May 2025  -  The Club

​​CELEBRATING DIVERSITY | HONORING ACHIEVEMENT
Minority Business Awards Logo

Small Business Owner presented by T-Mobile:

  • Sonya Faye Gardner - Owner, Tailor and Clothier, Sonya Faye's - (WINNER)
  • Crystal Mullen-Johnson - Owner, Strive Counseling Services
  • ​Jackie Wilson - Owner, Elite Hands Massage Therapy


Outstanding Young Professional:

  • Dulce Rivera - General Manager, MiPueblo Markets (WINNER)
  • Clarence Graham - CEO, Graham Group Real Estate
  • ​Rachel Harmon - Inaugural Director, Birmingham Promise


Diversity Leader:

  • Cristina Almanza - Business Development Coordinator, Buffalo Rock (WINNER)
  • James E. King Jr. - Associate Dean for Diversity, Culverhouse College at UA
  • Martina Winston - VP & Senior HR Partner | Diversity & Inclusion Leader, Protective Life


Faith/Non-Profit Leader presented by Legacy of Hope:

  • Catrena Norris Carter - Co-Founder and Executive Director, Salute Selma Inc. (WINNER)
  • NaKaria Barfield - Founder, Pretty Young Girls
  • LTC Kenneth Phillips - CEO, Priority Soldier Inc


Automotive Professional of the Year presented by BB&T, now Truist Bank:

  • John Porter - General Sales Manager, Hendrick Hoover Auto Mall (WINNER)
  • April Benson - Chief Operating Officer, King Boyz Towing
  • Thomas Walker Sr. - Owner, Speedy Tire and Service | T. Walker Enterprises


Justice/Attorney Professional:

  • Danny Carr - D.A. Jefferson Co. - Birmingham Division (WINNER)
  • ​Randall Minor - Shareholder, Maynard Cooper Gale
  • ​LeFrante Williams - Attorney, Fan Will Legal Services, LLC.


Entrepreneur of the Year presented by Alabama Power:

  • Tanesha Sims-Summers - CEO, Naughty but Nice Kettle Corn Co. (WINNER)
  • LaToya Meadows - CEO, Simple Tax Solutions
  • ​Lemar Storey - CEO, Life Touch Massage


Medical Professional:

  • Tony Christon-Walker - Director of Prevention & Community Partnerships, AIDS Alabama
  • Cherie May Edwards - Owner / CEO, Work in Progress LLC Counseling Services
  • ​Alexia C. Vaughn - President & Optometrist, Advanced Eye Care


Academic Leader:

  • Ethan David Hill - Student, J.H. Phillips Academy (WINNER)
  • ​Bobbi Knight - President, Miles College
  • ​Perry W. Ward - Retired President of Lawson State Community College


Executive of the Year:

  • Alisa Summerville - Director of Customer Service Centers, Alabama Power
  • Montal Morton - Owner & Marketing Director, Redmont Distilling Company
  • ​Tawanna Morton - Intake Director, Crossroads to Intervention