Leadership
Meet the team
2023-2024 Executive Board
Ronnita Baker earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan and a master’s in technology from Purdue University with a concentration in Organizational Leadership and a Human Resource Development Certification along with a Certification in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Currently, Ronnita is Co-Director of Marketing, where she will work diligently on increasing the visibility of the Indianapolis chapter of the National Black MBA Association. Ronnita has volunteered as a Precious Miss facilitator for CLD, currently serves as President of the Windsor Village Park Advisory Council, a board member of Mercy Unleashed and Womanish Projects. She has started her own non-profit, Serve & Lead, which focuses on leadership development training and consultation. As a servant leader, her goal is to create a thriving leadership culture based on humility, integrity, flexibility, resilience, stewardship and empathy. As a servant leader, she believes in creating a culture that is engaged and productive. She has coached and develop her leadership team to greatness, knowing, “when they win, we win.”
Email: information@nbmbaa-indy.org
India is the author of a 31-day affirmation exercise workbook Let’s Check In On You! This workbook is one of the first tools that an individual would use to take steps toward performing their own self-assessment.
Mrs. Brown is the Vice Chair on the Execute Board for the Pass the Torch for Women Foundation, she is also the VP of Operations on the Executive Board for the National Black MBA Association, Indianapolis, Chapter, and an active member of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
India earned her bachelor’s in Business Administration (BA) with a focus in Management, and she has her Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) with a focus in Leadership Development.
Madelynn Dowdy Moody, MBA is an active member of the National Black MBA Association – Indianapolis Chapter. Madelynn has been a member with the chapter since 2012. She is seeking to serve the chapter in the role of VP of Records (Secretary). Madelynn has 15+ years of experience in Engineering, Business, and Project/ Program Management. Those years were served working in roles in Pharmaceutical, Construction, Manufacturing, Automotive, Government Contracts, and SW Controls. Madelynn has also devoted 8 years of military service in the US Navy. Madelynn obtained a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue School of Engineering and a Master’s degree (MBA) in Applied Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. Madelynn has several years volunteering her time as Pre-College Initiative Chair for NSBE-Indianapolis Alumni Professionals, as an Executive Board member of Minority Engineering Program of Indianapolis, MEPI, and as Secretary of Cummins Power Speakers Toastmasters Club. Madelynn has 4 children, Jasmine, Raven, James and Aaron.
Email: information@nbmbaa-indy.org
Starla A. Trigg, MBA, is a community connector and influencer passionate about making a difference in Greater Indianapolis. She believes that everyone deserves a seat at the table. Starla’s affiliations include, Toastmasters International, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc – Alpha Mu Omega chapter, the InnoPower Minority Business Conference.
She is a lifetime member & energetic Immediate Past President of the award-winning Indianapolis Chapter. She believes in the power of collaboration and servant leadership. Starla led the Chapter in winning multiple national awards, including the 2022 Tier 2 Entrepreneurship Channel Award, the 2022 Tier 2 Lifestyle Channel Award, the 2021 Tier 2 Career Channel Award, and the 2020 Tier 2 Chapter of the Year award.
Professionally, Starla is an Internal Auditor at Simon Property Group. Her career includes experience in the Higher Education, Consumer Products, and Retail Industries.
Starla holds a BS in Accounting from Hampton University and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University.
One of Starla’s favorite quotes is – “If you are always trying to be normal, you’ll never know how amazing you can be.”
~Maya Angelou
Email: information@nbmbaa-indy.org
Since its inception in 1991, the NBMBAA® Leaders of Tomorrow® Program has mentored more than 8,000 talented youth aspiring to leadership roles in professional fields. The LOT® Program is a comprehensive programmatic approach for providing leadership development to high school students. The program is driven by mentoring across five developmental areas: Leadership, Financial Literacy, College Preparation, Career Preparation and Life Skills. The program offers participants resources, knowledge and opportunities in the way of mentoring relationships, scholarships, and internships.
Email: indylot@yahoo.com
Current Committee Directors
Marketing. Mr. Franks later obtained an MBA from Oakland City University and completed a Disruptive Strategy course at The Harvard Business School. He and Yvonna (wife) have two children, Avery (4) and Chandler (2). In his spare time, Chuck enjoys golf, fishing, community involvement and attending his children’s activities.
Establishing my services on a foundation of integrity, I am a highly dedicated Business Consultant who possesses the skill and passion necessary to help aspiring professionals/startups reach new levels of sustainable success. To date, I hold an extensive background involving the intricacies of leadership development, organizational growth, credit/marketing accentuation, and inspiring healthy mindset transformations, and continuously leverage that dynamicity to guide my clients on cultivating the high-performing business future they deserve. Born and raised in a single-family home with my sister and brother, I learned early on the core value of resilience and a strong work ethic. Part of that stems from my natural-born progressive nature and the other from understanding that in order to get ahead in life, you must put in the work to make it happen. This, along with my rooted appreciation for all things growth and development, became the catalyst for me to attend college to begin my career in Business Administration while my siblings pursued serving in the Army. Upon earning my associate’s degree in Business and a bachelor’s in Education, I spent the next 15 years working across various organizations, proactively gaining a solid track record of exceeding pipeline goals while maintaining internal scaling profitability. In addition to boosting department-wide performance and fostering mutually beneficial results, I have also gained a strong reputation throughout for my specializations revolving around executing full-scale operational improvements and advancing workplace cultures. Now taking that with me to the business consulting space, I have since intertwined my near two decades of startup expeditions and history working as a Childcare Director/ teacher, life coach, and mentor to help others raise the bar for their businesses, their teams, and ensure a profitable path forward. As a consultant fueled by helping others succeed, I have a genuine passion for translating startup objectives into tangible realities and doing so while ensuring everyone across the organizational pipeline has positive constructive experiences along the way. From creating unique business plans to leadership optimization, I ultimately demonstrate my efforts by delivering actionable, strategic, innovative, and tailored support that unlocks bottom-up potential and solidifies scaling futures. Because in the end, every startup business and ambitious entrepreneur has what it takes to excel within their market with the right mindset and brand executions – and sometimes all it takes is attaining qualified perspectives from a consultant you can trust to both recognize and capitalize on that. Overall, my career is my passion and I am always staying updated with the current market and business trends to ensure my clients receive the opulent service and results they merit. I am diligent, efficient, and an endorsed business consultant who takes pride in positioning my clients up for success as they navigate across the competitive market. However, when I am not working, you can often find me swimming, skating, playing kickball and softball, hiking, traveling, and above all, spending time with my husband, our three children, and my bonus children.
Email: information@nbmbaa-indy.org
In the Office of the Chief Equity, Inclusion, & Opportunity Officer, Anthony serves as the Deputy Chief and Executive Director of External Equity. In this role, Anthony leads all efforts regarding benchmarking best practices and meeting with external partners across the state to uncover opportunities for enhancing EIO in Indiana, specifically in the Governor’s agenda priorities of education/workforce, public safety, and healthcare. Anthony also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the same University of Indianapolis Evening MBA program from which he received his degree, teaching various courses in the Applied Analytics concentration. Anthony and Jennifer (his wife of 12 years) welcomed their first child, a son, into their family in May and are enjoying navigating the challenges and joys of parenting!
Email: information@nbmbaa-indy.org
Jennifer T. Butler, MBA has been an active member of the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) since 2020. During her time in the NBMBAA, Jennifer has served on the Marketing Committee for the Charlotte Chapter, participated in the inaugural 2022 NBMBAA Scholars Program, was a recipient of the 2022 NBMBAA John Deere Scholarship, and was appointed to serve as the Director of Marketing for the Indianapolis Chapter.
Jennifer has 9+ years of experience in Supply Chain Management and Procurement spanning across the HVAC, Recreational Vehicle, Household Appliances, and Pharmaceutical industries. Additionally, she is currently an Associate Director in LRL Procurement at Eli Lilly and Company. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Supply Chain Management from Howard University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. She is also involved in numerous professional and civic organizations, including the Indianapolis (IN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, Women of Color in Pharma, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Women in Manufacturing, Institute for Supply Management, and the Howard University Alumni Club of Indianapolis.
Email: information@nbmbaa-indy.org
We are seeking energetic and outgoing members to join the membership committee. The Membership Committee has three main objectives: (1) recruit & retain new, renewing and transfer members to the Chapter; (2) encourage members to become actively engaged with the Chapter and (3) track and maintain memberships and member demographics. This committee reports to the VP of Administration.
Key activities and responsibilities include:
Host the membership table at Chapter events
- Communicate with existing members regarding their membership status
- Conduct new member orientations
- Organize and host membership related events including membership drives
- Contact members via telephone when necessary
- Survey members to capture data & disseminate to appropriate departments
Committee duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Organize and execute entrepreneurship-focused programming.
• Plan panel workshops
• Plan programs that are focused on newly started business
The LOT® Program is a comprehensive programmatic approach for providing leadership development to high school students. The program is driven by mentoring across four developmental areas: Leadership, Financial Literacy, College Preparation and Career Preparation. The Indianapolis Chapter is also seeking mentors and professionals to help facilitate business case competition preparation. The position reports to the VP of Education.
Are you interested in using your passion & energy to assist students with pursuing higher education? This is the committee for you. The purpose of the scholarship committee is to establish scholarship selection criteria, solicit applications and award scholarships based on funding amounts approved by the executive board. The committee also assists in raising funds for Chapter scholarships through various efforts. This committee will also plan the scholarship award ceremony. This committee reports to the VP of Education.
Key activities include:
- Coordinate the application, delivery and selection process
- Evaluate and review submitted applications
- Select scholarship recipients
- Distribute the award letter (s) to the recipients’ campuses
- Follow up with scholarship recipient(s) to make sure the scholarship was received