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The Trailblazer Awards · Since 1989

Honoring those who opened doors — and held them open.

Each year, The Presidents’ Roundtable confers the Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur Award and companion honors on leaders whose vision, enterprise, and service have advanced opportunity for African American business in Baltimore, Washington, and beyond.
Browse Recipients
Members Behind the Awards

The Trailblazer

Est. 1989

I.

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Named for the legendary publisher and manufacturer Anthony Overton — recognizing entrepreneurs whose enterprises have measurably expanded the African American economic footprint.

II.

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

Honoring senior executives in Fortune-class corporations whose leadership has opened executive pathways and expanded supplier diversity.

III.

PRT Special Recognition

Conferred on civic and public-sector leaders whose service and policy work have advanced equity and opportunity in our region.

2016 Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur Award

Thomas A. Moorehead

BMW of Sterling · Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Sterling

Thomas Allen Moorehead’s remarkable career has consistently supported his life-long vision: assisting others to realize their own dreams. A visionary business professional, Moorehead is a revered mentor to hundreds of African Americans interested in careers in the automobile industry. As a generous philanthropist, he has funded numerous scholarships for college students and supported charities targeting underserved communities.

In 1998 Moorehead was awarded one of just three minority BMW dealership sites identified by NAMAD, building a 38,500-square-foot facility to showcase the BMW and Mini Cooper brands. In December 2013, he became the first African American awarded a full-service Rolls-Royce franchise, and in 2016 the first African American owner to acquire both Lamborghini and McLaren dealerships.

Through The Joyce and Thomas Moorehead Foundation, established in 2004, he has provided more than $400,000 in scholarships and supported working families and non-profits across the region. His hospitality portfolio now includes more than 45 properties, beginning with the Marriott Residence Inn at National Harbor.

"Assist others in realizing their own dreams."

The Archive

A roll of trailblazers, by year.

Every honoree below was recognized at the annual gala. Biographies are drawn from the recipients’ own organizations and public record.

2016

Vision · Service · Legacy

Valencia McCl..

Rupert R. Warner

Hon. Stephanie

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

Valencia McClure

Vice President, Governmental & External Affairs — BGE, an Exelon Company

Valencia McClure leads government affairs, corporate relations, marketing, and large customer services for BGE’s 1.2 million electric and 650,000 natural gas customers across central Maryland. With more than 20 years in communications, community affairs, and public relations, she has built a reputation for cultivating high-trust stakeholder relationships at scale.

Earlier in her career she owned McClure Communications Inc., served as executive producer of the award-winning WFAA-TV public affairs programs Metro and La Vida, and held communications roles with Exelon Power. She is a graduate of Leadership Maryland and Leadership Dallas.

She currently serves on the boards of Leadership Maryland, Bowie State University, the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, and Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communications, and is president of the AABE Baltimore Chapter.

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

Rupert R. Warner, Jr.

Program Manager, Supplier Diversity — U.S. Postal Service

As Purchasing and Supply Management Specialist and Program Manager for Supplier Diversity, Rupert Warner is responsible for managing the nine-element Supplier Diversity Corporate Plan at the U.S. Postal Service — from outreach and innovation to subcontract management, performance indicators, and recognition.

His national programs and contributions to integrating supplier diversity and supply chain management have been featured across DiversityBusiness.com, Savoy Professionals, DiversityPlus, Black Professionals, the Minority Enterprise Advocate, and Minority Business News.

Mr. Warner holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in business management from National-Louis University of Chicago, master’s certificates in Government Contracting and Project Management from George Washington University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Postal Service Advanced Leadership Program.

PRT Special Recognition Award

The Hon. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

49th Mayor of Baltimore · 73rd President, U.S. Conference of Mayors

Sworn in as Baltimore’s 49th mayor on February 4, 2010, and elected to her first full term with 87% of the vote, Mayor Rawlings-Blake focused her administration on growing Baltimore by 10,000 families through public safety, education, and neighborhood investment.

In 2013 she presented Change to Grow, the city’s first long-range financial plan — a generation-defining set of reforms to eliminate a nine-year, $750 million structural budget deficit while reducing homeowner property taxes by more than 20% over a decade.

She became the 73rd President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2015, led a USCM delegation to the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris, and presided over Maryland’s first same-sex marriages at City Hall in 2013. She was first elected to the City Council in 1995 at age 25 — the youngest person ever elected to the Baltimore City Council.

2015

Vision · Service · Legacy

Joseph Haskins

Judy Smith

Warren M. Tho..

Donna Cooper

Melissa Y. Sh..

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Joseph Haskins, Jr.

Chairman, President & CEO — The Harbor Bank of Maryland

Joseph Haskins, Jr. is Chairman, President, and CEO of Harbor Bankshares Corporation. The Harbor Bank of Maryland offers a diverse spectrum of retail and commercial banking and investment services and is recognized by Black Enterprise as one of the top African American–owned and –operated financial institutions in the United States.

He has been honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and has advised three Maryland Governors, four Baltimore Mayors, and the Maryland Comptroller of the Treasury.

Mr. Haskins holds a B.A. in Economics from Morgan State University, an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University, and a Master of Liberal Arts in Economics from Johns Hopkins University, with advanced banking studies completed at Wharton.

 
Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Judy Smith

Founder & President — Smith & Company

Judy A. Smith is the founder and President of Smith & Company, a leading strategic and crisis communications firm with offices in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. For more than 25 years she has counseled clients across government, business, sports, and entertainment.

Her career has spanned the Iran Contra investigation, the prosecution of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, the 1991 Gulf War, the Justice Thomas confirmation hearings, the Enron inquiry, and crises facing Sony, the U.N. Foundation, and the WHO. She served as Special Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary to President George H. W. Bush.

Her life and work inspired Shonda Rhimes’ ABC drama Scandal, on which she serves as co-executive producer. She is the author of Good Self, Bad Self (Free Press / Simon & Schuster).

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Warren M. Thompson

Chairman & President — Thompson Hospitality

Warren M. Thompson is President and Chairman of Thompson Hospitality Corporation, the largest minority-owned food and facilities management services company in the country, with 4,000 associates and revenues exceeding $500 million across 45 states and six countries.

He founded the company in 1992 with a leveraged buyout of 31 Bob’s Big Boy restaurants and in 1997 forged a strategic partnership with Compass Group to launch Thompson Hospitality Services, LLC — today serving more than 30 of the Fortune 100, major universities and HBCUs, urban school districts, and hospital systems.

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

Donna Cooper

President, Pepco Region — Pepco Holdings (Exelon)

Dr. Donna Cooper is President of the Pepco Region, serving more than 800,000 customers across the District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. She is the primary executive responsible for stakeholder relations with state and local officials, community leaders, and business and nonprofit organizations across the region.

Her career spans senior public affairs roles at Pepco, policy director to the Council of the District of Columbia, executive director of the National Organization of Black County Officials, and faculty appointments at South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina.

She holds a B.A. from South Carolina State, an M.P.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in political science from Howard University.

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

Melissa Y. Sherrod

Vice President, Corporate Affairs — Exelon Corporation

Melissa Sherrod leads day-to-day outreach in Washington, D.C. for the Exelon–Pepco Holdings merger and previously served as ComEd’s Vice President of Regulatory Policy and Strategy, managing relationships with the Illinois Commerce Commission and overseeing pricing policy for one of the nation’s largest electric utilities.

Earlier she was Director of Investor Relations for Exelon and a manager in Deloitte & Touche’s Comprehensive Tax Solution practice. She holds an M.B.A. from Keller Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in finance from Lewis University.

2014

Vision · Service · Legacy

Eddie C. Brown

JoAnn H.

Christopher J.

Calvin G. Butl..

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Eddie C. Brown

Founder — Brown Capital Management

In 1983, Eddie Brown founded Brown Capital Management, one of the country’s oldest African American–owned investment management firms. Prior to founding the firm, he was Vice President and Portfolio Manager at T. Rowe Price Associates and, for 25 years, a regular panelist on Louis Rukeyser’s Wall $treet Week — earning induction into the program’s Hall of Fame.

His civic service includes the ERISA Advisory Council, the Maryland Economic Development Commission, the East Baltimore Development Corporation, and OSI–Baltimore. With his family he founded the Turning the Corner Achievement Program for middle school youth.

He holds a B.S. from Howard University, an M.S. from NYU, and an M.B.A. from Indiana University, plus the CFA and CIC designations. He is the author of Beating the Odds — Eddie Brown’s Investing and Life Strategies.

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

JoAnn H. Price

Co-Founder & Managing Partner — Fairview Capital Partners

A Howard University graduate, JoAnn Price began her career as legislative aide to Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania and led the National Association of Investment Companies for 12 years, advocating for capital accessibility across diverse SBIC and private equity managers.

In 1994, with co-founder Larry Morse, she launched Fairview Capital Partners — growing a fund-of-funds business from scratch to one that today manages nearly $3.5 billion in commitments across multiple strategies, sectors, and geographies.

She serves on the Howard University Board of Visitors, the YMCA of Greater Hartford, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Vantagepoint Funds Board, and as vice chairman of the Apollo Theater Foundation in New York.

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Christopher J. Williams

Chairman & CEO — The Williams Capital Group

Christopher J. Williams is Chairman, CEO, and founder of The Williams Capital Group, L.P. and Williams Capital Management, LLC. He began his career at Lehman Brothers as a Senior Vice President in debt capital markets, derivatives, and fixed income trading, and in 1992 formed Williams Financial Markets at Jefferies & Company.

Both Fortune and Crain’s New York Business have named him among the most powerful minority business leaders in America. Thompson Financial has ranked Williams Capital among the top 20 most active underwriters of U.S. taxable fixed income and equity transactions for the past decade.

He serves on the boards of Caesars Entertainment, Cox Enterprises, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (chair), Mount Sinai Medical Center, Lincoln Center, and Teachers College at Columbia.

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

Calvin G. Butler, Jr.

Chief Executive Officer — Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE)

Calvin G. Butler Jr. became CEO of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company on March 1, 2014. He previously served as BGE’s senior vice president for regulatory and external affairs and Exelon’s senior vice president of corporate affairs, playing a critical role in the Exelon–Constellation Energy merger.

Before joining Exelon in 2008 he held leadership positions at RR Donnelley including vice president of manufacturing, senior vice president of external affairs, and president of the company’s nonprofit foundation. He began his career at CILCORP in government affairs, legal, and operations.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bradley University and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law. He has been recognized by Uptown Professional Magazine among the Top 100 Executives in America (2011, 2012, 2013) and named to Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40.

2013

Vision · Service · Legacy

Roland S.

Black Ente..

Anthony Overton Trailblazer Entrepreneur

Roland S. Martin

Host, News One Now (TV One) · Nationally Syndicated Columnist

Roland S. Martin is a nationally syndicated columnist, senior analyst, and host of News One Now — the first morning news program in history focused on news and analysis from an explicitly African American perspective. He was named the 2013 NABJ Journalist of the Year.

A six-year CNN contributor, he was part of the network’s Peabody Award–winning 2008 election coverage. He is the author of three books, including The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House. He previously served as executive editor and general manager of the Chicago Defender.

He earned a B.S. in journalism from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in Christian Communications from Louisiana Baptist University, with honorary degrees from Florida Memorial, the University of Maryland–University College, and LeMoyne-Owen.

PRT Corporate Executive Trailblazer

BLACK ENTERPRISE

Founded 1970 by Earl G. Graves, Sr.

BLACK ENTERPRISE is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans — providing essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers since its founding in 1970 by Earl G. Graves, Sr.

A total media firm with a singular mission to educate and empower its audience to become full participants in wealth creation, BE delivers across five content platforms: Publishing, Digital, Broadcast, Social Media, and Events. Its Wealth For Life Initiative is the centerpiece of its content strategy.

The Roundtable

The members who make the awards possible.

PRT is a results-driven organization of high-growth African American business owners that strives to improve access to opportunities for all minority entrepreneurs. Each Trailblazer honoree below is selected, hosted, and celebrated by the members pictured here.
Learn More About PRT

The Presidents' Roundtable — Full Membership Portrait

01

Click to meet
Joseph Haskins, Jr.

The Harbor Bank of Maryland

02

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Arnold Williams

Accounting and Consulting Services

03

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Tony Hill

Office Furniture

04

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Robert Wallace

Energy

05

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Jeffrey Hargrave

Construction

06

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Keyia Yalcin

Real Estate

07

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Maurice Walker

Real Estate and Technology

08

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Eddie Brown

Capital Management

09

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Calvin Mims

Construction

10

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James Scott

Professional Services

11

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Pernell Williams

Medical Supplies

12

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Stanley Tucker

Financial Services

13

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Gerald Boyd

Consulting

14

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John Walters

Relocation · Transportation

15

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Christopher Mfume

Real Estate Development

Nominations Open

Know a trailblazer? Tell us their story.

Nominations for the next class of Anthony Overton, Corporate Executive, and Special Recognition honorees close each spring ahead of the annual gala.
Submit a Nomination
Contact

Contact The Presidents RoundTable

We’d love to hear from you. Please find our contact details below, or click the email link to get in touch with our team.
  • 5850 Waterloo Road, Suite 140 Columbia, MD 21045
  • Office: (410) 480-7130
    Mobile: (410) 385-1333
  • Email : info@thepresidentsroundtable.net
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