Governance

Hudson is a licensed attorney who is Entergy’s senior vice president, federal policy, regulatory and government affairs. He is responsible for several key groups focused on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues, sustainability and environmental policy, federal governmental affairs and corporate social responsibility.

Prior to joining Entergy, Hudson served as president and chief executive officer of Nicor Gas Corporation, Illinois’ largest gas distribution company, which reached more than 2.2 million customers. He was also president of the company’s foundation, which focuses on philanthropic and volunteer initiatives.

Previously, Hudson was executive vice president and chief external affairs officer at Southern Company Gas, where he was responsible for the company’s external affairs, customer operations, environmental affairs, corporate communications, and marketing efforts.

“We can build a better future by creating and perpetuating a culture of innovation,” Hudson says. “Not just in Birmingham and Alabama, but throughout the Southeast, we have the momentum and the ingredients to succeed. Bronze Valley is building the collaborative infrastructure needed to support transformational growth and progress.”

Wright is a co-founder of Bronze Valley and the organization’s president. He has more than 25 years of experience as an investor, entrepreneur and operating executive. In addition to working in the banking industry and founding several companies, Wright has been a consultant focused on advising and raising capital for growth companies in various industries, including seed and early-stage ventures. Immediately prior to assuming his role with Bronze Valley, he was chairman, CEO and principal shareholder of First Tuskegee Bank, shepherding it through a successful sale to a New Orleans-based regional bank.

“The exciting thing about Bronze Valley is that we are bringing innovation and ideas and thought together with capital, mentorship and a commitment to diversity,” says Wright. “We are creating change that will help improve the lives of not only individual entrepreneurs, but entire communities.”

Barker is president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, the state’s lead nonprofit economic development organization. Prior to accepting his current position in June 2020, Barker spent 18 years with Alabama Power Company in roles of increasing responsibility, culminating with executive vice president for customer services.

Barker is a member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC), the Utility Economic Development Association (UEDA), the Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA) and the Alabama Germany Partnership (AGP). He serves on the advisory board of the Alabama Productivity Center and on the boards of directors of the Alabama Power Foundation, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Council, the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Junior Achievement of Alabama and Innovation Depot.

“In the very short time since its founding, Bronze Valley has proved to be a valuable addition to efforts to make innovation and entrepreneurship a key component of Alabama’s economic future,” says Barker. “I want to contribute to those efforts in every way I can.”

Benetollo is CEO of Momentum, a program for developing leadership capabilities in executive and early-career women. Prior to joining Momentum in 2017, Benetollo was senior vice president of marketing at Birmingham-based Daxko, a market leader in software for the health and wellness industry. An original member of the company’s leadership team, her 16-year tenure at Daxko included positions in general management, marketing, sales, product strategy, human resources and career development.

Benetollo is a frequent public speaker on leadership development, employee engagement, healthy teams, inclusive culture and emotional intelligence. She is a prior graduate of the Momentum program and was a founding board member of TechAlabama.

Hamilton has been president and CEO of Trillion Communications Corporation since 2013, after joining the company in 2011 as president and COO. Headquartered in the Birmingham suburb of Bessemer, Trillion provides a range of services in the telecommunications marketplace, including procurement, warehousing, just-in-time inventory management and project management. Hamilton has been recognized twice in the Birmingham Business Journal’s listing of “Birmingham’s Most Influential Executives.” In 2018, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Birmingham branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

“The key to building a successful ecosystem and transforming lives,” Hamilton says, “is the presence of an innovative network of people — including creatives — who are vested in their community and intentional about growing diverse businesses.”

Hamilton is the CEO of BLOC Global Group. With offices in Birmingham and Washington, D.C., the company manages, develops and invests in complex, transformative real estate projects. BLOC also provides professional services to electric utility companies that are deploying Smart Grid and Smart City Infrastructure projects. In addition to his duties with BLOC, Hamilton is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Birmingham branch.

Hamilton brings to his role with Bronze Valley strong connections to Birmingham’s history of transformative change. His personal history, along with experience in finance, government, urban real estate development and civic engagement, gives Hamilton a unique perspective on opportunities and challenges relative to economic growth, particularly those that continue to impact people of color.

“One of the things you hear from time to time from investors who want to invest in diverse companies is that they don’t see a lot of them, that they don’t have access to them,” Hamilton notes. “Ten years from now, we want to look back and see that Bronze Valley identified those types of companies and see investors getting the return on their investments that indicates that we are fulfilling our mission.”

Smith is vice president of governmental affairs at Alabama Power Company, with responsibility for all aspects of the company’s interactions with state government. Immediately prior to assuming his current role, he was director of corporate affairs for Alabama Power, with duties that included working with the state’s U.S. Senators and Congressional delegation, as well as industry and trade groups, to address issues affecting Alabama Power customers. Smith began his professional career as a lawyer with a large Birmingham firm, where he practiced in both the litigation and governmental relations sections and also served on the firm’s diversity committee — an experience that informs his work with Bronze Valley.

“The Bronze Valley initiative is creating the new economy, one that is more inclusive and stronger,” Smith says. “The ecosystem Bronze Valley is building will help identify and develop undervalued entrepreneurs who currently do not have direct access to the marketplace. We want to provide them a place to turn for the resources they need to thrive, whether that’s money, professional expertise, mentorship or just straightforward, candid advice.”

Robert Harris is the Senior Vice President, Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Director of Community Lending for BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS), a Tupelo, MS based financial institution with $27 billion in total assets and which operates more than 300 full service branch locations as well as additional mortgage, insurance, and loan production offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in Illinois. In his current capacity, Robert is chiefly responsible for creating the intersection between Bancorp South’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy and its core business and operational functions, product development, and community outreach efforts related to and supporting the uplift of emerging markets via its Fair Lending and Community Reinvestment Act initiatives throughout its eight-state footprint.

Donna Gambrell is the President and CEO of Appalachian Community Capital (ACC), an intermediary organization created in 2013 to bring new sources of capital to community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other mission-based lenders serving small business owners in the Appalachian Region.

As Director of the U.S. Department Treasury’s CDFI Fund from 2007-13, Gambrell administered Treasury’s sole community and economic development program office and administered investment programs for CDFIs that provided capital, credit and financial services to distressed and underserved communities across the country.

Gambrell is a member of several boards and participates in the following committees: Low Income Investment Fund – Risk Committee Opportunity Finance Network – Finance Committee Raza Development Fund – Audit Committee Southern Bancorp – Executive Committee She also serves as board chair for the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs.