
Garland Williams/Aflac
Aflac, a Georgia based company and 126th on the Fortune 500 list, is the nation’s number one provider of voluntary supplementary insurance. When health changes for you or a loved one, it can change everything and potentially put you into a financial hole that you can’t dig out of. Aflac provides a way to provide financial peace of mind should you encounter those unforeseen health challenges.
Colonel (ret) Garland H. Williams, Ph.D, a native of Atlanta, GA, graduated from Auburn University as a Pre-Law/Journalism major and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As a company grade officer, Garland served in a variety of command and staff assignments both at Fort Stewart, GA and in Germany. He attended the Duke University Graduate School, attaining his Master of Arts and Doctorate of Philosophy degrees in Political Science.
As a field grade officer, his assignments included duty as an Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Department at the United States Military Academy and staff officer positions in the 24th Infantry Division in the United States, and Allied Forces Southern Europe in Naples, Italy. He served as the Battalion Commander for the 16th Armored Engineer Battalion in Giessen, Germany and then served as the Military Advisor for the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) in the Pentagon. His Colonel-level commands included Garrison Commander of US Army Garrison – Japan, followed by his appointment as Commandant of the Army Management Staff College until his retirement in 2009. His operational deployments included Kuwait, Egypt, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania.
From 2010 to 2017, Garland worked at the University of Phoenix, first as the Associate Regional Vice President for the Military Division, and then as the Dean of Operations for the Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences. His last position at the university was the Dean of Academics for the College of Criminal Justice & Security simultaneously serving as the Vice President for Military Relations. He recently moved back home to the Atlanta area and now works as a Small Business Consultant with AFLAC.
Elease Dillard/The Student Navigator
The Student Navigator is a company whose mission is to “make debt-free graduation the status-quo one student at a time.” Founded by Elease Dillard—a debt-free college graduate—it proudly services students and parents nationwide.
Their team consists of hand-selected mentors and experts who have graduated college debt-free, a current debt-free college student, a parent of a debt-free graduate, worked in education, and experienced at winning scholarships and landing internships. They operate 100% online, providing you the ability and convenience to schedule and meet with them from anywhere.
Whether you are a current student, a recent grad pursuing an advanced degree, or a working professional returning back to school, they can help! Schedule your complimentary consultation today.
Months before her high school graduation, Elease made the tough decision to deny the opportunity to pursue playing college basketball and solely pursue academics instead. Considering the last-minute decision to not play college basketball, plus having a younger sibling graduating high school in two years, Elease concluded that she would pay for college herself. However, there was one problem. She had no idea how or where to start.
With that goal in mind, Elease developed a plan of action and was able to graduate college debt-free. She graduated college Cum Laude from Georgia Gwinnett College and currently holds a B.S. in Cell Biology with a concentration in Biotechnology.
Experienced at winning scholarships and landing internships, Elease founded The Student Navigator because she wanted to help ease the stress and frustration that is commonly associated with paying for a degree and pursuing a career. In addition, she wants to encourage students to maximize their educational experience. Elease hopes that her story will inspire others to take action towards living in freedom, passion, and purpose.



A Knot Magazine Hall of Fame winner, 

An advocate for social justice. A tireless volunteer. A wannabe hacker. An honest and thoughtful friend. A weekend karaoke singer. A serial entrepreneur. One thing that can’t be said about Kimberly Barnes is that she’s one dimensional.
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. Learn more at 

Tiffany Krumins

Jennifer Rusz has a long career working for both corporations and as an entrepreneur. Rusz began her career, in the 90’s in market intelligence, business operations and management for companies such as Mid America Research/Fact in Focus, Lucent Technologies, Kyocera Wireless, ARS/ Current Analysis and Websense Software Solutions before starting her first company in 2004. She has since been a business consultant now Founder and CEO of Sterling Rose Consulting Corp. Sterling Rose Consulting Corp is an award winning full service business consulting firm, with three divisions, which include business consulting, marketing consulting and strategic technology consulting. For more information about Jennifer Rusz or Sterling Rose Consulting Corp please visit 


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Gene Hammett works with companies to discover new strategies for growth. From small businesses to large corporations, he presents his ideas on becoming THE choice, not A choice, and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit by activating internal brand ambassadors for companies. Gene’s podcast, Leaders in the Trenches, has been recognized by Inc. and Entrepreneur for its insight on marketing and sales leadership.


Brock Kolls is a serial entrepreneur who develops market-changing technology by identifying and capturing intellectual property around breakthrough innovation. He is a prolific inventor and U.S. Patent Agent. He took a FinTech startup to a successful NASDAQ exit. He was a member of Coca-Cola R&D and started Coca-Cola’s global open innovation program, scouting for technologies worldwide. Now his focus is
Dr. Ed Getty has over 28 years of R&D Technology Management & Strategy experience gained over twenty years while creating and managing world-class open/external innovation business models, processes and capabilities for:
Kacie Lett Gordon is the VP of Client Engagement at 

Homestar Financial Corporation
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