LANG STRATEGIES - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• CEO
• Managing Principal
• President and CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce

Barbara B. Lang embraces organizational change. In fact, she not only embraces it, but like the true leader and innovator that she is, she utilizes it to develop, expand and sustain businesses. Barbara manages the overall brand of Lang Strategies, LLC and oversees each of its practice areas: Crisis Management, Business Development, Political Strategy Management, Executive Leadership and Business Tactical Planning, Assessment and Problem Solving. Expertise Most recently, Barbara has served as president and CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce for 12 years. In this role, she was responsible for the operations and overall strategic direction of the organization and advancing the Chamber's interests through advocacy, education, information and business development. In her time at the Chamber, Barbara transformed the organization into the most powerful and respected business group in the region through her aggressive leadership on key public policy business issues. She also worked diligently on education (Pre-K-12) and workforce development issues and projects, as well as small business/entrepreneurial development initiatives. Prior to joining the Chamber, Barbara was the Vice President of Corporate Services and Chief Procurement Officer for Fannie Mae, a publicly-traded corporation that provides financial products for low-, moderate-, and middle income Americans. In this position she managed all the company's procurement, real estate and facility operations supporting 5,000 employees in 60 locations in the U.S. with a staff of 300 and a budget of $300M. She also had a long career with IBM where she served in several management positions in finance, administration and product forecasting.

Job Titles:

• Founder and Chief Executive Officer at the Boyer Group

Brian Boyer is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at The Boyer Group, a marketing and business partnership headquartered in West Hartford, Conn., with locations in Washington, DC and Saratoga Springs, NY. In this role, Brian serves as a partner to organizations and businesses in various sectors, learns their business, builds internal and external relationships and provides dedicated and trusted counsel on marketing/branding, business development and strategic communications, with a focus on maximizing resources and building profit margins. He has built a reputation as a trusted, dedicated advisor to organizations and their leadership teams as they navigate marketing and business opportunities with key audiences in various markets. Prior to starting his own business, Brian spent 25 years working with diverse organizations in economic development, government, finance/insurance, healthcare, non-profit, education, law, IT, tourism, hospitality/leisure, human resources, and aerospace/aviation. His partnerships with economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, nonprofit community groups, start-ups, corporations, agencies, and individuals yield results that align with your goals, objectives, and mission. Brian also hosted an award-winning radio show on iHeart Media and currently hosts an international podcast. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hartford.

Job Titles:

• Principal

Gerald was a savvy business leader who had more than 30 years of sales, marketing and business development experience. Expertise Gerald was Principal and Chief Client Officer at Lang Strategies where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Business Development practice area for the firm. Prior to being one of the three founding principals of the firm he spent most of his career making his mark as a sales and marketing executive at The Prudential Insurance Company of America. He served in various capacities with increased responsibilities while accumulating unprecedented sales records as a sales associate, sales manager, training consultant, district agency director and executive director. In his final position at Prudential, Gerald was recruited to oversee the company's Urban Marketing Initiative in its Baltimore office, where he led grassroots efforts to increase and promote Prudential's portfolio in urban neighborhoods underserved by major insurance companies. When Gerald retired from Prudential, he was highly touted to manage the U.S. operations of INDE, Inc., a company that produced Italian luxury leather fashion for Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and other specialty boutiques in Switzerland and Austria. As senior vice president, he oversaw sales and marketing for seven years and successfully launched products in the U.S. market at several high-end stores.

Job Titles:

• Human Resources & Diversity

Throughout her illustrious career, Maria has led change and pioneered successful initiatives at the corporate and government levels. She is responsible for human resources, supplier and workforce diversity, and executive leadership at Lang Strategies, LLC. Expertise Maria was Fannie Mae's first vice president for diversity and work-life initiatives. During her 12-year tenure, she led one of the top award-winning diversity programs in the country. She was responsible for designing programs to increase the diversity of the workplace, increase contracting with minority and women-owned businesses, and creating programs to foster an environment of inclusion at all levels of the organization. She also revamped the Human Resources Call Center processes and procedures to improve service delivery and morale. Prior to joining Fannie Mae in 1992, Maria was appointed by former DC Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly to design and serve as the first chief administrative judge for the District of Columbia's Office of Employee Appeals Temporary Appeals Panel, an agency formed exclusively to hear employee appeals resulting from the first major downsizing of city government. She was also a commissioned officer in the United States Navy Reserve Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps for 15 years. Maria is a self-proclaimed workaholic. When she is not working, she enjoys reading about such topics as military history, espionage and legal thrillers. You can also find her out on the greens with her golf clubs and swimming laps in the pool when the weather permits.

Job Titles:

• Executive Leadership & Change Management
• Founder of Odyssey Institute for the Study of Transition
• Visionary Leader

Tony Smith, Ph.D is a visionary leader who has spent 25 years facilitating organizational and personal change for various entities in the business and non-profit sectors. Tony leads the Executive Leadership practice area at Lang Strategies, LLC. Expertise Tony is the founder of Odyssey Institute for the Study of Transition in San Francisco. He and his colleagues have advised organizations on building transition strategies and creating cohesive and diverse work teams and cultures for more than 20 years. He is also an executive coach, and has counseled hundreds of CEOs on leadership and team-building. His clients have included research organizations such as SRI International, the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation; businesses such as CitiBank, Fannie Mae, Ameritrust, Kreuger International, and Paymap; the Washington, DC Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit; and public sector organizations such as San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne Counties in California, the city of Antioch, Calif., the Metropolitan Transit District of Portland, Ore., the Oregon Community Mental Health Providers Association, and the American Astronomical Society. Tony is an avid reader of philosophy. While he is on the road for much of the year on business, he enjoys turning those frequent flyer miles into trips around the world, including France, England and Italy. If you're ever in the Bay Area, Tony can also point you in the right direction for more than a couple epicurean delights at the area's finest restaurants.