Founders and Featured Members
Who We Are & What We've Done
Jerry Roebuck - Founder
Jerry Roebuck has been an entrepreneur since the age of 11. He conceived the biggest event in the history of Black America, the Black Expo. He has worked with many Fortune 500 companies on event marketing, advertising, and social issues, including Pepsi-Cola, Geico, Philip Morris, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Chemical Bank, and BET, just to name a few. He partnered with Russell Simmons' college classmate to be one of the pioneers in creating the world's biggest global music Hip Hop, straight out of undergraduate school. Mr. Roebuck is also credited with the strategic and financial growth of TV's Tony Brown Journal, the longest-running program in PBS history, as its advertising representative and media consultant. This was an outgrowth of his ability to secure new sponsors, such as Toyota, Wal-Mart, Texaco, and others, which infused the PBS program with millions of dollars in additional gross income. Mr. Roebuck has also been a consultant to many Urban Radio Stations in over 20 markets across the U.S. He is a well-recognized educator and community servant who worked in the Harlem community for over 40 years in business and education. Upon his retirement, he was recognized by the entire New York City Council for his dedicated service to NYC. Mr. Roebuck presently lives and works in Florida and New York City.
Winston Sanders - Founder
A recording artist manager with his first recording signee being Salt n' Pepa and their producer/writer/founder Herby "Lovebug" Azor. Mr. Sanders went on to manage the likes of preeminent violinist Noel Pointer, The Main Ingredient, Friends of Distinction, and Jimmy Caster. Developed the successful career of Yanni's "Lady in Red" violinist virtuoso Karen Briggs whom he secured touring opportunities with flamenco artist Benise. His production company garnered several recording deals from Polygram, Shanachie, Readers Digest (private recording division) for the Stylistic, and a separate lucrative artist development deal from Epic/Sony.
Arther Johnson- Founder
A sports manager of two legendary African American PGA golf icons namely Lee Elder and the late Calvin Peete. Arthur brings over 40 plus years of sports entertainment experience to the Black Spirit Group Sports Division. Sports history supports Arthur as a strong supporter of the pioneering Hall of Fame golfer Charlie Stifford who singlehandedly fought and won the battle for inclusion of the African American golfer within the ranks of the PGA (Professional Golf Association) and their tour in 1961.
Dan Williams - Founder
Mr. Williams is the former President of the nationally known and highly regarded New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. In his capacity, its demands required this past president to interface with major and nationally known performing artists such as the late Grover Washington, Johnathan Butler, Natalie Cole, Peabo Bryson, Stephanie Mills, and a bevy of additional artists that catered to this major festival of festivals. Moving forward as an entrepreneur, Mr. Williams initiated his own production company and subsequently booked numerous national tours. Mr. Williams has developed affordable rental housing in New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as a former owner of a Ben &Jerry's Ice Cream Franchise.
Chase Ramseur Featured Member
After attending Baruch College, Chase got his start at Price Waterhouse Coopers (Coopers & Lybrand) as a Staff Accountant. Chase left New York City for Atlanta, Georgia to work with Jerry Roebuck, as the Assistant Controller of Black Expo USA. Chase got his start in the entertainment industry in the early 1990s when he started an Artist Management company called Ram-Tuff, where he managed several groups. When a photographer didn’t show up for an album cover shoot, Chase picked up the camera and the rest is history. Chase now owns his own photography and videography company, FotosByChase, LLC.
His clients include super-producer Teddy Riley, artist J-Stylz of BlackStreet, Community Leader Billy Council, Hip Hop legends Wreckx-N-Effect, G-Squared Events, Bianca Nolden Art, Can I Kick It LLC, Hoodvard Avenue Academics, Riley Premier Travel, Instagram Influencer Tati, Harlem Alumni and a host of beautiful people around the world who has allowed me to shoot their weddings, birthday parties, family reunions, proms, Christmas cards, and other events to capture history. "The best part of being a photographer is that 150 years from now, someone will look at one of my pictures and it will mean the world to them. It truly is one of the best professions in the world
Chris Leonard - Featured Member
Adtentive is a company committed to upgrading the internet experience by concentrating content on our platforms that intuitively cultivate innovations through enlightened consumer interactions.
Our products help build a social community, foster curiosity, and push boundaries that enhance common ground
We network games, content, and online services for consoles, mobile devices, and personal computers engaged with interactive entertainment.
Dr. Eric Kelly III - Featured Member
The Godfather of Black Business Expos
Dr. Eric Kelly III is an influential African-American businessman, artist, humanitarian, author, and innovator who is considered the Godfather of Black Business Expos. Some of his accomplishments included serving as the director of the Eric Kelly lll, museum, which is one of the few museums named after a black artist in the world. The museum was created by his great-grandfather, Henry Stancil in 1962 and is still functioning as a place for collectors only to buy his artwork today. He is a retired CEO of Kelly Worldwide branding and marketing agency. Dr. Kelly received an honorary Doctorate of Humanitarianism from The Global International Alliance. Dr. Kelly's notable awards include MED week’s Minority Business Advocate of the Year,
The Durham Links Artist of the Year Award, UDI-CDC Entrepreneur Award, the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from Joe Biden, and the inaugural Juneteenth Hall of Fame Award from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. However, all of these awards pale in comparison to his life’s goal of impacting the business world through economic justice.
At the core of his approach to connecting black business lies the idea that to succeed black businesses need to put their vision first and the well-being of their people, rather than just the bottom line. By implementing Kelly’s people-service-centered theory, black
business owners and managers can build a sustainable and nourishing work environment that benefits their company’s long-term growth.
Using his extensive experience as an advertising innovator and serving over forty years impacting more than ten thousand-business owners are a testament to his genius. Dr. Kelly led the largest black business expo in North Carolina for thirty-five years, when Covid 19 happened he founded the Black Business Olympics. The goal of the black
business Olympics is to raise scholarships and funds for students who are graduating from high school and going to college. In addition, after three years of presenting the broadcast, it has become one of the largest black business virtual global events in the world. The Black Business Olympics has showcased over twenty-two hundred businesses globally
in the last three years. His creation of the Black Business Olympics is a tribute to his continual service to black businesses while connecting black people around the world. The Black Business Network is a 24-hour business network highlighting black businesses, business owners, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders worldwide. The Black Business network highlights speakers from London, Australia, Singapore,
Africa, Japan, South America, and cities all over the United States.
The Black Business Network is a global community sharing its business knowledge to empower, inspire, and educate businesses about business. The Black Business Olympics has had over
10 million viewers in over 200 countries view their broadcast. The Black Business Olympics is broadcast on HULU, Amazon Prime, RUKU, Amazon Music, YouTube, LinkedIn, Spotify, Facebook, and serval independent streaming services globally. The Black Business Olympics has speaker spots available; you may contact them at www.blackbusinessexpousa.com or call 919-308-9090. "e; What You Are Looking for Is Looking for You” Dr. Eric Kelly III.
Kai Cogsville - Featured Member
Founder, Young Atlas, a content and events production company that serves as a platform for creatives. The company produces interviews, concerts, pop-up shops, and parties to curate experiences for creatives.
Cogsville, born and raised in Harlem, is a graduate of Rutgers University majoring in history with an entrepreneurship minor. He always had a passion for media and the entertainment business. After immersing himself in the music scene in the tri-state area, he soon realized there was an abundance of untapped talent. To promote their work to a wider audience, he created his own media platform, Young Atlas. He reached out to friends and colleagues who shared his passion for entertainment. He began producing concerts throughout New York City and started interviewing a wide range of creatives.
Kai partners with SoHarlem, a cultural industry incubator in Harlem to produce Pop-Up events for young musicians, designers, entrepreneurs, and creatives. SoHarlem coaches and teaches some of these young designers sewing and other industry skills.
Prior to launching Young Atlas, Cogsville gained experience first as an undergraduate at Rutgers where he founded Future Entrepreneurs, and launched the First Real Estate Club on campus. Later, he worked with Janus Properties where he assisted and housing and sales, and with the Cogsville Groupwhere he learned to make and guide principle investments in urban areas throughout the United States. Currently Kai is operating Young Atlas, and securing funds to build a concert venue in Harlem.
Julius Simon - Featured Member
Build-It Assembly has been in business since 2017. We service the assembly needs of “Big Box” retail stores as well as in-home furniture assembly. These stores include, but are not limited to Home Depot and Lowes. Our motto is "Assembly Done Right"! We focus on great customer service in a timely manner.
Stan Thompson - Featured Member
Stan Thompson has over 30 years of experience working as a controller with established and start-up business entities. For the last 15 years, he has offered his services through his own entity ST Financial Services an independent controller. He provides comprehensive accounting and consulting services to a diverse range of large, medium, and small businesses, both domestic and international, as well as individual clients in the New York Metropolitan area.
Stan resides in Virginia with his wife where they own a farm and several rental properties.