About

OUR PURPOSE

At LETTS CONSULT, we recognize that the demographics of the country and our workplaces are rapidly changing, and we are passionate about equality in the workplace.

We believe that to accomplish this, organizations must change how they attract, retain and develop talent, and individual employees must take more responsibility for their careers.

Facts

The US population of people who are two or more races is projected to be the fastest growing racial or ethnic group over the next several decades. Millennials are the largest adult population and the most racially diverse….43% are non- white. 39.1% of US women in 2021 completed college degrees vs 36.6% of men. Beginning in 2045, non-Hispanic whites will no longer make up the majority of the population. By 2055, the US will not have a single racial or ethnic majority.

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Meet The Team

As a collective, we are making a difference by bridging business and potential. We are dedicated to closing the gender parity gaps for women in business. As a team, we hope you will join us to make a change together. Connect with us!

Gail Letts

CEO and Founder

Gail Letts is the CEO & Founder of LETTS CONSULT- a business which she founded in 2019 to help businesses transform policies, procedures, product and practices for the future. LETTS CONSULT concentrates its work in 3 areas: strategy, talent and culture. LETTS CONSULT holds as its core that for businesses to be successful, they need to have and execute a strong strategic plan that places a high value on corporate social responsibility. A commitment to diversity, equity, inclusivity and community is embedded in the foundation of all work.

The majority of Gail’s career has been in banking - she was the Virginia Market President for First Tennessee Bank, Richmond Regional President & Chief Lending Officer for C&F Bank and President & CEO of Suntrust Bank’s Central Virginia Region. During her extensive tenure at SunTrust, she held positions in Human Resources, Employee Relations, Training and Retail Banking, where she was personally responsible for SunTrust’s branch network of more than 1,400 offices. Her success in these roles paved her path to being selected as one of the first female Presidents within SunTrust’s vast market and first female President in Virginia. Gail currently serves on the Community Bankers Trust Corporation (ESXB) Board of Directors.

Gail has built a reputation for attracting, developing and retaining top talent and creating high performance teams. She has taken the lead role in numerous projects as executive strategist and has been on implementation teams for over 20 mergers and acquisitions. Gail has analyzed the financial performance for hundreds of clients, advising them on financing, cash flow, process and profitability improvement, and has developed numerous strategies for them to grow market share and revenues. She has delivered numerous programs and workshops on leadership, motivation and culture change. She has been the keynote speaker at a myriad conferences and has had the honor of providing the VCU School of Business Commencement Address. She developed and implemented SunTrust’s “Women’s Initiative” for the DC market which became a “best practice” in the industry and helped create First Tennessee Bank’s “Women & Wealth” Program.

Community Leadership and Awards

Secretary for Activation Capital (Gubernatorial Appointment)
Richmond World Affairs Council Board Member
Massey Cancer Center Board Member
First Tee of Greater Richmond Board Member
017 Urban Financial Services Coalition Leadership Award
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities Humanitarian Award
017 Richmond Times-Dispatch “Person of the Year” Nominee
Risk Management Association’s
015 Business Person of the Year
Style Weekly Magazine’s 01 Power List | Richmond Top 50
VCU School of Business Commencement Keynote - 01
Two Time Honoree of Maryland’s Top 100 Women in Business
First Female President of the Baltimore Rotary
Paul Harris Fellow Honoree for Community Contributions
Baltimore School For the Arts Board Member
Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Board Member
Washington Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” Top 50
Easter Seals Board Member
Goodwill International Board Member
Richmond United Way Board Chair
Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (Gubernatorial Appointment)
Greater Richmond Partnership Chair
Heart Ball & Go Red for Women Luncheon Chair
Homeward Board Member
YMCA Board Member
Virginia Bankers Association Board Member
VCU School of Business Foundation Board Member

JANET FREEMAN

Operations Manager

Janet Freeman joined the LETTS CONSULT team as Office Manager in June 2021. Prior to joining LETTS CONSULT, Janet was with SOAR365 as an Account Manager. Janet has a great depth of experience having worked at Federal Reserve Information Technology for 16 years as a Financial Analyst, Compensation Reporting Analyst and Human Resources Analyst.

Janet also worked for Crestar Bank/SunTrust Bank and First Union National Bank in a variety of analytical roles, focusing on tracking, reporting and research. Janet’s educational background includes a Mini MBA from the Robins School of Business/University of Richmond, and coursework in computer information systems from both J. Sergeant Reynolds and Piedmont Community College. Janet is professionally affiliated with the American Bankers Association, the Young Women’s Christian League, the Richmond Chapter of the National Association of Urban Bankers and the Virginia Foundation for Women.

ABBY NICHOLS

Brand Ambassador

Abby Nichols joined the LETTS CONSULT team in 2019 as an intern. Abby is from Richmond, VA where she graduated from St. Catherine’s School in 2017. She is currently a senior at the University of Richmond and is studying Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL).

Abby is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and is an English Second Language Tutor in UR’s Linking Through Language and Technology program. Before joining the LETTS CONSULT team, she interned for a firm which provided consulting services for a multi-national pharmaceutical and life sciences company on multiple projects involving Supply Chain Logistics, Cold-Chain Logistics, Ultrasonic Testing, and Reverse Logistics.

Abby loves working with the LETTS CONSULT team in their commitment to the growth and advancement of women in business, and is excited to support their mission to bridge the gap and break down barriers for women.

HOLLY CHAIN

Associate Recruiter

Holly Chain joined LETTS CONSULT in January 2022 as a Research Analyst. Holly has a professional Banking background that spans over a 15 year period of which 8 ½ were with SunTrust Bank as a Licensed Manager. In her role she was recognized for placing as a top 10 Licensed Banker within the entire corporation of 1600 retail branches. She is a talented addition to the team whose career has focused on sales, management and operations. She attended the University of Cincinnati with a major in education.

DAWN MICHELLE

Engagement Manager

Dawn Michelle joined LETTS CONSULT as Engagement Manager in February of 2023. Dawn is an international professional with diverse experience supporting executives, founders, principals, and investors at the board, advisory, and C-suite level across a wide spectrum of markets, including high-growth tech, global energy, national security, private equity, family offices, aviation and aerospace, foundation management, real estate investments, and financial services.

She held a series of high-profile roles as chief of staff for a VC in Miami and reporting directly to the CEOs of two Fortune 500 corporations for a decade in the Washington D.C. area. Previously she worked in Department of Defense programs for Northrop Grumman and Mantech International in Arizona and Germany. Dawn began her career at Raymond James Financial as an Executive Assistant and practicing Certified Financial Advisor, managing a portfolio of discretionary accounts, and eventually practiced independently on behalf of UHNW/HNW individuals, families, and investors.

CONSULTING PARTNERS

KAREN CONRAD

Executive Coaching

Karen has designed and delivered executive, leadership, and management development programs and facilitated organizational development interventions for both public, private, and non-profit organizations.

Karen has over 25 years in banking and as an independent consultant to public, private sector, and non-profit organizations. Karen is a certified executive leadership coach. an executive coach, Karen has worked with leaders at all levels in organizations to assist them in seeing the possibilities of taking themselves and their work groups to new levels of performance.

As a consultant, Karen has designed and delivered leadership development training programs to all divisions in organizations focused on self-leadership, leading others, leading teams, sales management and coaching, sales training, customer relationship building and service, and achieving organizational goals. She has completed organizational development interventions with teams to improve trust, communications and results. Karen’s experience provides her with the knowledge and skills to provide leadership development, coaching and organizational development grounded in reality and enabling clients to reach new possibilities.

Karen has a B.S. in Psychology, a M.S. in Adult Education, and a graduate certificate in Leadership Coaching.

ADRIENNE P. WHITAKER

Equity, Inclusion and Culture

Adrienne Whitaker has over 15 years experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in various leadership roles working in the public, private, and non profit sectors. She serves as the DEI Director of a statewide agency.

She formerly was a senior business development executive at SOAR365 where she was responsible for securing contracts with companies, non-profits as well as local, state and federal government agencies including military base contracts to provide employment opportunities for men and women with disabilities.

She served as the Vice President of Philanthropy & Marketing at Virginia Home for Boys and Girls; as Vice President of Institutional Advancement & External Affairs at Virginia State University; and as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at SunTrust Bank., where she was also responsible for diversity initiatives, community outreach, and corporate social responsibility.

She currently serves on the advisory board of C&F Bank, and she was appointed by City Council to the Richmond Minority Business Enterprise & Emerging Small Business Advisory Board. She is the co-founder of the L2L Leadership Institute and co-chair of the annual LIVE2LEAD-Richmond Conference. She also serves on the board of the Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC) Foundation and on the corporate advisory board. Adrienne serves on the board of directors of Homeward and Virginia Repertory Theater, where she is on the executive committee as the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Officer. Adrienne obtained her bachelor’s of arts degree from William and Mary. She is a graduate of a leadership program at University of Richmond and the Sorensen Institute for Political Leaders at University of Virginia. She obtained her certification in diversity, equity, and inclusion from Cornell University.

DITU KASUYI

Leadership Development

Ditu Kasuyi is a certified executive coach and conference speaker, with more than 15 years of leadership development experience. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his mother’s inspirational immigration journey motivated him to dedicate his life to empowering others.

Ditu has seen first-hand the power of inspirational leadership and has a passion for empowering women through education and science.

Ditu holds an MBA from Averett University and BSBA from Saint Paul’s College. He uses this background to educate, motivate and empower professionals to elevate their leadership skills to reach their goals faster. By increasing their ability to focus on the behaviors that produce extraordinary results, his clients solve complex problems more effectively, leading to improved performance and higher revenues.

Ditu is certified in the John C. Maxwell and Franklin Covey Coaching methodologies, as well as the Prosci Change Management Methodology. He uses these techniques to help his clients successfully master renowned programs such as:

7 Habits of Highly Effective People
21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
15 Invaluable Laws of Growth

Throughout his extensive international travel, he has led team workshops, presented coaching sessions, and delivered motivational speeches in Korea, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, and across the United States. A longtime member of the financial community, where he not only built the foundation of his business expertise but also rose to top management, Ditu is a current member of the Corporate Advisory Board of Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC), a past President of the Corporate Advisory Board of UFSC, and a past National President of UFSC. He was the recipient of both the UFSC President's Award and their National Orator of the Year award.

amy nisenson

Nonprofit Excellence

Amy’s consulting expertise includes strategic planning, board development/governance work, board and staff meeting facilitation, organizational development, and resource development. Her over 35 years as a senior philanthropy professional includes work on both sides of philanthropy- as a nonprofit executive and development professional and as a corporate and foundation grant maker.

Amy brings her unique experiences in both asking and giving along with strategic thinking, sensible fiscal management, effective communication, and facilitation to her consulting work. Amy is also a Certified Governance Trainer with Board Source and is trained in nonprofit Board education. She has a coaching certificate with MSB Coach as a corporate coach.

Along with her work as a consultant, Amy serves as the Executive Director of the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, which is a private-independent foundation that grants more than $5-7 million annually to nonprofits in the Commonwealth of Virginia for capital projects. Amy also teaches classes in nonprofit management including grant writing, navigating support from corporations and foundations, and board development at many universities and programs throughout the State. Prior to her current work, Amy served as Vice President and Community Affairs Manager for Wachovia Corporation from 2005-2008, covering the three-state Mid-Atlantic Region of Virginia—Virginia, Maryland, and D.C.

Amy received a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. She is currently serving as the President of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond for a two-year term from 2022-2024.

Erin berube

Leadership Development

Erin provides coaching and facilitation for senior leaders and their teams from Fortune 500 companies with a focus on growth, performance and leadership. She has significant global experience in driving results while simplifying complexities, spurring performance breakthroughs, and guiding clients to communicate powerfully to influence and inspire others.

In addition to her robust experience as an executive coach, Erin has over 15 years of corporate leadership experience in business development, product innovation, and P&L growth across some of the largest companies in the world in healthcare, defense and technology – including as a senior leader at CVS Health.

Erin graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. with honors in English. She earned an MBA with distinction from The Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary and was named the Woman of Impact from her graduating class. She holds certifications in leadership and team coaching, including CPCC, ICF-PCC, and an Advanced Leadership Certificate from Duke Corporate Education.

Erin’s coaching approach leans on over 30 years of data from 12,000+ exceptional leaders that uncovered the foundational routines and behaviors of leadership excellence. Leadership is what you do, and her focus is to create the rare leaders who consistently produce both extraordinary results and incredible followership by teaching the behaviors of the most admired leaders. Her behaviorally-based approach provides actionable feedback to spur quick results and boost credibility. Erin excels at building rapport and quickly gaining the trust of her clients. She begins coaching engagements with self-assessments, which can include qualitative 360 reviews to determine the client’s assets and areas of opportunity. Erin serves as a Board Member for the ICF Maryland Chapter and is an active volunteer and fundraiser for local nonprofits that support the homeless and underserved communities.

Advisory Board Members

Meg Hendrick Downs

Owner, MH & DH Downs Consulting

Meg provides strategic planning and business development to small businesses and non-profits. Her career has covered many different settings offering a common theme – strength through relationships and a clear vision for success.

Meg has worked in higher education medical outreach at the University of North Carolina, non-profit support and development, and, most recently, for her own consulting firm. Using a wide array of relationship building expertise, Meg assists her clients in reaching their full potential.

Meg serves on several boards, including SOAR365, formerly the Greater Richmond ARC, where she chaired the capital campaign for the non-profit’s Park365, a universally accessible facility that is open to all. Through her commitment and experience, Meg elevates and focuses any organization of which she is a part. Meg earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.

NEIL AMIN

Chief Executive Officer, Shamin Hotels

Mr. Amin started his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he advised public and private technology companies on merger and acquisition transactions and capital markets activities.

He currently has overall responsibility for over 66 hotels owned and operated by Shamin Hotels, the largest hotel owner and operator in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Additionally, Mr. Amin oversees the operations of Shamin’s Assisted Living and Dementia facilities in Virginia. During his tenure at Shamin Hotels, the company has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Developer of the Year from Intercontinental Hotels Group and the Multi-Brand Developer of the Year, New Build/Adaptive Reuse of the Year, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hilton Hotels. Mr. Amin has also been repeatedly recognized as one of the Fifty Most Influential Virginians by Virginia Business.

Mr. Amin graduated summa cum laude from The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, completing his B.S. in Economics and MBA. He is passionate about assisting the communities where the associates of Shamin Hotels live and work and currently serves as the past chairman of the board of Richmond Region Tourism and serves on the boards of the Community Foundation, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, the Virginia Community Development Corporation, Sports Backers, Venture Richmond, the Virginia Council on Economic Education, and is chairman of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Additionally, Mr. Amin serves on the Treasury Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates at the pleasure of the Governor of Virginia.

KIMBERLY TROAST

Senior Director/Accounting Operations
Under Armour

Kimberly Troast is a Senior Director for Accounting Operations at Under Armour. Kim joined Under Armour in 2004 and is motivated by continuous improvement, focused on intentional leadership and forward thinking process optimization.

She is well versed in operational & strategic management of Global Accounting Operations teams with responsibilities for Credit Mgmt, A.R. Cash Applications, Billing, Disputes, Purchasing & A.P. Kim is Inspired by a dynamic environment that fosters diverse ways of thinking through collaboration with cross functional partnerships to appropriately challenge and collectively evolve the way to support business strategies.

Kim has served on multiple Unsecured Creditor Committees to ensure fairness and due diligence by all parties. She has served as Chair for UA's A&F Teammate Engagement & Recognition Committee and Board Chair of the ACE Trade Group, working with peers to provide collaborative learning and networking opportunities. Kim and her teams are active members of the Baltimore community and support the Maryland Food Bank, Ronald McDonald House Charities and United Way of Central Maryland.

Candace Mraz

Founder and President, Mraz & Company

Candace is an Entrepreneur, Event Strategist, Producer and advocate for people with diverse abilities (especially in the workplace), with a career span of 23 years in business development, event management & production, sales, hospitality and non-profit leadership. Candace infuses the arts into work and uses her professional & personal experiences, creative intelligence and dedication to inclusion to engage and inspire audiences.

In 2020 Candace successfully launched Mraz & Company, an agency of creatives, business strategists, storytellers and event professionals with an eye on inclusion. Mraz & Company increases awareness of how capable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are—and to get employers thinking differently about workforce development. Candace is also a managing partner of Sugar Creek, a new event venue and agri-tourism concept in Virginia with a mission to build a sustainable workplace for people with varying abilities, reimagining how we work and play.

Candace is a Co-Producer of the Emmy Award winning Documentary Film: FROM THE WINGS: The LIVE ART Story and former Executive Director and Vice President of Development for the American Heart Association in Richmond, Charlottesville and Roanoke, Virginia. Candace modernized the Heart Walk, Heart Ball & Go Red for Women events with an emphasis on digital media production and innovative donor engagement.

For 8 years, as the Senior Director of Development for the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC), Candace led efforts to raise nearly $13 million to fuel SPARC’s program and capital growth. Candace was also instrumental in developing and implementing the fundraising strategies for SPARC’s nationally recognized inclusive arts education program, LIVE ART.

Candace is attracted to complex strategic and tactical challenges and her expansive career, beginning with hospitality sales and management, includes work with World Healthcare Congress, World Tech Congress, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), The Jason Mraz Foundation, Letts Consult, St. Margaret’s School, Benchmark Hospitality, Retro Hospitality, En Forme Magazine and The Richmond Times Dispatch.

Candace holds a certificate in Fundraising & Development from the University of Richmond’s Institute on Philanthropy and studied Business Administration at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2019, Candace co-founded FreeHorse Arts a 501(c)(3) ensemble of collaborative innovators who customize integrative arts programs and creative equine experiences for people of diverse abilities. Candace also recently completed 6 years of service on the ACTS Board of Directors in Richmond, VA, volunteers for VA Ability and the Woodland Cemetery Foundation’s restoration project and her proudest development project is raising her two daughters, Chaney and Ruby in the “Center of Universe”, Ashland, VA.

Brooks Smith

Managing Partner, Richmond Office, troutman pepper

Brooks is managing partner of Troutman Pepper’s Richmond office. Prior to joining Troutman in August 2013, Brooks co-chaired the global environmental practice at Hunton & Williams (now Hunton Andrews Kurth). Brooks is widely recognized for his work, both locally and nationally. He is top ranked by Chambers USA, Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers and the Virginia Legal Elite. He has also been recognized as a Leader in the Law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly and one of the country’s 50 Energy & Environmental Trailblazers by the National Law Journal.

For the past two years, he has also been included in the Virginia 500 – Power List by Virginia Business Magazine. In 2022, Brooks was inducted as a Fellow of both the American Bar Foundation and American College of Environmental Lawyers. Brooks has written and spoken extensively on developments arising under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, NEPA and other environmental laws. In addition, he has chaired several national conferences and given more than 500 presentations to audiences across the United States and Canada.

Brooks is also deeply committed to the local community. He has served in leadership positions on over 10 boards, including American Heart Association, Maymont, the Valentine, CultureWorks, Richmond Jazz Society, Richmond Public Library Foundation, Podium Foundation, Art on Wheels, VCU Rice Rivers Center, and the Capital Region Land Conservancy. Brooks also chaired the Richmond Business Council and served on the executive committee of the Greater Richmond Chamber. For six years, Brooks contributed essays and poems on WCVE Public Radio (now VPM) through a commentary series called Rediscovering Richmond. Many of those commentaries have since been compiled into books accompanied by vintage photographs from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Dementi family and other local collections.

eric whittleton

President, Tychon

Eric is an experienced C-level Executive with a demonstrated history of leading companies in the Information Technology & Cyber Security industry; skilled in P/L Management, Strategic Leadership, Operations, Business Development, and Cyber Risk Management.

As a business advisor and angel investor, performs C-Level executive management advising and strategic planning to privately held firms that have a strategy aligned to raising capital, building value and aligning to an eventual exit. In this capacity, he assists the company's ownership and key management team to build the value proposition through organizational maturation, defined scalable process, strategy development, pipeline management, go-to-market aligned to product market fit, and achievement of business goals and objectives.

Mr. Whittleton received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Post-Baccalaureate in Management Information Systems (MIS) from Virginia Commonwealth University. He also holds a Certificate in Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard.

He is a native Virginian, first generation American, with his father hailing from Dudley, England, and his mother from Bordeaux, France.

Mr. Whittleton sits on several Boards but is most notably Director Emeritus on VCU’s School of Business Foundation Board.

LETTS CONNECT

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