Joseph Jackson is a strategic business consultant with extensive experience in marketing, strategic planning, sales and business development. His background includes experience in the corporate, nonprofit, and federal sectors. As an entrepreneur, Joseph has run small businesses and worked as the lead consultant responsible for developing marketing strategies and business development plans for startup companies. Joseph holds a BA from Yale University.

Over the last ten years, Charles has acted as a business consultant to the Small Business Development Centers and Centers for International Trade Development for El Camino Community College, Long Beach City College, and for Loyola Marymount University. He has 30 years’ experience in small business and international trade, having done business in 45 countries throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.  

Charles is bi-lingual in English and Spanish. He holds a Bachelors’ degree in Latin American Studies and Economics and an MBA in International Management.

Ed has been with the SBDC since 2008. His numerous business qualifications include having served in the following positions:

• Director Emeritus and Audit Committee Chair of US Metro Bank.
• Director of small business with sales to Staples, Bye-Bye-Baby, and Amazon.
• Professor Emeritus in Business School at Calif. State Universities Pomona and Long Beach.
• Eight years as a chief credit officer / loan administrator of banks or regions. Twice approved by Federal and State Regulators as CCO.
• Twelve years as a team leader of $75-500 million portfolios – always with direct account management and sale of diversified bank financial products.
• President of LA Chapter of bank credit association in 1996-97 (awarded superior unit) and in 2000-01.

He holds an undergraduate degree from American University, Wash D.C. as well as a Master’s Degree in Asian Studies/ International Business.

Max specializes in providing funding advice and direction for startups and established and businesses, and he also specializes in start-ups, management, strategic planning and business planning. Max has 20+ years’ experience as an entrepreneur and executive in an array of industries such as construction, re-development, manufacturing and distribution.  In addition to this, Max’s expertise includes public-private partnerships, and he’s the owner of his own strategic growth and program management consultancy in Los Angeles. Max is a native Angelino and resides with his family in Whittier, California.

Sé Reed is a web strategist, web developer, speaker, and small business owner, who loves helping small businesses use the Internet to thrive! She has been developing websites and content for the Internet since 1992, first for fun, then for work. At the SBDC, Sé helps small business owners develop their web and marketing strategies, including website development, social media and search engine optimization. Sé has received many awards including Long Beach Posts’ 40 Under 40, and Advisor of the Year and State Star for the Los Angeles Regional Network SBDC.

Lori Williams is a business consultant, speaker, and writer. She has over 20 years of experience in strategic planning, finance, marketing, and operations. Functioning as the Chief Strategist for her consulting agency, she has worked with middle market companies to build long-term sustainable growth. Her eBooks are distributed through Amazon, ITunes and Barnes and Noble.

As an adjunct professor in the entrepreneurial department at Pepperdine, she shares her business expertise with young entrepreneurs.  Lori holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, BS Business and Management, an AA in Medical Science and a Practitioner’s license in Neurolinguistic Programming.

Mike Huntley has over 30 years of sales and marketing experience in a variety of industries, including such fields as aerospace, automotive, medicine, oil and gas, and electronics. He has worked with companies throughout the world, including Latin America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Mike holds a B.A. Psychology from California State University Long Beach and an MBA from California State Dominquez Hills. Mike also has an executive management certificate from the University of California at Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

Karie has over 20 years’ experience helping retailers, service providers, restaurants and entrepreneurs successfully launch and grow their businesses in a wide variety of retail environments and markets. Her extensive background stems from shopping center management, marketing and development, as well as retail operations and manufacturing. Since she began working with the SBDC, she has helped thousands of small businesses. Her consulting expertise includes the development of overall strategic business and marketing plans, financial and sales projections, as well as site selection, tenant improvement issues and demystifying lease language.

Brett is a hands-on practitioner with management consulting, process improvement, and business development expertise across multiple industries and sectors. He brings practical business acumen from holding key positions at startups and growth-oriented enterprises in the areas of operations, product development and marketing, business intelligence, demand analysis, market entry research, communications, fundraising, program management, corporate governance, and investor relations.

Prior to joining the SBDC Brett was an advisor for portfolio companies of a technology incubator and a seed stage accelerator, and he managed civic innovation and workforce development engagements to drive private sector development.  Brett currently helps early stage businesses access capital in the local ecosystem with a focus on supporting startups and entrepreneurial ventures as they transition from mind to market.

Rithya is a small business generalist with full-spectrum experience including incubating business ideas, raising capital, launching businesses and growing existing ones.  Rithya has opened his own businesses, helped manage portfolio investments at a venture capital firm, and has traveled for work to over 20 countries in Asia and the South Pacific.  Currently, Rithya is a business financial planner in addition to being an advisor to the SBDC.

Mo specializes in e-commerce and business automation. She has 20+ years’ experience in information technology as a computer programmer, network administrator and web developer.  She Mo also has 8+ years as an e-commerce entrepreneur– having launched a U.S. apparel manufacturing company– and is the owner of her own e-commerce consulting company in Long Beach. Mo is proud to have served in the military as a U.S. Marine.