Business School in Technology and Operations Management.
His expertise is the intersection of operational effectiveness and human capital development. He has also worked with midsize and large transportation and distribution organizations, retailers, finance, energy, and tech startups on operational issues and pathways to better leverage their human capital in more effective ways maximizing the intersection of Technology, People, and Processes.
Terry Lee - Member at Large
CPT Terry Lee, PMP, is an engineer officer currently serving as the commander of the 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He previously served in the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, TX. CPT Lee graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2017, majoring in mechanical engineering and law, and also earned an M.S. degree in engineering management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He is a 2024 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) Modern-Day Technology Leader and 2020 Army Center for Junior Officers (CJO) 30 under 30 leader developer.