About

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 current 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 pathed 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 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.

CURRENT COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

Secretary for Activation Capital (Gubernatorial Appointment)
Richmond World Affairs Council Board Member
Massey Cancer Center Board Member
First Tee of Greater Richmond Board Member

PREVIOUS COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP and AWARDS

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

Office 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

Research Analyst

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.

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.

As 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.

Adrienne 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 the President and CEO of Kasuyi and Associates, LLC, an executive coaching firm in Richmond, VA. The company educates, motivates, and empowers professionals to develop their unique aptitudes for influence. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his mother’s inspirational immigration journey motivated him to dedicate his life to empowering others. He holds multiple certifications (John C. Maxwell, Franklin Covey Coaching, Prosci Change Management), along with an MBA from Averett University and BSBA from Saint Paul’s College. When not engaged with clients or enrichening his spirit, he spends time with his wife, Melanie Lee, and their son, Ditu II.

Ditu Kasuyi is the President and CEO of Kasuyi and Associates, LLC, a leadership coaching firm in Richmond, Virginia. The company specializes in educating, motivating, and empowering 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.

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ditu saw first-hand the power of inspirational leadership through his mother's journey to bring her family to the United States. From learning a new language to earning her PhD, her passion for empowering women through education and science encouraged Ditu to follow the clarion call. He has dedicated his life to changing the world through exceptional leadership coaching.

As a certified personal coach, national award-winning motivational speaker, and international trainer, Ditu brings his passion for inspirational speaking and commitment to leadership growth to every client, helping them reach their untapped potential.

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. His clientele list spans from individuals to national and government organizations, including:

>ul>

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

U. S. Department of Defense

National Society of Black Engineers

Urban Financial Services Coalition

Wells Fargo

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.

Ditu believes in paying it forward and regularly gives back. In recognition for his service to the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, he was Eastern Region Brother of the Year. He also teaches Sunday school and volunteers for both the Boys Scouts of America and the Girls Scouts of America.

Ditu earned his Master of Business Administration from Averett University and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Saint Paul's College. When he's not engaging with clients or enrichening his spirit, he spends time with his beautiful wife, Melanie Lee, and their active son, Ditu II.

Donna S. Highfill

Organizational Development

Donna brings over 30 years of experience as an organizational development consultant with a focus on change and performance. She has implemented key change strategies with Fortune 500 companies that include consumer lending, mortgage, investment, retail and Commercial insurance. She has coached executives nationwide on how to implement change while simultaneously driving performance. Outside of DLG, Donna is a speaker, writer, and Boxer enthusiast (the dog kind). She has written three books, has had numerous articles published in HuffPost, Across the Board, Pastoral Forum, and Roanoker Magazine. And has also been a guest blogger on multiple websites. She speaks to women’s groups across the country on topics like change and confidence. Donna studied at Wake Forest University, with master’s level courses completed at Hollins University.

JANE WOODCOX

Business Development & Strategy Consultant
Mraz & Company

Mraz & Company is an event and development strategy consulting agency comprised of a team of professional story-tellers, marketing and communication executives and more, who specialize in advancing artistic and inclusive communities and audience engagement campaigns. As a strategic partner for Letts Consult, Mraz & Company’s team provides event management, corporate partnership procurement and consulting services.

Jane Woodcox brings over 30 years of diverse leadership experience working in both for-profit and non-profit organizations in business development, market expansion, operations, and start-up programming, including a decade of health care delivery system strategy in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Honolulu.

In 1990 Jane earned her degree in Boston at Simmons University with a B.A. in Economics, and also enjoyed an economics policy exchange program at the American University while working at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. In her healthcare career, she developed an expertise in serving diverse, under-resourced communities. While working as the Director of Member and Provider Services at the San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP), Jane managed a multi-cultural/multilingual department and supported stakeholders in six hospitals, 34 clinics and 1,000 ancillary providers after being hired to design and establish operations and enrollment, member services, provider relations and quality improvement systems.

In more recent years Jane developed an expertise in program development in the arts, community building, social justice work and offering family support services after settling in the Hartford, CT area. In 2009 while raising her three sons, Jane trained with the Love & Logic Institute in Denver, CO and completed coursework at the graduate school of Antioch, New England in Pragmatic Language Skills. In 2018, Jane founded CT Inclusive Arts, with non-profit fiscal sponsorship via Fractured Atlas and secured funding, designed programming, marketing and publicity campaigns, creating a network of community partners (Hartford Stage, The American School for the Deaf, The Ethel Walker School, The Hartford Dance Collective and more) and engaged over 100 people in various roles to offer inclusive arts classes and a performance experience to young people with varying abilities.

In 2019, Jane began collaborating with Candace Mraz, Founder of Mraz & Company, with a shared passion for inclusion and elevating organizations with compelling missions to create, enrich and improve communities through the arts. Jane is thrilled to be working with Mraz & Company to thoughtfully help assess program development, marketing and business strategy and messaging that engages communities and fulfills organizational goals. With a rich background of experiences, Jane brings an acute attention to detail and an innate knack for strategy work, program design and implementation to the team. In her free time Jane can be found chasing sunsets, enjoying her three young adult sons, and exploring local music and art with her husband Mark, a visual artist, musician and educator.

Advisory Board Members

Nancy Bagranoff

Professor of Accounting and University Professor, University of Richmond

Nancy Bagranoff is Professor of Accounting and University Professor at the University of Richmond. She was Dean of the Robins School from 2010 until 2019. Prior to her current appointment she served as Professor of Accounting and Dean of the College of Business and Public Administration at Old Dominion University. Dr. Bagranoff has taught at several universities and has extensive volunteer academic and professional service experience.

She has been President of the American Accounting Association, Chair of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Directors of the AICPA and Chair of the Economics Club of Hampton Roads. She has been on the Board of Directors of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is currently a member of the Richmond Board of TowneBank. For AACSB, she is co-chairing a Task Force to reimagine business school accreditation. She is a CPA and has worked for General Electric and as a Faculty in Residence at Arthur Andersen.

Meg Hendrick Downs

Consultant, Strategic Planning & Business Development

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.

KEN WAYLAND

President Free Agents Marketing

With over 20 years of marketing experience in health care, retail, financial services, hospitality/development and the automotive industries, Ken loves measurable results, connecting talented professionals, building the right teams to meet my clients’ desired outcomes and having fun along the way.

Through the relaunch of Free Agents Marketing, we help businesses elevate their brand relevance and find the most effective and efficient path to their desired destination. We connect businesses with the right resources and manage those resources, as well as manage staffing challenges by assembling teams of talented Free Agents to meet their needs. By placing the right players in the right positions, we help our clients build championship teams. Ken’s expertise includes Strategic Direction, Community Connections and Talent Identification and Assembly.

Ken is passionate about giving back to the communities he serves through the Chambers and Associations with whom he is involved, including Chamber RVA, Hampton Roads Chamber, Retail Merchants Association, Hampton Roads Regional Rebranding Initiative, Mega Region Collaborative, Hampton Roads Military Affairs Council, Henrico Police Foundation, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, BizConnect Hampton Roads and Old Dominion University.

Nancy THOMAS

Professor of Accounting and University Professor, University of Richmond

Nancy Thomas is the CEO/President of Retail Merchants Association (RMA). Prior to her current role, Nancy was involved in retail for 27 years with This End Up Furniture, as owner of Arcade on Grove and a partner with Turn Key Interiors.

Nancy holds a degree in Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She serves on several boards including Cross Over Healthcare Ministry, Richmond Region Tourism, Bon Secours Health System Foundation, Henrico Police Foundation, The 100 Club, and the Governing Board of the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority. Nancy is extensively involved in the community including delivering Meals on Wheels and serving as a Eucharistic minister. Nancy and husband Jeff live in the Richmond area and have 2 grown children.

LETTS CONNECT

Get in touch to find out more about our services and programs and to schedule Gail for a speaking engagement.

About

LETTS CONNECT

Contact Us