^“Helping Nonprofits
and Minority BusinessesGrow ^”

Board Member Bios

DeVon Banks
CEO of D-TECH Business Concepts LLC

DeVon Banks is CEO of D-TECH Business Concepts LLC, a successful practice management consulting firm based in Maryland that has provided since 1998 Practice Management Software Training, Dental Billing and Medical Cross Coding for over a hundred dental offices.  DeVon is an industry expert in insurance management, revenue cycle management, and Dentrix and Easy Dental training, which she gained in practice management and as a dental assistant. She is currently studying Health Information Management at Prince Georges Community College and, when not making dental offices successful, loves swing dancing, kickball, adventure and travel.

Felix Cummings
Mr. Cummings is the founder of Tri-County Chess - Providing, where he provides beginner, intermediate and advanced chess instruction to elementary, middle and high school students in the state of Maryland for the past 20 years. Mr. Cummings has a degree in engineering and enjoys working with our youth.

Otis Collins
Halethorpe Civic League Association
Retired from Housing and Urban Development

Otis Collins is a former Financial Analyst and Community Planning and Development Specialist with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Mr. Collins’s tenure was 32 years before retiring in January 2019.

In the first 10 years, Mr. Collins was a Financial Analyst in HUD’s Insurance Operation Division where he researched and approved mortgage claims portfolios’ and mitigated housing insurance guarantees.  

During the remaining 22 years, he was a CPD Specialist responsible for several regions throughout the county.  Overseeing and monitoring billions in Community Development Black Grant funding and providing accurate advice on code of federal regulations, compliance rules, congressional, and executive branch directives and policy mandates.  Additionally, Mr. Collins was the national training coordinator for the program’s core training requirements for grantees and community- based organizations.  

Two of Mr. Collins major accomplishments were working with private and public teams to restore the City of Detroit back to financial, vibrant, and venerable stability.  The other, spearheading a committee for legislation to recognized the Halethorpe Colored School built in 1924 (Rosenwald) as a National Historic landmark. 

As a progressive community Leader, Mr. Collins currently serves on several boards and is president of Halethorpe Civic League Association, Wilkens Police and Community Relations Organization, and Kittrell College National Alumni Association.  Mr. Collins specializes and is committed to educational and inspirational networking directed at African Americans.  

Mr. Collins completed his undergraduate studies at Saint Augustine University and attended University College University of Maryland graduate school.  Mr. Collins enjoys traveling and exploring older communities.

Derrick George
M&T Bank

Derrick George currently serves as the Vice President for Business Banking with M&T Bank. He served formely as Assistant Vice President, and Market Leader at BB&T, now Truist.  He brings an extensive background in finance management and retail banking where he focuses on consumer, small business, residential/commercial lending, and customer service.  With over 15 years of experience managing employees, diverse and small-to-medium projects, system implementations, and organizational change Derrick has proven results as a multi-talented Leader, Project Manager, Program Manager, and Contract Manager, where he led teams to high performance in sales, service, and operational effectiveness. Derrick is a graduate of Strayer University, where he received a B.S in Business Administration with a concentration in Contract & Acquisition Management and holds a Master’s Degree in Project Management, and a Master of Business Administration  from University of Maryland University College.

Andre Smith is the CEO of Emerge Business Coaching, a first-class coaching, training, and professional development services and leadership training company that serves emerging organizations, non-profits, and government agencies.  Andre has trained and coached over 250 small businesses in the United States and leads CEO peer advisory boards for emerging companies.  He recently facilitated the inaugural class of the CEO Growth Academy for the DC Department of Small & Local Business Development (DSLBD) and has partnered with Small Business Association (SBA) to instruct their “Smart Business” Program where he developed and facilitated over 110 seminars on personal growth. Mr. Smith offers businesses real-world perspectives and helps with critical decision making for organizational growth and personal development.  He received the 2015 Entrepreneur of The Year Award from American Business TV.

Sandra Pruitt
Executive Director, PFC Coalition

Sandra Pruitt currently serves as Executive Director of the People for Change Coalition, where she provides management assistance, training and support, and incubator space to a membership organization of over 300 nonprofits and minority businesses.  Sandy brings over 20 years of experience providing strategic planning, membership recruitment, and database management services for nonprofits, small businesses and local government.  She spent 9 years at Independent Sector (IS) with her later years serving as Director of Technology, Finance, and Human Resources.  She started her own technology consulting firm in 1997, Strategic Technology Solutions, www.npdatabase.com, where she helps organizations, businesses, and government use technology to streamline operations and improve its overall mission and goals.  She is the former Chair of the Advisory Board of the Workforce Development, TeamBuilders Academy at Prince George’s Community College and was the Co-Chair of the2019 MBE Night Planning Committee for the State of Maryland.