With generous funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Lab’s efforts to help diverse small businesses scale are accelerating. We’re delighted to welcome Lilo Altali, a faculty member in the Project Management Program at Northeastern’s College of Professional Studies, as the Lab’s Academic Director overseeing the Inclusive Entrepreneur Fellowship program; Roy Anderson, a faculty member at Northeastern’s D’Amore McKim School of Business, as a Strategic Advisor supporting our work in promoting supplier diversity in higher education; and Katrina Huffman, who is pursuing a doctorate in Law and Policy, as a Graduate Research Assistant.
Lilo Altali is an award-winning social innovator that has developed innovative processes for notable NGOs, including Ceres, United Way, and Mill City Grows. At Northeastern, he teaches graduate-level project business analysis and social innovation while leading the undergraduate project management program. Before Northeastern University, Lilo designed an Innovation program at Nichols College and oversaw an innovation lab at Third Sector New England. “In my new role as the Lab’s Academic Director,” Lilo plans “to enhance our programs further so they provide entrepreneurs with relevant practical tools to grow their business and activate the power of a university partnership.”
Roy Anderson is a Senior Procurement leader known for transforming procurement organizations within military and commercial manufacturing, financial services, and startup environments into spend management activists. His experience includes building multiple successful supplier diversity programs by developing talent (supplier and staff), implementing technology and providing transparency using multi-faceted criteria to deliver optimal diverse supplier success. As the Lab’s Strategic Advisor, Roy says his role is “to articulate the complexity of this effort, help define the actions, expose the pitfalls and highlight the opportunities to create auditable community value in building a robust diverse supplier solution.”
Katrina S. Huffman is in her final year in the Doctor of Law and Policy program at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies. Along with more than 20 years of leadership experience, Katrina brings to the role her passion for entrepreneurship, research, and changing the outcomes for Black and Brown communities. Katrina’s previous capacity-building experience included serving as an Executive Director of an NYC-based nonprofit and the Chief Program Officer of Youth INC, where she grew the organization’s program by 30% and the nonprofit network from less than 50 to over 70 grassroots, youth-serving organizations. Before joining Youth INC in 2012, Katrina held leadership positions in various nonprofits, including the Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc., Groundwork, and The Riverside Church of New York. Early in her career, she worked as a consultant in several business management consulting firms, including Accenture.
