LAURA HICKS

SALES

Laura Hicks is a sales, sales management, operations, training, and coaching expert with more than 25 years of working with multi-million dollar organizations. She specializes in developing teams, sales growth, and business development to help companies improve their market reach, pipeline and increase profitability.

Laura works to help each person recognize their potential and achieve their goals through metrics, scripts, consistent processes, and accountability.

Laura most recently served as VP of Sales at TechSoft Consultants. This company helps small businesses build momentum to 10X their sales by evaluating current efforts to maximize sustainable productivity.

Laura has worked for national and global companies in telecommunications, medical, energy, lasers, transportation, oil, gas, mining, and electro-optics in both the B2B and B2C models. She provides planning, forecasting, budgeting, and P&L oversight, working closely with the team to be strategic in highly competitive markets.

Laura has won multiple President Club Awards, the Dale Carnegie Sales Top Championship Award, and team awards for Top Sales. She has led teams to achieve 170% sales growth in a year and increased sales in a greenfield region by 350% in the first year. She is currently a Director on the Board for the Transportation Club of Seattle.

Laura attended Edinboro University and Franklin Pierce College in Business Administration and Business Management.

Laura is married with four grown children and enjoys baking, hiking, reading, and photography. Additional interests include creative real estate investing and she is currently building her own home.

CHARMEL BOWDEN

STRATEGIC PLANNING & OPERATIONS

Charmel Bowden is experienced in planning, finance, staff development, and project
Management working for many of the leading companies nationally and globally in diverse industry segments. She specializes in providing strategic guidance to C-suite and senior leadership teams. She is an author and trainer in personal and professional development, focusing on emotional intelligence, helping leaders build their capacity to grow strong organizations.

Charmel’s takes a holistic, collaborative, and human-centric approach to improving the success metrics of an organization’s vision and goals. Every touchpoint with company stakeholders, both internal and external, is an opportunity to improve, enhance, and build committed, loyal relationships.

She most recently served in a hands role as the Chief of Staff to a biotech CEO during fundraising and sales, which included grant writing, staff development, and special projects to help them meet their multi-million dollar goal.

Charmel has previously worked as a consultant and executive coach with accreditation through the ICF. She is known for being the driving force behind many successful programs, growing her full-service advertising agency to $15M in sales in just four years.

She has a degree in Business Administration & Management and in Marketing Management and Communications from Bellevue College. She has earned her Project Management certification (PMP) and is a Certified Professional Services Marketer (SMPS).

She is a fourth-generation Seattle native, returning to the area after ten years in New York and Washington, DC. She is the mother of two grown children she adores and is currently restoring an old family home.

ANGELA WALKER

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Angela Walker is a communication, advocacy, partnership, and fundraising expert with more than 20 years of expertise nationally and globally. She specializes in management and change communication to help executives improve their internal and external messaging and create a positive culture for all employees.

Angela most recently served as Vice President of Communications and Marketing at WEConnect International, an NGO connecting women-owned entrepreneurs to private sector corporate buyers to grow their businesses and support sustainable communities.

Angela previously worked at the World Bank, where she served as a Communications Advisor to the 25-member Board of Executive Directors and the Managing Director. Her first position at the Bank was as Communications Manager for the South Asia Region.

Angela previously served as a UN spokesperson and regional communications advisor for six international institutions in countries experiencing conflict and humanitarian crises in Asia, Africa, and the Balkans. Before returning to Washington, DC, she served as the Chief of Advocacy and Partnerships for UNICEF in India.

Angela is an award-winning journalist working in print and broadcast media at The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

She has a Masters in International Economics, Conflict Resolution, and International Law from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and received her BA from Georgetown University and the Sorbonne.

Angela is married to Tom Sampson, a television cameraman, and mother to Myles and twins Jack and Lucy.