Lunch With the Experts: MGM Empire City Corporate Connection
2025-08-12 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual
MGM Empire City Casino Corporate Connection
Tuesday, August 12th 2025
12pm to 1pm EST | Virtual Session

Presenters:

Tobias Thornwell is the Director of Global Business Impact at MGM Resorts International. He leads supplier inclusion strategies across regional properties, ensuring alignment with corporate and local diversity goals. With over 12 years in procurement and supply chain management, Tobias is a recognized advocate for business diversity and was honored with WBEC Greater DMV’s Outstanding Women’s Business Advocate Award in 2023.

Mohamed Hafizur is the Purchasing Manager at Empire City Casino, MGM Yonkers, where he oversees procurement, vendor sourcing, and supplier diversity. With over 40 years in hospitality and 23 years in purchasing, he brings deep industry expertise. He holds degrees in Accounting and Economics and a C.P.D. certification from Cornell University.

Join us for an engaging Corporate Connections session focused on supplier diversity and procurement. Learn about MGM’s Global Business Impact Program, vendor onboarding, procurement opportunities, and their supplier database. This session is designed to empower WBEs with insights and connections to navigate corporate sourcing processes.
REGISTER HERE
Don’t miss this empowering opportunity to learn, grow, and connect.

Lunch With the Experts: Own your Story, Own the Room with Farah Bala
2025-09-30 12:00 - 13:00
Lunch with the Experts
Tuesday, September 30 2025
12pm to 1pm EST | Virtual
As women business leaders, your story is your differentiator—it’s what sets you apart in a crowded marketplace and gives your business its heartbeat. In this session, we’ll explore how to present yourself with executive presence, sharpen your communication, and build authentic connections through storytelling rooted in your WHY. You’ll learn how to craft and deliver your story in a way that resonates with corporates, investors, and partners.
Together, we’ll tap into techniques to help you think on your feet, respond with confidence, and stay connected to your authentic voice in any high-stakes moment. Most importantly, we’ll explore what it means to step up as a leader: shifting from solopreneur to entrepreneur, owning your growth, and boldly sharing your story as the foundation of your leadership and business success.
Register now!

Farah Bala is a Leadership EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Oppression) Executive Coach, Consultant and Speaker. Through her certified minority, woman-owned agency FARSIGHT. Farah’s mission is to support organizations and leaders redefine the concept of leadership by making EDIA a core leadership competency. Her clients include executives in the C-suite, creatives and entrepreneurs, and organizations across wide-ranging sectors and industries. She is also a faculty coach at multiple learning & development institutions.
She is a recipient of the Diversity Award by the World Zoroastrian Organization, recognized for her work in raising awareness towards gender, culture, racial equity and inclusion globally. Farah has been featured in Forbes and is a contributing member to the Forbes Coaches Council. She is co-creator of Wonder Women, an invite-only executive women-of-color leadership development community under FARSIGHT

Lunch With the Experts: Filling the Funnel and Sealing the Deal
2025-11-04 12:00 - 13:00
Tuesday, November 4th 2025
12pm to 1pm EST | Virtual
Join us for a workshop to learn how to channel marketing technologies and emotional intelligence to drive sales.
The workshop emphasizes the synergy between technology and human-centric strategies in both marketing and sales, making it relevant for businesses looking to resolve the pain of getting high quality leads and closing the deals for growth in 2025.
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Suchi Gupta is a passionate digital marketer with 14+ years of experience in building and growing brands. Over the years, she’s built a multi-disciplinary skill set that includes the new-age digital marketing strategies involving AI, MarTech and advanced user analytics for online activation, and lead generation.
I founded Pure Design Solution (PDS) in 2010. PDS is an integrated, purpose-driven digital marketing agency. Our team has been focused on working as an outsourced marketing partner, diving deep and bringing user-behavior intelligence into our campaigns, and creating award-winning work that has kept us gomg. As a long standing WBE, I’ve been involved with multiple RPO’s and hosted webinars, virtual table topics and was a WBENC thriving Coach in 2023-24. I’ve been a recipient of the Done Deals Award.

Tiffany Koettel is a powerhouse Sandler Trainer who transforms the way sales professionals think, communicate, and win. Known for her bold, practical style, Tiffany helps teams break free from outdated tactics and adopt a modern, consultative approach rooted in asking better questions, listening with intent, and solving real business problems.
She doesn’t just train on technique—she helps sales teams shift their mindset, embrace change, and lead with confidence in an AI-driven world. Tiffany is especially passionate about helping growth-focused companies and individuals harness both technology and emotional intelligence to stand out in crowded markets. Her sessions challenge old assumptions, spark “aha” moments, and leave people not just inspired—but equipped to perform at the next level.
