Government Coins

Laurie Sayles is author, change agent, thought leader, and President & CEO of Civility Management Solutions (CivilityMS), a professional consulting services firm working within the Government and Commercial space. CivilityMS is a certified Small Business Administration 8(a), Women-Owned, and verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business located in Greenbelt, MD.

Laurie has become an outspoken advocate for Veteran’s as she has served on four Small Business Committee Hearings in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives regarding Veteran Entrepreneurship Training, SBA Reauthorization, and parity within the statuses. Along with company being awarded Washington Business Journal “2020 Veterans in Business” award; 2019 Maryland Women Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year and VIB Network’s “Above and Beyond” award; 2018 CivilityMS selected as 1 of 100 Minority Businesses in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area, and “Compassionate Business Leader” due to her advocacy on behalf of Veterans business owners.

CivilityMS participated in many pilot programs: Department of Veteran Affairs, OSBDU program for Women Service-Disabled Veterans “VetBizLady”; BowieBic 8(a) accelerator program for SBA certified 8(a) programs in Prince George’s County, MD; Baltimore, MD Cohort 1 Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Business Program with Babson Entrepreneurship Training at Johns Hopkins University.

CivilityMS has received numerous awards during the past seven years of being established, and a repeat on Inc 5000 list for 2020 and 2021. Laurie received her BS in Social Science and a Minor in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, along with a Business Project Management Certification from University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and has been accepted in UMGC Graduates Program and plans to return for MBA.

Her advocacy work also includes Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), which fights for policy changes for Women Owned Businesses. Lastly, Laurie is an author of her journey of moving through tough challenges, “As My Leaders Go ... So Do I,” which has promoted women conferences for empowerment to survive and operates through the nonprofit R3 (Recognize, Repair and Repeat).

Follow CivilityMS on Instagram for all tips and gems about her experience in #GovCon: https://www.instagram.com/civilityms/

Learn more about Civility Management Solutions and the work they do: https://civilityms.com/

Shante’ is the catalyst for positive change consistently paving the way for success among diverse businesses in the construction sector partnering with Samet. With a decade-long tenure as an educator in the Durham public school system Shante’ passion for empowerment and palpable in every endeavor. Leveraging her teaching background, she infuses projects with a drive to up with other strategically guiding teams to meet MWE bid criteria and exceed HUB/MWBE goals, thereby nurturing growth within their teams and resumes alike. Drawing upon her intense project management, Shante's empathetically navigates the challenges faced by minority firms throughout the bidding process and on-site work. After helping others with their businesses, she finds time to nurture and grow her art business StrokesbySMS. Want to learn more about Sumet Corporation: https://www.sametcorp.com/ Connect with Shante' Stewart on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shante%E2%80%99-stewart-36808390/

Dr. Cheryl Sutton has worked for over two decades advocating for the utilization of minority and diverse-owned businesses in the public and private sectors. She has mastered relationship building and uses this skill as a powerful conduit to provide resources and opportunities to minority firms throughout North Carolina. She is passionate about providing equitable opportunities for diverse firms with the ability and readiness to participate in the evolving marketplace. When she identifies a need, her goal is to find solutions through her mantra, “Make Connections Count”. Throughout her career, she has left her fingerprint on multiple initiatives helping to support, empower, educate, and bring recognition to minority business owners. Most recently, she has received the following:  2023 - North Carolina’s POWER 100 (Black Business Inc.)  2024 - Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Leader of the Year (Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce)  2024 - Corporate Partner of the Year (NAWBO – GR)  2024 - NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame Inductee (Advocacy honoree) A sampling of her signature programs includes the Women’s Owned Business Symposium (City of Dayton), UNC Wilmington’s HUB Academy, and she founded the Cape Fear Region Minority Enterprise Development Week (Wilmington, NC). Since joining the North Carolina Education Lottery in 2022, she created the Diversity Champions Resource Group to help facilitate ongoing conversations regarding inclusivity in purchasing decisions. Grateful for her professional success, when asked what is most important, she unapologetically acknowledges that “Family comes first, at all times”.

Want to learn more about NC Education Lottery: https://nclottery.com/ Connect with Dr. Cheryl Sutton on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-cheryl-d-sutton-06506812/

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More About Government Coins:  Government Coins is a podcast hosted by ShaKeia the founder of GovLia, Christlie the founder of Christlie G Consulting & Hamza Sabree the founder of Global Connects. Government Coins is a podcast focusing on— increasing small and minority owned business participation in government contracting! Our goal is to dismantle barriers of entry by educating the small minority business community and providing them with more insight on how to navigate the government contracting landscape. Unlike traditional outreach events and tradeshows, our podcast will allow us to connect with a wider range of small businesses both locally and nationally.   

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More About The Hosts:   

- ShaKeia is the founder of GovLia ( www.govlia.com), specializing in supplier diversity management, engagement, and outreach.  

- Christlie is the founder of Christlie G Consulting  (www.christliegconsulting.com) specializing in human resource and human capital management.   

- Hamza is the founder of Global Connects (www.theglobalconnects.com), specializing in facilitating the process of procuring government contracts.   

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Connect with us on Instagram  Government Coins: https://www.instagram.com/governmentcoins   

ShaKeia : https://www.instagram.com/govlia/   

Christlie: https://www.instagram.com/christlieg/   

Hamza: https://www.instagram.com/globalleader_/  

Now let's get some of these #GovernmentCoins !