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Jesse Adams
Vice Chairman, Verifone Holdings, Inc.
Mr. Adams is the Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Operating Officer of TranZfinity, a leading enabler of mobile point-of-sale transaction solutions. Prior to founding TranZfinity, Mr. Adams served as Vice Chairman at VeriFone, Inc., the world leader in providing electronic payment terminals and solutions in the credit card payment processing industry. Earlier, Mr. Adams had been Executive Vice President of North America Sales and was responsible for the sales and marketing in all VeriFone North America business units, which consist of the financial retail, multi-lane retail, and vertical markets, and the government and healthcare sectors. Mr. Adams played a leading role in the acquisition of VeriFone by Gores Technology and with VeriFone’s turnaround, which eventually resulted in a successful public offering of VeriFone in April 2005.
Prior to joining VeriFone in 2001, Mr. Adams held a variety of senior-level executive positions in marketing, sales and operations management in a number of computer-related hardware, software and electronic services companies including IBM, SunGard Data Systems and GEAC Computer Systems. Mr. Adams has worked and partnered with many top fortune 100 company executives primarily in the Financial, Information Technology, Services and Retail markets.
Mr. Adams received his B.S. in applied science and engineering from the U.S Military Academy at West Point.
Lawrence Jackson
Former President & COO of Dollar General
Mr. Jackson has over 30 years of operations and logistics management experience with leading consumer product companies. Most recently, Mr. Jackson was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Procurement at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., where he directed the efforts of purchasing offices in 28 countries. Prior to this role at Wal-Mart, Mr. Jackson had served as Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, responsible for all human resources planning for the retailer’s 1.5 million associates worldwide.
Prior to joining Wal-Mart, Mr. Jackson served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Dollar General Stores, Inc., where he directed the retailer’s store operations, merchandising, supply chain/logistics and real estate development, resulting in significant new store openings and improved same-store results. He has also held positions at Safeway, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President of Supply Operations and PepsiCo, Inc., where he held various positions such as Plant Manager, Director of Planning, Vice President of Operations, Vice President of On-Premises Sales, and Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for PepsiCo Food Systems.
In 2002, Mr. Jackson was named one of Fortune magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Black Executives. He currently serves on the board of directors for Parsons Corporation, and RedPrairie Holding, Inc.
Mr. Jackson received his B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Dale Jones
EVP of Leadership Development, Revolution Senior Advisor, Heidrick & Struggles, Inc.
Mr. Jones is Vice Chairman and Partner of the CEO and Board Practice in the Americas at Heidrick and Struggles, a global provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services, where he advises boards and CEOs on human capital issues such as leadership, recruiting and succession planning. Mr. Jones originally joined Heidrick in 1999 where he served as Managing Partner of the firm’s Atlanta office until early 2007 when he was named Managing Partner of the firm's CEO and board practice in the Americas. Prior to entering executive search, he held a series of progressive roles as Executive Director of Quest Atlanta, Assistant Vice President of Charitable Giving at Bank of America (formerly C&S bank) and Director of Development at Morehouse College.
Mr. Jones currently serves on the board of directors at Kohl's Corp. and the board of trustees at Northwestern Mutual. Additionally, he serves on the National Advisory Board of The Salvation Army and also is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
Mr. Jones received his B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta and completed course work at the Atlanta University Graduate School of Business.
Edward Lewis
Former Chairman & Founder, Essence Communications
Mr. Lewis founded Essence Communications, Inc., the publisher of Essence magazine, in 1968 and guided the business to become one of the largest African American-owned communications companies in the U.S. Under his leadership, Essence grew to become one of the leading lifestyle magazines for African American women, with a paid circulation of one million and a readership of 7.5 million. Mr. Lewis expanded his publishing realm with the acquisition of Income Opportunities in 1992. At the time, this magazine for people starting new businesses had a circulation of 400,000. Three years later, Lewis entered into a joint venture to publish Latina, the first bilingual lifestyle magazine that exclusively addressed the interests of Hispanic women in the U.S.
In 2000, Essence Communications, Inc. signed an agreement with Time Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., to form a joint venture known as Essence Communications Partners. Essence Communications was the majority owner of the venture. In March 2005, Time Inc. acquired the remaining portion of Essence Communications.
Mr. Lewis served as Chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America from 1997 to 1999, becoming the first African-American to hold this position in the 75-year history of the organization. His numerous community affiliations have included The Apollo Theater Foundation Inc, the Park Conservancy, the Harvard Business School Board of Directors of the Associates, the Economic Club of New York, the Minority Business Round Table of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and the Board of Jazz at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, among others.
Mr. Lewis earned his B.A. and M.A. from the University of New Mexico.
James Lowry
Senior Advisor, The Boston Consulting Group Formerly with McKinsey & Co.
Mr. Lowry is a nationally recognized workforce and supplier diversity expert and is a Senior Advisor for The Boston Consulting Group. Previously, as a Senior Vice President and the Global Diversity Director, he led The Boston Consulting Group’s workforce diversity, ethnic marketing and minority business development consulting practice. Prior to joining BCG, Mr. Lowry operated his own firm, James H. Lowry & Associates (JHLA), which was established in 1975. In 1978, JHLA prepared the first major study on minority business enterprise development for the Department of Commerce, entitled “New Strategy for Minority Business.” In 2005, Mr. Lowry authored a new study, entitled “Realizing the New Agenda for Minority Business Development,” sponsored by the Kauffman foundation, in conjunction with the Billion Dollar Roundtable.
Prior to founding his own firm, Mr. Lowry worked in the Public Services practice at McKinsey & Co. where in 1968 he joined as the firm’s first African American recruit. Earlier, Mr. Lowry had worked with Senator Robert Kennedy and served as Assistant to the President of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in New York City as well as a United States Peace Corps volunteer.
Mr. Lowry is involved in the Chicago Public Library Foundation, Howard University Business School Advisory Council, Economic Club of Chicago, Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Illinois Coalition Board. He is a member of the Toyota Diversity Advisory Board and has served as an adjunct professor of at Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg School of Management. He has been a member of the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations and the Harvard Business School Visiting Committee, as well as an Associate Producer of MBR: The Minority Business Report and co-host of the Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant TV show.
Mr. Lowry received his undergraduate degree in political science from Grinnell College and a master’s degree in public international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. He attended the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School and was elected president of his class.