Keynote Speakers

With more than 30 years experience in some of corporate America’s most notable companies, including Pitney-Bowes, Ameritech, Convergys Corporation, AT&T & IBM, Keith Wyche, President of Cub Foods—a SUPERVALU Company—is now among the highest ranking African American executives in the U.S. Along his journey from success to significance, Wyche is sharing the secrets to help minority middle managers break from middle management to senior leadership in corporate America. Wyche reveals insights from inside the executive suite to help minority professionals see themselves through the same lens from which they are viewed by executive decision makers.

How is Wyche’s message different from other experts/coaches/authors? Known for his signature “straight-shooter” approach, Wyche leverages real examples from his and his colleagues’ journeys up the corporate ladder to provide practical strategies for advancing to corporate leadership. The bottom-line according to Wyche is: Good is not enough. His message is not about what corporate America isn’t doing, it’s about what today’s minority professionals aren’t doing.

Kathy Burrell is a Senior Vice President with Bank of America, N.A. where she has served in various credit and sales capacities for the past 15 years, including Small Business Administration (SBA) Leader and Market Credit Officer for the Greater Texas market. In her current role, Kathy is the Small Business Banking Market Manager for the Austin and San Antonio areas overseeing market sales and business development initiatives.

Kathy serves on the Finance Committee of Capital Certified Development Corporation where the focus is SBA loans; the board of People Fund, a community development financial institution focusing on redeploying capital into underserved markets; and the Advisory Council for the Huston-Tillotson University School of Business. She holds a BBA and MBA in Finance from Clark Atlanta University.

Milton B. Lee retired from CPS Energy, the municipally-owned electric and gas company serving San Antonio, as CEO in September 2010. Milton joined CPS Energy in August 2000 as Senior Vice President of the Electric Transmission and Distribution Systems, became interim general manager in November 2001 and advanced to CEO/General Manager in February 2002. A native of Austin, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1971. Milton is a former member of the Huston-Tillotson University Board of Trustees, Leadership Austin Board of Directors, Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and BioMed San Antonio Executive Board of Directors.

Milton founded the consulting firm Lee Energy Partners, LLC in 2010 and teaches Corporate Strategy at the Utility Executive Course sponsored by the University of Idaho.

Marilyn Johnson led an organization responsible for developing IBM’s strategy for (and marketing to) businesses owned or operated by Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Women in the Americas. In 2005, she expanded her mission to include women-owned and women-led businesses in selected markets around the globe. She has extensive management experience in sales and marketing in the information technology industry. A graduate of John Marshall University, she holds two advanced Education degrees. Marilyn has received numerous awards, and has been named a Sequoyah Fellow by the American Indian Engineering and Science Society, to name a few of her prestigious honors. She attended the Harvard Business School Strategic Leadership Forum representing Finance Sector Marketing for IBM. She has held positions on the Executive Board of the Council for Better Business Bureaus and the Executive Boards of the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Foundation, the National Council of Negro Women and American Airlines Marketing Advisory Council.