Michael Ames’ mission is to advance free enterprise. He has helped people lead and become successful for over thirty years. Dr. Ames has provided in-depth counseling to over thirteen hundred business owners. He has encouraged thousands of business school faculty, students, and entrepreneurs to develop their leadership potential, serve their community, and to become the best that they can be.

Dr. Ames’ Small Business Institute® has won 39 awards for outstanding student consulting to small business owners from the U. S. Small Business Administration, including six regional awards (top ten in the nation) in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996; and two national first place awards in 1992 and 1996.

Commenting on his career, Dr. Ames says, "As I have taught in my writings and in class, you cannot finish until you start. Give yourself permission to succeed in our free enterprise system. Step forward, set a positive example, and earn respect. Leadership is an equal opportunity employer."

Zack Dafaallah is a serial entrepreneur with a few startups under his belt including the first all-digital reprographics company in Orange County California which was started in 1998.

As a resident entrepreneur at the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton, Dafaallah has been mentoring undergraduate and graduate students of entrepreneurship.

As a social entrepreneurship who, as an immigrant himself, recognizes the challenges faced by first-generation immigrants, Dafaallah co-founded the SANAD Foundation, a non-profit organization in 2006. The SANAD Foundation affords a sense of belonging and community that provides the young children with knowledge and pride of their Sudanese heritage. 

In addition to appearing on the Los Angeles KTLA Channel 5's "Making It!" show featuring business success stories of minority entrepreneurs, Dafaallah has been featured on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine, and Modern Reprographics Magazine.  He has been nominated twice for the Ernest and Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year Award”, and four times for Orange County Business Journal's "Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award".

Dafaallah holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture Degree (BSc) and a Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship (MBA).

John Bradley Jackson is Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fullerton. At CSUF Jackson is a Lecturer on Entrepreneurial Marketing, New Venture Creation, Marketing Strategy, and Professional Selling. Known affectionately as "Professor JJ", Jackson brings practical marketing and sales knowledge to the classroom from both Silicon Valley and Wall Street..

As an entrepreneur, Jackson founded The BirdDog Group, a marketing and sales consulting firm that specializes in helping small and medium sized businesses with marketing and sales strategy. In particular, he is an expert in web-based marketing including web development and search engine optimization.

Jackson is very active in the Los Angeles philanthropic community having served on numerous boards including The Los Angeles Sports Council, The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, The Los Angeles Triathlon, and Junior Achievement of Southern California.

LINDA PINSON is the author of nine business books (including two Spanish language entrepreneurial books) and the developer/publisher of the popular stand-alone business plan software, Automate Your Business Plan. Linda's twenty-five-year-old entrepreneurial publishing company, Out of Your Mind...and Into the Marketplace™ was named Small Press Publisher of the Year. Her best-seller book, Anatomy of a Business Plan (winner of the Ben Franklin Award for "Best Business Book of the Year") now in its 25th year and 7th edition, has been utilized by over 1 million business owners. Linda was selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington D.C. to write its government business plan publication (How to Write a Business Plan - MP52), recently slated to come out in a newly revised edition

Linda is a nationally-recognized business educator and consultant specializing in business financial management and small business curriculum development. She has conducted professional development training for prestigious institutions including Rutgers University and Dale Carnegie® Training Centers Worldwide. Linda has contracted recently with clients including MSN, Visa, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). As a mentor, she has been working with an award-winning SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team that has developed and launched a small business training program for displaced people in Columbia in conjunction with the Columbian government. Within her own industry, Linda has served many times as a faculty member at IBPA's annual Publishing University, teaching business planning to independent publishers..