TEAM

Our Founder

Terron Ferguson is the founder of YANCY. Mr. Ferguson is a lawyer, businessman, and global organizer who builds initiatives for corporate and nonprofit clients. After earning a B.A. in philosophy from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia in 2008, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Ferguson worked as an elementary special education teacher as a corps member of Teach For America.

Mr. Ferguson took graduate courses on economic policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and in 2015, he earned a J.D. from New York University (NYU) School of Law, where he was the Student Convocation Speaker for his class.

The YANCY Team knows that it takes a village to foster, cultivate, and facilitate the small business global network that we are building. On behalf of YANCY’s goals, Mr. Ferguson has assembled a coalition of associates, partners, and affiliates that include professionals and corporate executives from organizations such as Merrill Lynch, Catalyst Miami, BAC Funding Corporation, Miami Children’s Trust, NABHOOD, and many more.

In addition to building and operating YANCY, Mr. Ferguson currently serves as an advisor for Senator Cory Booker on economic and educational policy.

Our Team

Kimberly Liburd is is the Chief Operating Officer at Yancy Holdings. She has more than 15 years of experience in non profit, education and consulting. As COO of Yancy Holdings, Kimberly leads the firm's strategy on community business development, stakeholder engagement, and fiscal programming.

Kimberly Marie Bonner is the Chief Joy Officer of New Day Consulting Systems. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in Foreign Affairs and a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. Kimberly Bonner is considered a digital futurist, small business “doula” and systems-preneur. She is credited for helping countless entrepreneurs bring their business dreams to life. Her individual expertise includes, but is not limited to, business model innovation, intellectual property licensing, franchising, mergers and acquisitions, turn-arounds and exits.

Sean Brazier, PhD is passionate about creating economic opportunity for people and communities, especially those who have been overlooked and/or face difficult prospects. He enjoys working with teams to solve these tough problems with practical, research-based, and data-driven solutions. Outside of work, Sean loves spending time with his family and friends and is proud to have called so many places home (Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Guam, Massachusetts, and England).

Jordan D. Chisolm is a Corporate Associate in the Business Law Department at Cozen O'Connor, where he focuses his practice on business and corporate matters. His practice spans mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and general corporate matters. Jordan also serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Associates Committee, and previously served as committee Co-Vice Chair.

Elissa Vanaver is is the former CEO of the Breakthrough Collaborative, a national leader in educational equity preparing middle and high school students for college success and preparing college students to succeed as future educators and leaders. Previously, Vanaver spent more than a decade leading growth at the Collaborative’s Miami affiliate. At Breakthrough Miami, her roles included volunteer, founding board chair, director of strategic development, and CEO. Before joining Breakthrough, Elissa was an award-winning newspaper editor and media executive, holding a variety of positions, including managing editor, vice president of human resources, and chief of staff for the Miami Herald, which publishes in English and Spanish. Her 25-year journalism career also included management, editing, and news-writing at the Dallas Times Herald and the San Jose Mercury News.

Keith Watson, Jr. brings experience from supporting and driving organizational change management initiatives across federal, state, and private sectors. While most knowledgeable in the areas of project management, public Health (research & communications), quality management and visual design, Keith leans towards being a generalist and is energized by opportunities to engage clients, collaborate with colleagues, and apply news ways of thinking to the projects he supports.

Stefan A. Owens is a highly entrepreneurial individual with strong leadership qualities that enjoys thinking critically and strategically and using his creativity to generate ideas as to how to solve problems of any level of complexity. Mr. Owens’ life and work experiences have allowed him to hone these individual qualities to a level that, when coupled with the knowledge he has gained to-date, give him great capability to foster change and innovation in any setting. Mr. Owens is a lifelong learner and enjoys numerous outdoor activities, volunteering, and traveling internationally. These factors all sum to a distinctive vantage point that Mr. Owens adds to any project or organization.