SONES & WHITE - Key Persons
Angela Ewing is a Research Assistant with Sones & White Consulting. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she moved to Jackson, Mississippi in 2001 to dance with Ballet Magnificat, a Christian dance company. After spending three years dancing, performing, and touring the U.S., she hung up her dance shoes due to an injury.
Angela has held many administrative and hospitality roles, serving as an Administrative Assistant (and Head Party and Event Coordinator) with Bomgar Corp, the largest technology company based in Mississippi; Office Assistant at a local real estate company; and Manager with local coffee franchise Seattle Drip Coffee Company. She is also a licensed Realtor. Angela is thrilled to be a part of the research team at Sones & White Consulting, learning new skills and putting current ones to the test.
Angela and her husband Andrew reside in Madison, Mississippi with their sons Owen and Garrett, along with their beloved rescue Chiweenie named Beanie. Angela loved dancing professionally but still has many other creative passions, including photography, painting, sewing, knitting, decorating, anything really that she can create with her hands. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and finding new places to travel to and explore.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Director of Compliance and Reporting With
April Shinall is Director of Compliance and Reporting with Sones & White Consulting. A graduate of The University of Mississippi School of Accountancy, she worked in a community bank for 17 years prior to joining Sones & White. Her banking experience includes simultaneously serving as Credit Administration Officer, CDFI Officer, and CRA Officer.
In her banking career, April had a wide range of responsibilities. For example, she secured CDFI Certification for the bank and oversaw its CDFI grant applications, implemented a control system for high dollar loan customers, created a system for ordering and tracking appraisals and inspections, administered report queries in Business Analytics, transitioned the bank from small to intermediate-small CRA reporting and developed a CRA tracking system for examiners, and obtained certification for the bank to make PPP loans through the SBA during the recent pandemic.
In her role as Director of Compliance and Reporting, April assists Sones & White clients with quality control of loan and deposit reports, writing report queries, preparing and submitting compliance reports, and maintaining Federal credentials (such as AMIS, SAM.gov, and Grants.gov). She also ensures that records are retained in accordance with firm policies and CDFI Fund requirements.
April was born and raised in a small community called Dry Creek, Mississippi. She and her husband, Chris, have three children, Gehrig, Trevor, and Morgan Jewel. Her children keep her busy with baseball and basketball. When not at one of her children's activities, you will find April outside on the porch swing, reading a good book.
April currently serves as Treasurer on the Dry Creek Fire Department Board and is an active member of the Pine Grove School Booster Club and PTO. She and her family attend Dumas Baptist Church, where her husband serves as the youth minister.
A native of Brookhaven, Mississippi, Ben began his career in Nashville, Tennessee. He later moved back home to Mississippi to practice banking law with Watkins, Ludlam, Winter & Stennis (now Jones Walker) before establishing his own consulting and legal practices and ultimately forming Sones & White.
Ben's primary goal is to serve as a trusted advisor to community banks. Ben's consulting practice focuses on community development banking, providing strategic planning, grant writing, and compliance services to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFls). Ben's law practice focuses on bank regulatory, corporate, and transactional matters. In addition, Ben has experience serving as corporate counsel to small businesses.
Ben has lectured on community development and regulatory matters for many banker groups, including the Community Development Bankers Association, the Alabama Bankers Association, the Louisiana Bankers Association, and the Mississippi Bankers Association.
Ben and his wife Estelle reside in Madison, Mississippi, with their four children, Benjamin, Caroline, McKee, and Lucy. They are active members of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Christyn Potts is a Consultant with Sones & White Consulting, LLC. Chris, a native of Mississippi, studied biological engineering at Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law. She began her career in 2005 as a patent attorney with Bradley Arant, a regional law firm, working in both their Jackson, Mississippi and Birmingham, Alabama offices before becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom.
Elizabeth Fox is a Consultant with Sones & White. She was born and raised in Jackson, MS and has made her home in Birmingham, AL since her college days. She graduated from Samford University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Journalism.
Elizabeth has over 25 years of experience as a technical and training content writer for various industries, including software development, healthcare, government contracting, and construction supply. She has also regularly served on project teams in various design, support, and decision-making capacities.
In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys cycling, baking, traveling, and playing guitar and mandolin on the church worship team. She is an active member of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA).
Before founding Sones & White, Everett was a shareholder at Baker Donelson and then a partner at a boutique law firm. In his consulting practice, Everett provides consulting services to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), including CDFI certification, grant writing, compliance, and strategic planning to community banks and other financial institutions. In the law firm, Everett focuses on corporate and transactional law, with an emphasis on serving as outside general counsel to local businesses.
Everett and his wife Jennifer live in Madison, Mississippi with their three children, Ellie, Mason, and Caleb. They are active members of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Job Titles:
- Director of Client Services
Jackie Shelt is the Director of Client Services for Sones & White Consulting. In this role she handles communication with clients during the initial certification process, during compliance reporting, and throughout the grant application process. In addition, she leads our team of Research Assistants, assists with workflow planning and process development, and provides administrative support to our consultants.
Jackie has over twenty years of experience in administrative support, project management, and client services. Prior to joining Sones & White, she served as Executive Assistant to the EVP of Products & Services at Bomgar Corp, the largest technology company based in Mississippi, in which role she supported the upper management team and served as the Office Manager for the Jackson headquarters. Prior to her time at Bomgar, she served in the administration of a newly established school, Christ Covenant School, which now enrolls over 380 students in grades pre-K through 8.
Jackie enjoys reading and discussing good literature, spending time with family and friends, and participating in church activities.
James Kenyon is a Research Assistant with Sones & White Consulting, LLC. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, James found his way to Jackson via Belhaven University, where he graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Acting. Prior to his employment at Sones & White, James worked as the Associate Technical Director for Jackson Academy's Performing Arts Center, designing and building theatrical sets for both the theatre and show choir programs.
James lives in Jackson with his wife Laina. Together they run a non-profit theatre, Hearth & Mantel Theatre. He also serves on the Redeemer Community Arts Committee at Redeemer Church (PCA), where he and Laina attend. He enjoys nature, woodworking, board games, painting, and good food, especially with good friends.
Julia Connelly is an Executive Assistant at Sones & White. She received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from James Madison University, and later worked towards her master's degree at Reformed Theological Seminary. After growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, Julia lived in many states all over the southern US: Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, before finally landing in Mississippi in 2016.
Julia has over ten years of administrative support experience, five at the executive level. Prior to joining Sones & White in 2022, she worked in the Department of Modern Languages at Mississippi College, providing administrative support to fifteen faculty members and directing the language tutoring lab. She also previously served as Executive Assistant to the VP and General Counsel at Lanier Worldwide, Inc., one of the world's largest global providers of document management solutions, as well as to the senior and executive pastors at Intown Community Church, both in Atlanta, GA.
Julia and her husband, Patrick, live in Clinton, Mississippi with their three boys, Sam, Eli and Ezra. They are currently members of Redeemer Church in Jackson. When not hanging out with family and friends, Julia can be found reading, playing piano, or dabbling in graphic design.
Job Titles:
- Associate Attorney and Consultant
Mary Hope is an Associate Attorney and Consultant with Sones & White. A Georgia native, she has made Mississippi home since 2012, when she came to intern with a campus ministry at Belhaven University. After marrying her husband, Michael, she graduated fourth in her class from Mississippi College School of Law, where she was the Chief Executive Editor of the Law Review. While in law school, Mary Hope clerked for the Mississippi Court of Appeals, the Mississippi Development Authority, and Sones & White. She joined Sones & White full time in 2019.
In her spare time, Mary Hope enjoys reading, kayaking, gardening, and singing in her church's choir.
Mary Katherine Biggs is a Research Assistant with Sones & White Consulting. She studied writing and literature at the University of Mississippi, during which time she also worked as a calligrapher. Having spent her childhood in Arkansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, she has loved returning to her family's Mississippi roots.
Mary Katherine enjoys reading about nutrition, philosophy, and theology, and loves beauty in all things, especially handwriting, choral music, and the desert landscape of the American Southwest. She also enjoys writing and aspires to publish her own children's book.
Job Titles:
- Director of Records and Technology With
Michael Bryant is Director of Records and Technology with Sones & White Consulting. In his role as Director of Records and Technology, Michael is a member of the Compliance Team, maintains client credentials (such as AMIS, SAM.gov, and Grants.gov), and runs a help-desk for team members and clients.
An Air Force veteran, Michael spent 14 years as an Integrated Avionics Technician in the Maintenance Squadron of the 172d Airlift Wing, Mississippi Air National Guard prior to joining Sones & White. He has retooled his experience to fit the technological needs of our consulting firm.
Michael was born in Sugar Land, Texas, but his roots are deep in Mississippi. He is a graduate of Mississippi State University. Michael and his wife, Mary Hope, have one child, Sally Hope, born in April 2021. Michael enjoys baseball, birdwatching, and reading.
Michael and his family are members of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ridgeland, Mississippi where he serves as a deacon and sound technician.
Paul Sharpe is a Research Assistant with Sones & White Consulting. Originally from Texas, he moved to St. Augustine, Florida to pursue professional ballet after high school. He moved to Jackson, Mississippi in 2019 and spent three years pursuing ministry through dance as a trainee with Ballet Magnificat. During this time, Paul traveled across the country and performed in a dozen different states. He stopped dancing professionally in 2022 and now works full time with Sones & White.
In his time off, Paul enjoys being outdoors, experimenting with woodworking, playing games, and doing jigsaw puzzles. He and his fiancé, Camille, attend Redeemer Church.
Sarah Love Crawford is a Research Assistant with Sones & White Consulting. She graduated with honors from the University of Mississippi, where she was a recipient of the Taylor Medal, awarded to the top student in her field of study. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, she returned to the area several years ago after serving as a missionary for CRU, a Christian ministry, in Oxford, Mississippi, and then in Salerno, Italy, followed by several years spent in Miami, Florida.
Since coming back to the United States, Sarah Love worked as a stay-at-home mom to four kids before joining Sones & White in 2020. She enjoys running, coffee with friends, good food, and being a second mom to many Belhaven students through her husband Bentley's job as the Campus Minister for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Belhaven.
Sarah Love and Bentley reside in the Belhaven community with their four children, Lila, Annie, Luke, and Camp, and are active members at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.