Our Team

Actualizing our mission to create opportunities for shared prosperity through inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem development is made possible by our uniquely talented, skilled, passionate, and resilient team of equity champions and ecosystem builders.

Meet our team

Fay Horwitt Headshot

Fay Horwitt

President & CEO

Fay Horwitt Headshot

Fay Horwitt

CEO & President

Fay serves as the President of Forward Cities, where she oversees organizational strategy and serves as the executive lead of the ESHIP Communities initiative. In addition, Fay is a dedicated advocate for the emerging profession of ecosystem building, and as a founding member of Ecosystems Unite. Beyond her formal roles, she is a sought after presenter, trainer, and thought leader on the topic of equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem building. Never one to be content with status quo, Fay has also recently begun addressing a new need in local communities: ecosystem healing–helping pivot ecosystems and institutions in this time of the dual COVID-19 and systemic racial injustice pandemics.

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Nicolas Gunkel Headshot

Nicolas Gunkel

Senior Vice President

Nicolas Gunkel Headshot

Nicolas Gunkel

Senior Vice President

Nicolas Gunkel is the Senior Vice President at Forward Cities, where he holds executive oversight of Forward Cities’ finance and accounting activities, is responsible for developing the emergent government/policy and private capital work streams, and manages high-profile partnerships. Together with the President & CEO he oversees the organization's largest stand-alone grant, the ESHIP Communities initiative funded by the Kauffman Foundation.

Prior to this role, Nicolas was Forward Cities’ first Director of Research, where he pioneered the organization’s entrepreneurial ecosystem analysis framework and later became the organization's Vice President of Ecosystem Impacts. He received his international business undergraduate education at the Rotterdam School of Management and Harvard College and obtained his MPA from the London School of Economics.

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Michelle Benham Headshot

Michelle Benham

Senior Director, Marketing & Operations

Michelle Benham Headshot

Michelle Benham

Senior Director, Marketing & Operations

Michelle's background in marketing, media, science, and organizational development led her to create award-winning content and campaigns for nonprofits, federal and local government agencies, and the private sector. Prior to Forward Cities, Michelle led the marketing and communications team at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, an internationally renowned program of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Previously, she led efforts at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Discovery Learning Alliance, and Discovery Communications. Michelle is an alumna of the esteemed Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program, and was a founding board member of the Conservation Leadership in the Caribbean fellowship—a capacity-building, networking, and leadership development program for emerging leaders in climate science and wildlife conservation in the wider Caribbean region. Michelle holds an M.F.A. in Film & Media from the School of Communication at American University and a B.S. in Ecology from the University of Georgia. She and her family are proud Durham residents with deep affection for the Eno River.

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Brett Brenton Headshot

Brett Brenton

Senior Director, Learning
Networks

Brett Brenton Headshot

Brett Brenton

Senior Director, Learning Networks

As Senior Director of Learning Networks, Brett coordinates the ESHIP Communities engagements and oversees the expanded learning work that centers the partnership. He also helps to ensure that the practices of Forward Cities and that of it’s partners is properly disseminated to people committed to advancing the craft of building equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems. Brett is drawn to the idea that we can solve for major systemic issues in America through impact at the granular level. Brett spent thirteen years in public education before starting a diversity-focused, STEM-themed career development non-profit for the Research Triangle Foundation. This led to other opportunities in program design and implementation, stakeholder engagement, and small business tenant recruitment at The Frontier RTP. Brett loves hitting the local trails on his mountain bike as an active way to appreciate the beauty of North Carolina.

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Hassan Bazzi Headshot

Hassan Bazzi

Director, Community Innovation

Hassan Bazzi HeadshotHassan Bazzi

Director, Community Innovation

Hassan Bazzi serves as the Director of Community Innovation at Forward Cities, In this role, he oversees the entrepreneurial ecosystem capacity-building engagements in the national network of cities. Hassan is an ecosystem builder and entrepreneur. Prior to joining Forward Cities, Hassan served in Detroit’s non-profit sector in collaboration with community, philanthropy, government and the private sector on ecosystem building projects and cross-sector economic development initiatives including commercial corridor development, talent pipeline development, and small business development initiatives aimed at catalyzing neighborhood-based businesses and under-resourced entrepreneurs. Hassan serves as a Kauffman Foundation ESHIP Champion, is an alum of Leadership Detroit, an Aspen Ideas Scholar, and serves on a number of boards including Eastern Market Corp. and Venture for America–Detroit.

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Shayla Herndon-Edmunds headshot

Shayla Herndon-Edmunds

Entrepreneur in Residence

Shayla Herndon-Edmunds headshotShayla Herndon-Edmunds

Entrepreneur in Residence

As an Entrepreneur in Residence, Shayla is a bit of a team whisperer. With over 15 years of leadership, organizational development, training, and equity & inclusion experience, Shayla is dedicated to creating and maintaining an organizational culture that celebrates diversity through anti-racism, equity, and belonging. She is an entrepreneur who has worked with corporations, colleges, and non-profit organizations offering coaching, strategic planning, training, and development for teams and individual leaders. She serves as an internal consultant, advisor, mediator, and sometimes therapist. And, as if that weren’t enough, Shayla is also a wife and mother of three, owner of OMG Wellness Bar, an avid gardener who makes her own sauces and teas and well obviously -- a time bender.

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Stacey Williams Headshot

Stacey Williams

Director, Research & Evaluation

Stacey Williams Headshot

Stacey Williams

Director, Research & Evaluation

Dr. Williams brings nearly 15 years of public health research experience and training to the Department of Research and Evaluation. With an eye towards the social determinants of health, she uses public health concepts to produce evidence on systemic inequities. Through the use of existing data and primary data collection tools, she works with the team to generate actionable information for informing local efforts to increase equity in opportunities. She completed her graduate training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health. In her free time, Stacey enjoys tending to her flower garden, nature photography, and ancestry research.

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Liz Brown - Liz Brown

Liz Brown

Director, Community Engagement

Liz Brown

Director, Community Engagement

Liz is a proud generalist committed to utilizing her interdisciplinary skillset as an urban planner, user experience designer, and technologist to bridge gaps and highlight the importance of inclusion within innovation ecosystems. Prior to joining Forward Cities, she cofounded and served as CEO and Head of Design at Webjunto, a user experience focused design and software development agency that served startups and enterprises on an international scale. More recently Liz has played a role in leadership and development of startup accelerator programs with organizations such as Backstage Capital and the University City Science Center in Philadelphia. In her free time, you can find her outdoors cycling, participating in civic hackathons, or making music.

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Garrett Raczek

Senior Manager, Special Projects

Garrett Raczek

Senior Manager, Special Projects

Garrett Raczek is a Senior Manager of Special Projects at Forward Cities. He graduated with a degree in economics from Duke University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He has spent time developing skills in non-profit management and data use, particularly focusing on moving organizations beyond data analysis and toward a more intentional use of findings. He is passionate about making data and decision-making more inclusive of all communities, particularly those most impacted by decisions. In his free time, Garrett is an active community organizer who works with others in collectively building a more just and representative community. At Forward Cities, Garrett wishes to leverage these skills to build local ecosystems grounded in economic, racial, and social justice.

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Kristin Leutz

Senior Growth Strategist

Kristin Leutz

Senior Growth Strategist

Kristin Leutz is an entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, and organizational consultant working with nonprofits, small or emergent businesses, and social entrepreneurs. She specializes in leadership development, fundraising, philanthropic impact advising, organizational psychology, HR, and nonprofit operations. She has served as the Executive Director of Startup Champions Network and Valley Venture Mentors, in addition to leading philanthropy at her local Community Foundation. She holds a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation from the American College, and has an M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Springfield College, and a B.A. from Colgate University. She lives in Western Massachusetts, is an avid cyclist, yoga teacher, mindfulness and wellness practitioner, and mother.

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Megan Shuford Headshot

Megan Shuford

Manager, ESHIP Communications

Megan Shuford HeadshotMegan Shuford

ESHIP Communications and Storytelling Manager

Megan North Shuford Megan comes to Forward Cities with over 15 years of non-profit experience including program design, storytelling, grassroots fundraising and communications. She is dedicated to uplifting the voices of our diverse ecosystem builders, community leaders and entrepreneurs, while continuing to support the creation of healthy entrepreneurial ecosystems in our ESHIP communities. Before becoming our ESHIP Communications Manager, she directly supported conscious and social entrepreneurs as a transformational coach. She is also a passionate and dedicated community builder, healer, storyteller, conscious co-creator and founder of Dreams Followed. Her life values are centered around collective liberation, compassion, love, honoring intuition, community and racial, economic, and social justice. Feel free to contact Megan at mshuford@forwardcities.org with any questions or just to say Hello!

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Tia Bond - Tia Bond

Tia Bond

Executive Administrator

Tia Bond

Executive Administrator

Tia Bond serves as Executive Administrator to the Forward Cities’ President & CEO and Senior Team providing administrative and fund development support. She is also a Project Manager supporting the day-to-day operations of the ESHIP Communities program across multiple cities. Prior to joining Forward Cities, Tia co-founded TDA Integrations, Inc., a healthcare staffing and strategic planning firm in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs and military installations. She continues to fill the roles as co-owner and CEO of her small business. Tia also served our great nation as a military officer and federal Logistics Manager. She earned a M.A. in International Studies and Security Studies from East Carolina University and B.S. in Biology from University of South Carolina. She is continually seeking avenues to pursue personal/spiritual growth and professional development. During her free time, Tia enjoys reading, baking, and spending quality time with her family and friends. Residing in the panhandle of Florida allows her to relish the beautiful emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico with her husband and son. She has been a wedding coordinator with Savior Faire Weddings since 2014 and loves creating beautiful, memorable wedding days for her clients. Tia is also passionate about mentoring and coaching Veterans during their vulnerable season of transitioning out of uniform.

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Deryle Daniels

Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications

Deryle Daniels

Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications

Deryle Daniels is the Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications with Forward Cities. He has over 10 years of experience in the fields of marketing, communications, and fundraising with universities, community organizations, small businesses, startups, and major corporations.

Born in Durham, Deryle graduated from the esteemed Chapel Hill High School and moved on to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While there, he was active on campus, serving on the new student orientation staff, as president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, and in numerous other leadership capacities.

Soon after graduation from UNCG, he moved to Charlotte and, eventually, back to Durham. He volunteers regularly at his elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as serves on two alumni boards at UNCG.

In 2015, Deryle married his college sweetheart, Desirée Daniels and, in 2021, they welcomed their son. They currently reside in Durham, NC and enjoy exercising, traveling, cooking, and the arts. In addition to Forward Cities, he uses Daniels Development & Branding, LLC to help small nonprofits and small businesses reach their target markets without breaking the bank.

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McMillian_ID - Garrett Raczek

Minnie McMillian

Research Assistant

 

Minnie McMillian

Research Assistant 

Minnie McMillian is a Research Assistant at Forward Cities. She graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in Psychology and is currently a graduate student studying psychology at North Carolina Central University. Minnie has developed her applied social research skills, including data collection, assessment, and evaluation in both academic and non-profit settings. She is a recent AmeriCorps alum, serving as a Public Ally, where she assisted in closing the opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color in Wake County. Her passions are exploring the antecedents of psychological well-being and applying these findings to improve the health and livelihood of communities of color. Minnie enjoys listening to Comedy, True Crime, and Society/Culture podcasts. And, in her free time, she tends to her plants, binge watch documentaries, and create miscellaneous boards on Pinterest.

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Phylicia Bediako

Research Assistant

Phylicia Bediako, PhD, MSW

Research Assistant

Dr. Bediako is dedicated to connecting research, practice, and policy to build safe, healthy, and economically viable communities. Her work focuses on how women and youth of multiple marginalized identities heal, mobilize, and empower themselves in oppressive and hostile social contexts. She has a special interest in how systems-level and trauma-informed approaches can be used to address persistent social and health disparities and inequities. Dr. Bediako has a substantial background in quantitative and qualitative data analysis and has previously provided research and data analysis support to advance state, regional, and local violence and injury prevention, social justice, and public health initiatives. Providing research capacity support for women-led community and economic development initiatives piqued her interest in how equitable access to entrepreneurial success contributes to economic independence and opportunity that uplifts entire communities. Her work has supported organizations such as WEPOWER and the Women’s Entrepreneurship in Early Childhood Education Partnership. She earned her graduate degrees from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and the Pennsylvania State University. She is fascinated by the breadth of outlets and mediums creatives of marginalized communities use to tell their stories and loves bookstores, museums, and art galleries.

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Community Leads & Navigators

Paulo Arch 1

Paulo Gregory

ESHIP Baltimore

PAULO GREGORY

ESHIP BALTIMORE

Cohado is an innovative and flexible platform to support collaboration, sustainability and inclusive team- and community-development. Cohado, Inc. additionally facilitates the development of diverse startup communities nationally and locally in Baltimore. In collaboration with the Kauffman Foundation’s ESHIP Communities and Forward Cities, Cohado, Inc is stewarding the ESHIP Baltimore initiative to support the stabilization, ideation, seeding and growth of Black business in Baltimore. This initiative engages entrepreneurs and community leaders in a collective impact effort to cultivate the creativity, innovation, and leadership of Black Baltimore as a model for thriving equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems of the future. 

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Gabriel Munoz

ESHIP Kansas City

Gabe-Munoz

GABE MUÑOZ

ESHIP KANSAS CITY LOCAL DIRECTOR

Gabe has been actively involved in the Kansas City entrepreneurial ecosystem for over 13 years. Gabe works to create a unified community vision to best serve entrepreneurs, while creating a welcoming and inclusive culture that places the needs of entrepreneurs front and center.

Prior to coming to Forward Cities, he served as the Director of Sales and Small Business Advising for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. In his role, he was responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with startups, government/non-profit agencies, community leaders, and corporate America. During his 12 years at the HCC, he assisted over 1,000 micro-enterprises in getting licensed, certified as M/WBEs, and connected in the community.

Gabe is the second oldest of nine children and an avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, and KU basketball. In his free time, you can find him playing soccer and spending time with his wife Julia and their four children, Devin, Diego, Daisy, and Desiree.

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Erin Ortigoza

ESHIP Rio Grande

Arin OrtigozaERIN ORTIGOZA

ESHIP RIO GRANDE LOCAL DIRECTOR

Erin has been involved with food community planning and development in a variety of capacities for over 15 years. Through her previous work as the senior planner at Santa Fe County, Erin was responsible for creating the Santa Fe County Agriculture and Ranching Implementation Plan. She also coordinated numerous agricultural demonstration projects and the AgriGate of Santa Fe County, an online clearinghouse of food and agricultural information designed to support food access and networking opportunities in the region.

Before coming to Forward Cities, Erin was also the co-owner of Ancient Waters Farm, her family farm in La Madera, New Mexico, from 2012 through 2017. She is passionate about facilitating collective work supportive to a rich and resilient entrepreneurial environment for the food and agricultural community of New Mexico.

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Vernard Alexander

Pittsburgh

 

Vernard Alexander

Director, E3 Alliance Pittsburgh

For many years now, Vernard has been referred to as “The Connecting King.” He is the go-to resource for many when they are looking for help with an array of concerns. To further his efforts in bringing people together, he launched CKV Suites, a multi-purpose space where he hosts a variety of business and social networking events. Vernard has developed an acumen for social media domination. He is considered the guru of engagement and his reputation for excellence in this area has resulted in many benefitting from his expertise for their own growth. Businesses, non-profits, and politicians have expanded their reach using Vernard’s tips and tricks for social media mastery. By tapping into a network of over 22,000 social media followers, Vernard has helped to create a massive online presence.

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Rose LeJiste

Orange County / Orlando

Rose LeJiste

Executive Director, Black Orlando Tech

Rose LeJiste was born and raised in South Florida and is the proud oldest daughter of Haitian immigrants. She received her BS in Industrial Engineering from UCF in 2005 and then worked at Kennedy Space Center for 15 years. She is an engineer/solutions developer turned tech entrepreneur and is an epic expert in data analytics, business intelligence and optimization, process improvement and streamlining, reliability/safety engineering, performance and project management in both government and commercial environments. She is certified in business intelligence and data analytics and founded her own tech consulting company, RL Engineering and Tech Solutions, in 2019. She currently serves as the Executive Director for Black Orlando Tech, a nonprofit committed to accelerating minority economic advancement through careers and entrepreneurship in tech. Rose coordinates the organization’s Tech Startup Series, an entrepreneurial development program focused on ensuring that black startup founders have a solid business foundation. Rose uses her experience to speak at various tech conferences, mentor black and brown youth, and provide guidance to young people of color who are just starting their professional careers.  She is a mentor and advisor with several nonprofit organizations and loves to volunteer within her community sharing her lessons learned from her life experiences and her STEM expertise. Rose is also a mother to a beautiful and amazing 18-year-old daughter who is on her way to pursue her BFA in acting. 

 
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Kena Fuller - janay coleman

Kena Fuller

ESHIP Long Beach

 

Kena Fuller

project manager

With a passion for business development, Kena Fuller set out to build a consulting firm revered for its hands-on expertise, expansive knowledge, and award-winning services. Aligned with her education in Behavioral Economics, Global Business Management, Marketing, and Small Business Enterprise, it is her 20-plus years of experience in business management, development, sales, marketing, and higher education management that provides each client with a level of professional prowess that is unsurpassed. As Executive Director of Fuller Management, Kena is adamant about client engagement and overall customer satisfaction. Personally managing every client account, it is her careful attention to detail and integrated strategy that has helped consistently support and grow each client's revenue year over year. "It is an absolute pleasure to work with and represent the clients we serve. From our team to yours, thank you for choosing Fuller Management Corporation!" - Kena Fuller

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Kim Louis

Westmoreland County

Kin Louis headshot

Kim Louis

Program Manager, Inclusive Innovation

Kim Louis is an entrepreneur and nonprofit director in New Kensington, PA with 27 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector and with at-risk youth. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry from Trinity School for Ministry. She has worked as a Behavioral Specialist in autism for Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and a Youth Ministry Consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. She is the Founding Director of Sonward Youth Programs in New Kensington, PA, working with kids in the neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates in the county. She created a tiered mentorship program where kids can move from participants to interns to staff. Currently, the daily operations of the program are partially run by staff who started out as program participants. Kim has been married to her husband, Dave, since 2004 and together they are raising their four adopted children who are all high school aged. She completed a two year engagement in ecosystem building in New Kensington in 2020. She continues to work with Forward Cities supporting equitable redevelopment in other rust belt communities in Pennsylvania.

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Tiffany Spencer

Orange County / Orlando

Tiffany Spencer

Board Chair and Program Director, Black Orlando Tech

Tiffany Spencer, a native of Cincinnati Ohio, is a 7x certified Salesforce.com Professional, and Salesforce MVP with over 12 years of experience leading digital transformations for small to large corporations utilizing the Salesforce.com platform. She is currently the Board Chair and Program Director for Black Orlando Tech, a non-profit organization committed to accelerating minority economic advancement through workforce, small business, and socioeconomic development by increasing the awareness, activities, network, and resources for local minorities who pursue careers or entrepreneurship in technology. Tiffany is very active in the community and uses her expertise to mentor high school and college students.

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At Forward Cities, we value collaboration above all and are always interested in finding new partners, exploring new ideas, and forging new ground. Please take 1-2 minutes to complete this form, which allows you to share how you might like to engage with us as we collectively pursue equity for every entrepreneur. A Forward Cities staff member will follow-up with you in the next 48 hours.

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