Kathey Porter, MBA, CPSD

A small business expert with an impressive cadre of experience spanning nearly two decades in marketing, small business development, supplier diversity and entrepreneurship. In her capacity as a supplier diversity director and consultant for the government, higher education and corporate sectors, she has successfully assisted small businesses to receive over $10 million in contract opportunities.

Previously a marketing executive in the beauty industry for companies including Carson Products, Revlon Professional and Colomer USA, Kathey was responsible for new product development, launch strategy and marketing activation for brands targeting multicultural consumers.

An owner and operator of several businesses during the course of her career, Kathey recently founded BusinessFAB (Fearless. Awesome. Boss), a boutique multiplatform media initiative that advises women entrepreneurs on starting, growing and sustaining a business through the development of content, communications and customized events. It's core public components include the BusinessFAB Women's Entrepreneurship + Leadership Conference and the Women in Business Leadership Lecture Series.

An adjunct business professor with over a decade of diversified teaching experience, Kathey has lectured at Virginia Tech - Pamplin College of Business, Savannah State University, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), Strayer University, Columbia College and University of Phoenix. Her specialization included topics such as entrepreneurship, marketing, management, introduction to business, business ethics, public relations, leadership.

Kathey is the author of 50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan), which was nominated for the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Non-Fiction and ranked as the #1 New Release in Business and Entrepreneurship by Amazon.

A frequent speaker, panelist and workshop facilitator, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Central Florida Minority Supplier Development Council (cnFMSDC) and the Advisory Committee for the World of a Woman Conference by Hudson Egypt, Cairo, Egypt.

Kathey received her MBA from Georgia Southern University, BBA from Savannah State University and a CPSD (Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity) through the Institute for Supply Management. She was a Supply Specialist in the Georgia Army National Guard.