Fearless Fundraising for Small Business Owners - Savannah

Moderator
Donna Lowry is an award-winning journalist who combines a passion for storytelling and a desire to empower others with communication and critical thinking skills surrounding political, educational, and financial  issues.

Through her firm, Donna Lowry Communications, she provides consulting, writing, and producing services for educational, media, professional, and business outlets.

Donna serves as host/producer for several programs, including Lawmakers on Georgia Public Broadcasting. 

Donna is an eight-time Emmy award winner, a three-time national Gabriel Award recipient, and has garnered honors from countless organizations, including the National Association of Black Journalists, Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, Georgia Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists, Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE). 

Her media peers inducted Donna into the prestigious NATAS Southeast Silver Circle to recognize her lasting contributions to the broadcast industry.  

Donna has a master's in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Bachelor's in Mass Communications and Administration and Management from Chatham University. 

Her professional affiliations include the Atlanta Press Club, the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Southeastern Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS SE).    

In her 15th year as a Girl Scout Leader, Donna has led girls ranging in age from kindergarten through 12th grade. Her community service affiliations also include Magnolia (GA) Chapter of Links, Inc., and Nu Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.     

Donna and her husband, Army Major (Ret) Bennet W. Reid, Jr., are the parents of three daughters. 

Area Director for Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Becky Brownlee was been a small business owner for over 20 years. She has owned businesses in manufacturing, specialty retail, beauty and trade schools, health and fitness, real estate and construction. In addition to owning her own businesses, she also has experience in the financial, hospitality and insurance sectors. Becky’s businesses have encompassed both independent and franchise operations. 

 Becky specializes in financing and access to capital and all aspects of commercial real estate including site/space selection, building/ land acquisition and financing, lease negotiations, zoning, construction and permitting. Since joining the SBDC, she has helped business owners secure over 400 loans in excess of $200 million dollars.

Founder of The Dive Savannah & The Dive Savannah Foundation

Kristy Crill is the founder of The Dive Savannah and The Dive Savannah Foundation.  The Dive is a two-year-old philanthropic-driven business and ministry concept that was born during Covid and brought to life in Savannah.  Kristy Crill and The Dive Savannah are driven by community-wide service to struggling veterans first and exist to effectively tackle the crisis of homelessness in our city and therefore impact local business and commerce in an unprecedented positive manner.  Kristy is a trained chef, ordained minister, and board member of Truett McConnell University. She holds a seat on the advisory panel of Bank of America and she is also a rescue story and writer. She is a member of Christ Church Anglican in Savannah Ga.  She has a calling on her life born out of the redeeming love of Jesus Christ and has now dedicated her life to helping others in her favorite place on earth, Savannah Ga!!!

Founder & CEO, Finance Savvy CEO™ and creator of Your Profit Playbook™

Marguerite, a former Wall Street financial analyst, business strategist, and top ranked business money expert, was named Atlanta’s 40 Under 40 by Atlanta Business Chronicle, co-authored “Girl Power Uncensored” with her chapter “From Wall Street To Helping Main Street”, is an accredited angel investor, host of the podcast “Finance Savvy CEO”, the creator of Your Profit Playbook® - the leading business financial planning training program for small business owners, and Founder & CEO of financesavvyceo.com. 

Marguerite spent the early stages of her career as a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs, controlling an over $2 billion portfolio of private equity, alternative energy, and commercial real estate investments. She transitioned after business school at the NYU Stern School of Business into a successful career in Mergers & Acquisitions as a Manager at Deloitte Consulting, advising fortune 500 companies through the full deal cycle from target screening, deal structuring, valuations and due diligence, all the way through day 1 readiness and post-merger implementations.

Marguerite continued to push the ceiling when she sought to make wedding planning less stressful and more fun for brides by creating Tulle la la, a global retail technology company that combines technology with a project management-based approach to wedding planning. In 2018, Tulle la la won the modern luxury diamond award for Best Wedding Technology. Marguerite had a successful exit from the company within 5 years, and today, Tulle la la continues to serve thousands of brides across the globe each year.

Marguerite now focuses her attention on her EdTech FinTech platform, Finance Savvy CEO, created to help close the gender & racial wealth gap through focusing on profitable entrepreneurship. Finance Savvy CEO supports business owners on an ongoing basis, through programming and members only access, to increase the financial health of their business and intentionally create long term organic financial sustainability.

Marguerite is passionate about building generational wealth through entrepreneurship, and is always excited to help entrepreneurs navigate their pathway to profitability.

Chief Executive Officer of Coastal Area District Development Authority, Inc. (CADDA)

Terrence Louk is the CEO of Coastal Area District Development Authority (CADDA), a certified Development Company with offices in Brunswick and Savannah, GA. Terrence and the CADDA team work closely with businesses, lending partners, municipalities, and economic development agencies throughout Coastal Georgia, northern Florida and southern South Carolina helping businesses gain access to capital to start, grow and expand business. CADDA offers SBA 504, SBA Community Advantage, 7a packaging services, EDA RLF, USDA IRP RLF and EDA CARES Act RLF to help finance growth. Terrence has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a focus in Finance from Youngstown State University. He has been working in economic development and commercial lending for over a decade. He completed The National Development Council’s Economic Development Financial Profession Certification (EDFP) in 2016 and the Council of Development Finance Agencies’ Development Finance Certified Professional Program (DFCP) in December 2019. Terrence also served on the following boards and committees: Board Member – Cadence Care Network 2014 to 2022, Board Member – Animal Charity of Ohio, Inc. 2014 to 2022, Loan Committee Member – LCEDC 2019 to 2022, Board Member – LCEDC 2021 – to 2022, Warren Now – Committee Member 2017 to 2019, Treasurer- A Call Fur Help, Inc. 2013 to 2015, and Board Member – Habitat for Humanity Mahoning Valley 2014 to 2016.  

Owner & CEO of Ad Specialty Services

Diana Morrison is a native of Claxton GA, long-time Savannah resident Diana Morrison has devoted her professional life, for over three and a half -decades to helping businesses,  large and small, brand their identity, and express gratitude to clients and employees, no matter the occasion,  with  customized promotional products., through her market-leading firm, Ad Specialty Services.   

  If you were to ask her how she’s managed to grow her business, literally, from the trunk of her car to its current leadership status, she’d tell you it took  " lots  of hard work, sleepless nights, mistakes-a-plenty,  patient  mentors,  a great staff , and an unquenchable personal desire to succeed. " 

 Along with her business responsibilities, community involvement has always been important to Diana.  As such, she continues to contribute her time and talents to many area organizations, such as the Savannah-Area Chamber of Commerce (2009 Chairwoman of the Board), YMCA of Coastal Georgia Board Chair 2010, Coastal Area District Development Authority Board, Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire and Healthy Savannah. She loves opportunities to teach and speak to motivate and help others to grow, learn and feel accomplished.  She knows that the best way to be a better person is to help others achieve who they want to be. 

Additionally, Diana is a member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, a Leadership Savannah and Leadership Southeast Georgia graduate and a frequent contributor and past Chair of the Savannah Chamber’s Small Business Council and Founded the Chamber’s Owner’s Council Initiative.  In recognition of her professional achievements and success, the Savannah Chamber honored Diana with it's 2003 Helen V. Head Small Business Advocate of the Year Award, and two-years later, named her its Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Director, Women’s Business Center/Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (WBC/ACE)

Vernell Stewart is a thought leader on entrepreneurship and creating resilient businesses.  She is a career entrepreneur and has successfully run The Sweet Tea Factory, LLC, a global distributor of tea based products for nearly a decade.  She set out to meet the mission of benefitting and improving the lives and health of others after falling in love with tea while attending a World Tea Expo in Atlanta, Georgia.

As a career entrepreneur, she understands the resources consumer good product and food-based businesses’ need to succeed in most any environment.  She relocated to Savannah from Atlanta,  to leverage being close to one of the largest ports in the country and giving other entrepreneurs the benefit of lessons, she learned while running a business over the years, including how to handle hardships, pivots, and financial strategies necessary to get through rough times. For this reason, she became the Director of ACE Women's Business Center for the Savannah Region. 

 Vernell knows first-hand the challenges that women in business face and is passionate about ensuring access to capital for women. In her own journey expanding from the local consumer service good industry to wholesale distribution of tea products now available globally required access to capital and there were limited networks. She's now incredibly blessed to create financial pathways for other women.  In this Regional leadership role, she is most excited about connecting smart investment with female entrepreneurs looking to expand their companies and teams.

Small Business Loan Officer, Small Business Assistance Corporation (SBAC)

Born and raise here in Savannah, GA. I graduated from Groves High School, and continued my education at Savannah State University where I received a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, with a focus in Accounting. 

 My career starting in banking where I worked at two of the largest financial institutions in the country, Wells Fargo and SunTrust now Truist. I’m a currently a Loan Officer at the Small Business Assistance Corporation (SBAC) to help fulfill a greater need in the community, working with underserved businesses.  

In my current role with SBAC, I’m responsible for production of small business loans throughout the lending process with a focus of SBA Community Advantage & Micro lending. I also develop strategies and implement those strategies related to Business Support System awareness in the underserved business community and other business sectors. Lastly, I provide advice and counseling to clients seeking to participate in business assistance programs.