MEDA Welcomes Four Experienced Local Leaders to Board of Directors | Muldowney, Perera, Svenkeson, Thompson to empower BIPOC Entrepreneurs through board service

Contact:

Carol Schuler
Carol@cschuler.com
612.281.7030

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (Feb 15, 2024) – The Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) is pleased to appoint four outstanding individuals to its Board of Directors. These esteemed professionals bring a wealth of experience, passion, and commitment to the mission of supporting BIPOC Entrepreneurs in their journey toward financial and professional success.

“To say we are pleased to welcome these four individuals into leadership through our Advisory Board is an understatement,” said MEDA President and CEO Dorothy Bridges. “Their collective expertise will contribute significantly to MEDA’s 2024 goal to ‘Dream Big, Scale Bigger.’”

Mary Muldowney leads a 22-person team responsible for all North American raw materials and global price risk management. In 2022 Mary joined the General Mills Enterprise Leader Acceleration class, which is designed for top global employees to accelerate to the Officer level.

Lalin Perera (Al) joins the Board with more than 25 years of banking experience. In his current role as a Wells Fargo Commercial Banking Leader, Al manages a team of relationship managers that delivers a comprehensive suite of products to serve the diverse financial needs of the Twin Cities, Greater Minnesota, and Western Wisconsin markets.

As the CEO of NEOO Partners, D'Angelos Svenkeson provides executive-level guidance for NEOO’s vision of strategic partnership, market expansion, and client services. D’Angelos leads executive-level operations across the organization’s bevy of projects by leveraging more than 15 years of industry experience in real estate development, finance, long range planning, and client advisory services.

Matt Thompson is the Senior Vice President - Banking Market Leader for Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. This role includes the supervision of more than 90 bankers. Matt’s US Bank experience spans 25 years and is highly focused on business and retail branch banking.

MEDA will officially welcome the new board members at the 2024 MEDA Annual Meeting at the Guthrie Theatre on June 20.

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About MEDA (Metropolitan Economic Development Association):

MEDA was founded by a group of Minnesota business leaders who saw BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) business ownership as a positive, long-term response to rising economic inequity within minority communities in our state. MEDA provides business development services, access to capital and corporate and governmental market support for BIPOC entrepreneurs. Over the years, MEDA has helped launch more than 500 BIPOC businesses and assisted more than 30,000 Minnesota BIPOC entrepreneurs. MEDA operates a growing fund as a Community Development Fund Institution (CDFI) that provides needed capital for minority businesses to become sustainable. MEDA is also the host organization for the Minneapolis Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center, which has been recognized by the MBDA as the top-performing center four consecutive years from 2016- 2019. For more information, visit MEDA.net.