OIEE
Chair, RYAN MACK
Occupation: Entrepreneur and Media Personality
Ryan Mack has a life mission to build and develop a durable financial empire geared towards educating his community and beyond.
In addition to being a financial advisor working with many prominent clients across the US, he charitably lends his support to inner-city communities by coordinating workshops and creating economic empowerment initiatives that teach the principles of understanding the power of financial literacy. Unions, churches, government-
Subsidized housing communities, municipal programs, nonprofits, inner-city organizations, international communities, and especially colleges and universities have benefited from the financial workshops/programs that he has developed and instructed through his financial company Optimum Capital Management.
As a renowned public speaker he has provided many keynote presentations to organizations across the country such as NAACP, National Urban League, National Black MBA Association, and many others. With a strong sense of philanthropy he flew to South Africa to teach economic empowerment principles to those in need and has partnered with his District Attorney’s office to teach financial literacy to previously incarcerated community residents with the aim of lowering recidivism rates. He can be regularly viewed on television networks such as CNBC, CNN and BET discussing economic issues that impact American citizens. He has been profiled in Tavis Smiley’s Covenant and Action, co-authored a handbook “The Black Male Handbook” with Kevin Powell, featured in Black Enterprise Magazine, and received Tom Joyner’s “Hardest Working Financial Advisor Award” because of his efforts to empower the community with the crucial life skills of financial literacy.
Vice-Chair, DIANE KING
Occupation: Business Anchor, NY1
Diane King joined NY1 in February of 2010 as the news channel’s business anchor/reporter.
Prior to her arrival, King worked as a freelance reporter for CNN and as a contributing business anchor/reporter for Reuters Television. She also contributed reports to businessweek.com and ABC affiliates.
King has covered major business stories including the 2009 bankruptcy of General Motors and the shotgun wedding of Merrill Lynch and Bank of America.
She has also interviewed notable business figures including Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock; Bob Doll, Chief Investment Officer for Global Equities, BlackRock; Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman; and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee.
In 2006 and 2005, as a segment producer, King produced segments for BBC’s World Business Report in New York and briefly in London.
Earlier in her career she reported and produced segments on career and employment-related subjects for employ.com and PBS affiliates. She also received a bronze Telly Award for a report on L’Oreal Brandstorm, an international marketing competition for students.
King received a Bachelor’s of International Affairs from the University of Cincinnati. She also holds a certificate from the Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists.
OCTAVIA NASR
Occupation: Middle East Affairs News Anchor, CNN
Octavia Nasr is CNN’s senior editor of Middle East affairs and a 24-year-veteran of the news business.
A leader in integrating social media with newsgathering and reporting, Nasr’s latest reporting on the elections in Iran and their fallout served as a backdrop to showcase her expertise in both traditional as well as social-media-driven content.
Nasr serves as an on-air and off-air analyst across all platforms of CNN Worldwide. She covers Middle East politics and current affairs, global terrorism and militant Islam. Her weekly Mideast Voices segment and her blogs offer a glimpse into the region rarely discussed on U.S. television.
Since she joined CNN, Nasr covered every major Middle East story. During the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, she traveled to the region and contributed to CNN’s award-winning coverage of the conflict. In 2005 she reported from Lebanon and Syria on The Cedar revolution and its regional repercussions. In 2003 she managed the 15-member Arab desk which coordinated coverage of the Iraq war, and provided CNN domestic and international audiences an inside look into Arab media and culture and how they viewed the conflict.
Nasr’s experience and deep knowledge of the Middle East put her in the spotlight during CNN’s coverage of September 11th and its aftermath. Shortly after the attacks, she spent months traveling in the Middle East region coordinating on-air appearances and forging exclusive newsgathering deals with media partners.
Nasr anchored CNN World Report and CNN International’s World News from 1993 to 2003. Among the major stories she covered live were the Bosnian war, the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Japan’s Sarin gas attack, the Concorde crash, and every major step of the Middle East peace process.
Nasr is the recipient of the 2006 Excellence in Journalism award from the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce. She was honored CNN World Report’s 2003 Achievement Award for her numerous contributions to the program. Her work has also brought her with her colleagues recognition and many prestigious awards including: Edward R. Murrow for Continuing Coverage of the 2006 war in Lebanon; Golden Cable ACE Award in 1993 for CNN’s coverage of the Gulf War; and Overseas Press Club Award in 2002 for CNN’s post 9-11 coverage.
Nasr joined CNN in 1990 and served as an editor on the international assignment desk coordinating coverage of the first Gulf War. Before joining CNN, she was a war correspondent for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. She reported from the front lines of the civil war during Lebanon’s most dangerous times for journalists. Her journalism career began in 1985 as an assistant news director at LBC before becoming executive producer of news.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication arts. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.
STEVE LOFLIN
Occupation: Executive Director, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS)
Steve Loflin is the founder and Executive Director of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).
Originally from South Carolina, Steve attended the University of South Carolina, receiving a B.S. in Business Administration Marketing. Upon graduation, Steve attended Florida State University where he received an M.S. in Higher Education Administration with an emphasis on College Student Development.
Steve has held professional positions at the University of North Florida, The George Washington University, Georgetown University and the Semester at Sea Program. In 1994, Steve founded NSCS to recognize students who had done well academically during their first years in college and to provide members with an opportunity to take a leadership role in an organization devoted to scholarship, integrity and service. Fifteen years after its inception, NSCS is active at over 240 college campuses in all fifty states of the U.S. with 650,000 lifetime members.
