Advisory Board

ADONIS E. HOFFMAN, Esq.

Founder and CEO

The Advisory Counsel, LLC

Adonis Hoffman is a lawyer, corporate advisor, independent director and thought leader with over 30 years of legal, government and global experience in business, public policy, regulation, media and communications. He serves today as CEO of The Advisory Counsel, LLC, providing strategic counsel on M&A, regulatory and public policy matters to leading corporations, private equity, hedge fund and institutional investors. Hoffman is Chairman of The American Social Impact Foundation, Trustee of The Media Institute and Member of its First Amendment Advisory Council, and serves as Chairman of the Direct Sales Self-Regulatory Council Appellate Board. A leading voice on corporate stewardship and ESG matters, Hoffman is a former Adjunct Professor of Communication, Culture & Technology in the Graduate School of Arts & Science at Georgetown University.

From 2000 - 2011 Hoffman was Senior Vice president and Counsel at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (the 4As), where he helped to lead the advertising industry's advocacy and self-regulatory initiatives on food marketing, children's advertising and online privacy. He was an advisor to the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and served as a member of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

Mr. Hoffman served in senior legal and policy positions in the U.S. House of Representatives (102nd, 98th, 97th Congresses) and as a senior advisor at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), serving first as International Policy Counsel to the Chairman, later as Deputy Chief of the Cable Bureau, and as chair of the Interagency Task Force on Advertising Practices (1997-2000). He rejoined the FCC as Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor for interim Chair and FCC Commissioner Clyburn (2013-2015) and advised FCC Commissioners and senior officials on communications policy matters, Hoffman's earlier career includes tenure at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the World Policy Institute, and the Capitol Policy Institute. He established the American Business Leadership Institute; served on the Advisory Board of the Corporate Counsel Institute at Georgetown University Law Center; served as co-chair of the External Advisory Council of Nielsen Media, and as chairman of Business in the Public Interest.

Hoffman is the author of Doing Good--the New Rules of Corporate Responsibility, Conscience and Character (2010). He has been a frequent contributor to Fox Business, Fox News and The Hill newspaper, and has contributed to national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Broadcasting & Cable, The Washington Times, Multichannel News, National Journal and Foreign Policy. He has been widely quoted in the news media, including AP, Reuters, Time, and USA Today and has provided expert commentary on CNBC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, PBS, among others.

Mr. Hoffman earned an A.B. from Princeton University (Politics) and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He is admitted to practice law before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; the U.S. Bankruptcy Court; the U.S. Court of International Trade and the United States Supreme Court.

CHARLES R. JONES, Jr., Esq.

Member

District of Columbia Bar

Charles R. Jones, Jr. brings over 45 years of corporate litigation, sports negotiation and civil rights work, administrative, regulatory and legislative experience to his legal work for corporations, financial institutions, healthcare technology firms, trade associations and business groups in the United States. Mr. Jones is known nationally for his leadership and expertise in building strategic alliances between minority business enterprises (MBEs) and Fortune 500 corporations. He is also well known for his ability to develop creative solutions.

Mr. Jones began his legal career with the Federal Trade Commission, "FTC", as legal advisor to Commissioner Mary Gardiner Jones and immediately after, as clerk to Ohio Supreme Court Justice Lloyd O. Brown. He served in several senior legal posts within the State of Ohio, including, Assistant Attorney General; Chief Counsel to the Ohio State Medical Board; Chief of the Employment Section and Chief of Personnel and Regulatory Affairs. Upon his move to the District of Columbia, Mr. Jones was appointed Chief of Policy, Standards and Judicial Review for the DC Office of Personnel and later became an Administrative Hearing Officer involved with administrative due process hearings pursuant to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) compliance.

In the private sector, Mr. Jones established Sports Consultancy Inc. “SCI” a sports representational firm to provide professional football players with contract negotiation expertise and leadership development. Additionally, Mr. Jones was lead counsel for the Ohio Minority Development Financing Commission, where he provided counsel on fixed asset loan financing including structuring the loan facilities and arranging loan closings. As a founding partner of Jones & Thompson, he represented corporations and small businesses before regulatory agencies and the Ohio General Assembly. In that capacity, Mr. Jones represented the Ohio Minority Contractors Association in its efforts to increase contracting opportunities under the minority set-aside program. He later served as outside counsel to Wendy’s International on debt restructuring, loan-workouts and financing structures for franchisees, and, thereafter, as counsel to American Electric Power.

In Washington, Mr. Jones became managing partner at Jenkins & Jones where the firm represented small-to-medium sized corporations before Congress, the Executive Branch and federal regulatory agencies. Their firm served as counsel to the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Jones was also the lead counsel to Telecom firms including RVC Services, Inc. in the acquisition of PCS licenses and the build-out of the communications infrastructure.

Mr. Jones is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the National Bar Association and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. He is active in the George Washington Alumni Association, the Kappa Alpha Psi National Fraternity and the Sports Lawyers Association. He is a former NCAA collegiate football player, Hall of Fame member of Princeton High School in the State of Ohio and maintains an active interest in inter-collegiate athletics. Jones received a B.A. in political science from Kent State University and J.D. from the George Washington National Law Center in Washington, DC.

OG ARABIAN PRINCE

Founder

iNov8 Next Open Labs

A songwriter, rapper, producer, DJ, technologist Pro Gamer, Animator, Futurist and Blockchain pioneer. Founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group N.W.A., producer of Grammy nominated #1 hit song Supersonic. CoFounder/CEO MDDAO a Medical Metaverse co. Founder of iNov8 Next Open Labs, Founder of GGGOAT PC and lifestyle brand, CEO of Drivyn Performance.

His passion for technology led to him create a 3D animation and special effects studio in the 90's working with companies like Saban Entertainment and Fox, including 100+ video game, film and TV titles for Fox interactive and Vivendi Universal. As a consultant, Arabian has advised many companies on bridging the gap between technology and the youth, while bringing new product innovations to market. He is currently working with his tech partners to bring Open Labs to communities across the country in support of youth, women, diversity, veterans and anyone else who wants to explore the future of technology.

DR. LANCE MCCARTHY

Advisor

Faith Based Economist and Investment Advisor

Dr. E. Lance McCarthy is a nationally recognized Faith Based Economist and Investment Advisor, with a specialty in urban development. Dr. McCarthy has assisted non-profit organizations, churches, corporations, professional athletes and cities with economic development and financing plans. His public policy research, Fortune 100 experience, entrepreneurial endeavors and non-profit initiatives give him insight into our nation’s most pressing problems. Most recently Dr. McCarthy has been appointed National Economic Advisor for Faith Driven Consumer, the organization which represents more than 41 million Faith Driven Consumers in the United States, who collectively spend $2 trillion annually. Dr. McCarthy will be working with corporations to assist them in working with the Faith Driven Consumer. He also represents faith-based funding sources that have provided $1 billion dollars in investments for churches nationwide. Presently, Dr. McCarthy is a financial consultant on the upcoming movie “Mary”—set to arrive in theaters nationwide in December 2016.

In 2014, Dr. McCarthy co-founded Ferguson 1000 Jobs, an initiative that is developing a platform of coordinated efforts to create 1000 jobs in Ferguson, Missouri, and surrounding municipalities as a solution so that area’s widespread racial unrest. The initiative includes corporate job development, minority business development, faith-based strategies and youth technology training. Ferguson 1000 Jobs has in one year partnered with more than 100 companies to offer local hiring events and was invited to the White House to discuss Ferguson 1000, STEM projects and host a lecture in conjunction with the White House Technology Diversity Advisor, leading tech guru billionaires and the largest consulting firm in the world, Accenture.Ferguson 1000 has evolved to Global 1000 with a special emphasis on Black Tech. Dr. Lance partnered with NFL Great Ray Lewis, Co-Founder of Priceline Jeff Hoffman, Real Estate Guru Richmond McCoy, Cyber Security Specialist Phyllis Newhouse and Entertainment Mogul Alki David. Global 1000 has expanded to Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. They have over 200 corporate partners, 100 Black Tech firms and 5,000 perse candidates in their talent pool. Most recently Dr. Lance has launched Reveal Global 1000 Consulting an 8a Innovation Tech firm with emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, Drone Development, Cyber Warfare and Defense Technology Innovation.

Earlier in 2015, Dr. McCarthy delivered his TED TALK, “African Americans and Technology-Empowerment or Exclusion.” The premise shared how leveraging the hidden talent of African Americans in the technology industry can help the economy.

In 2013, Dr. McCarthy was appointed to National Director of Corporate Relations for the National Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a lay organization of the Catholic Church. The Society, founded in Paris in 1833 and in the United States in 1844, is one of the largest charities in the world.  With one million direct workers, The Society is located in more than 140 countries on five continents and delivers nearly $1 billion dollars in direct and in-kind services to 15 million people annually.

Dr. McCarthy’s theme for urban enlightenment and prosperity—Wall Street to Main Street—is profiled in his upcoming book, Wall Street to the Hood: Economic Solutions for Ferguson and for Urban America. The book evaluates certain sectors of the American economy based on past successes, and gives concrete solutions to changing the philosophical economic mindset of African-Americans. In it, he tells of his appointment as Land Clearance Director, and how he led the effort to create an urban technology park with a training center. In addition, Dr. McCarthy profiles testimonials of his faith-based clients, for whom he leveraged millions of dollars for urban development projects.

Beyond this book project, Dr. McCarthy has extensive economic and community development experience in a wide variety of sectors. As President and CEO of the Orlando Urban League, he tripled the fiscal budget in 18 months, created a for-profit pision, and planned the first National Urban League Conference in Orlando’s history which hosted President Obama.

In 2012, Dr. Lance created Venture Draft, a conference for professional athletes, technology companies and venture capital firms at St. Louis University. Daymond John of Shark Tank was the host for this historic event in which more than 200 technology firms, professional athletes and venture capital firms from Silicon Valley, New York, and Las Vegas attended. Beyond this, Dr. McCarthy is an advisor for the top Silicon Valley Equity Fund.

Significantly, it was Dr. McCarthy’s ground-breaking essay “A Proposal to Get F.I.T. Economic Empowerment through the African American Church” (a State of Black America Public Policy Institute Report) that prompted him to move into investment banking from traditional research. His research in defense economics, which began in defense conversion, later became instrumental in developing an industrial policy for the St. Louis Economic Conversion Project and the Catholic Church to establish a more peaceful economy. Subsequently, Dr. McCarthy was asked to testify before a congressional committee on financing technology and was named to the White House Task Force on Economic Defense Conversion under President Clinton.

In addition, Dr. McCarthy has performed extensive research on private financing via pension funds and venture capital, and has appeared on numerous talk and radio shows—due in large part to his Project 21 commentaries focusing on capital formation in urban communities. His research findings and lectures have been associated with:  Harvard University, Howard University, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Southern California, St. Louis University, University of Central Florida, Washington University of St. Louis, University of North Dakota, Rutgers University, University of Texas, Clark -Atlanta University, St. Louis Economic Conversion Think Tank, Amherst International Economics Institute and  Cornell University’s Urban Planning Journal . Dr. Lance has numerous published articles in newspapers across the country, including being featured in USA Today. And in his role as the economist for the California African-American Business Summit, Dr. McCarthy was responsible for developing the $100 Million Procurement Diversity Project as a roadmap for minority businesses and corporate America.

In the confluence in music and fundraising, Dr. McCarthy served as Investment Advisor for the Western Region of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, where he procured funding for the Rhino Records CD project, “The Man, The Movement and The Music.” This effort successfully raised funds for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.

Beyond these leadership roles, Dr. McCarthy serves as an Adjunct Professor of Economics, Faith-Based Financing, and Economic Consultant to All Nations University in Canada and Ghana, West Africa. He also has clients in Australia, Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar and other countries. Dr. McCarthy recently launched the Faith-Based Economic Empowerment Institute to assist pastors and faith-based leaders in their economic and business training.

As a sports economist, Dr. McCarthy was Vice President of Economic Development for the Sports Agents Association. In this role, he was responsible for developing economic development plans for the association—with more than 3,000 members representing $3 billion in annual revenues. In 2013, Dr. Lance was appointed USA Sports Economist for Qatar.

Dr. McCarthy also assisted by providing research and coordinating political and business meetings for the Moscow City Council Defense Conversion Consultation as a means of sharing defense conversion technologies to assist both the United States and Moscow.

Dr. McCarthy appeared in the 2013 documentary, “Saving St. Louis.” This documentary interviews gang members, CEOs, the superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools, and community stakeholders about how to rebuild a distressed city. Dr. McCarthy discusses the economics of a city and how education has a direct effect. The documentary aired on PBS in February, 2014.

Honors

• Capital Formation Award from the Institute for Strategic Thinking and Technology Development at UCLA.
• Listed in the International Who’s Who of Intellectuals
• Listed in “2000 Most Notable Men in America”
• Named to the Inaugural class of Leadership U.S.A.
• Outstanding Leader Award, National Association of Black Architects
• White House Lecture
• TED Talk Lecture
• Harvard Lecture

Current and Past Board Memberships & Affiliations

• Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors
• Orlando Performing Arts Alliance
• Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission
• Leadership Orlando Class
• University of Central Florida Diversity Alliance Board.
• Leadership St. Louis
• Leadership Orlando
• Leadership USA
• Mayor’s Advisory Board on Crime, Orlando
• Urban Theater Board, Los Angeles
• Workforce Advisory Board, Orlando
• President Clinton’s Economic Conversion Task Force
• Congressional Committee on Financing Technology
• Urban Technologies, Alberta, Canada
• INROADS Alumni
• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
• United Way Diversity Cabinet, St. Louis
• Governing Council of the National Forum on Science and Technology
• The Board of Directors of United Nations, Affiliate Chapter St. Louis
• The Board of Directors Federation of Industrial Retention and Renewal
• National Congress of Community Economic Development Task Force for Religious Institutions
• Board of Directors Urban Technologies, Alberta, Canada

MR. VAN AJEMIAN, JD

Non-Profits Expert

Optimizing National Education, Technology Initiatives and Applications

Van Ajemian is an attorney by profession and a social entrepreneur by passion. He manages two charities which conceive and develop projects for public benefit in the areas of education, the environment, and nonprofit fundraising, including sport philanthropy.

Van welcomes the challenge of providing an optimal program to benefit both student athletes and their sponsors, taking into account students' academic priorities and athletic needs, as well as sponsors' desire to generate goodwill among, and brand to, the public. He believes that innovation would play a useful role in optimizing the Timely NIL program.

Van received his juris doctorate degree from the UCLA School of Law.

DR. STEPH ARDREY, DBA/JD

CEO/President

ZenoVerse Wellness Group, Inc.

Ardrey is the CEO/President of ZenoVerse Wellness Group, Inc., a global wellness organization formed to deliver “wellness one week at a time” through its MediSpaTelsTM strategically located across the Caribbean, United Kingdom, and Africa. Current locations are in Jamaica, with UK and African markets opening soon.

Dr. Ardrey codified the wellness delivery model as “W-a-a-S/S” (wellness-as-a- service/solution).

420Wellness Jamaica is a timely concept, that was initially conceived when Ardrey was just 14-years young, she imagined a wellness center. Later while working in the hospitality industry for the Claremont Resort Hotel, she was on the marketing team when they rebranded the property after investing over $1 million dollars to launch what was then a new concept, “spas” at hotels.

Dr. Ardrey is a seasoned real estate developer having directed multibillion-dollar portfolios of commercial real estate development projects – luxury, mixed-use, and retail commercial projects. Prior to entering the high stakes high pressure world of commercial real estate development, Dr. Ardrey was the founder and CEO of The ArdreyGroup Inc., a full-service advertising and marketing communications agency with eight offices across seven western states, a capitalized financial base of over $250 million dollars due to a joint venture.

Dr. Ardrey earned a Juris Doctor (law) degree, a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree, with a concentration in International Business.

Dr. Ardrey’s doctoral dissertation Venture Capital for Independent Filmmakers is being converted into a workshop training series.