Peter is the President and CEO of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council (“GNEMSDC”), a regional affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. GNEMSDC is focused on promoting economic inclusion and minority business development throughout New England. He also is a Senior Advisor with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc. (“MIRA”), a $3 billion private equity fund that invests in infrastructure assets in the U.S. Mr. Hurst was the Founder, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President of the Urban Financial Group, Inc. He was also the Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Acting Chief Lending Officer of The Community’s Bank. The Community’s Bank, which was the only minority-owned and managed bank in Connecticut, was focused on Connecticut’s urban centers: Bridgeport; Hartford; and New Haven. Prior to founding the bank, Mr. Hurst was the Founder and President of Hurst Capital Partners, Inc., a financial advisory and merchant-banking firm. Before starting his own firm, Mr. Hurst was a Senior Vice President in Dean Witter Reynolds' Corporate Finance/Financial Institutions Group, where he specialized in investment banking transactions for banks, thrifts and mortgage companies. Mr. Hurst was also a member of the Financial Institutions Group of E.F. Hutton.

Izzy Jacques is Co-founder and Principal at Conscious Customers where she helps organizations put underrepresented business owners at the center of their spending. Izzy led the diversity, equity, and inclusion program for the top-performing division of WeWork, including design and execution of the company’s first voluntary supplier diversity program. Prior to her role in DEI, Izzy worked directly with member businesses providing strategic solutions to some of their most critical operational needs. She previously worked in Asset Management as a Relationship Manager and in the International business expansion sector. In addition to her work at Conscious Customers, Izzy was involved with the Kendall Square Association as a peer facilitator for their Inclusion Drives Innovation program. Izzy holds a Bachelor’s in Managerial Economics and Business Management from Bentley University, a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University, and a certificate in Supplier Diversity Leadership from the University of Central Florida.

Fred Lowery is an accomplished and dynamic corporate leader with a proven track record leading teams to drive profitable growth. He has developed strong operating teams, launched innovative new products, acquired businesses and successfully led organizations for over 25 years while working for several Fortune 500 companies. In his current role as Senior Vice President and President for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Customer Channels business, Fred has oversight of Fisher Scientific, the company’s industry-leading distribution business for laboratory supplies used in academic and government research, biopharma, healthcare and industrial markets. As part of Thermo Fisher’s more than 80,000 employees and contributing to the company’s $30B in annual revenue, Fisher Scientific serves customers around the world by offering more than 2.5 million products globally, including lab consumables, instruments and equipment, safety products, chemicals and life sciences reagents through a strong sales network and industry-leading website, fishersci.com. Fred is also the executive sponsor of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Just Project initiative, named after the pioneering biologist Everett Ernest Just. As part of this project, Thermo Fisher has donated $25M in equipment and solutions to enable COVID-19 testing at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the U.S. to support the safe return of students and faculty back on campus.