Full Name
Michelle Gardner-Ince
Job Title
Director of Women Veterans Small Business Initiatives, Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Company
Department of Veteran Affairs
Speaker Bio
Michelle “G-I” Gardner-Ince Director of Women Veterans Small Business Initiatives, Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) Department of Veteran Affairs The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) plays a large role in ensuring that programs, services, and support resources reach the veteran small business community. As the Director of Program Development, Ms. Gardner-Ince leads the Department’s efforts to develop programs that connect and enable under-represented target groups with VA, the federal and commercial marketplaces to increase educational, employment and economic opportunities. She is the architect of the Department’s inaugural Women Veteran-Owned Small Business (WVOSB) Initiative. The program brings together like-minded female veteran and non-veteran entrepreneurs to position and enable their success and to remove obstacles that often stand in the way.
Ms. Gardner-Ince is an Air Force Veteran and retired Colonel, having served 27 years supporting Veterans, military troops, and their families. Before the creation of her own small business, G-I Strategic Solutions LLC., she held numerous executive-level positions giving her experience in customer-centric business operations, training, consulting, strategic collaboration and directing complex global operations. One of her largest leadership roles was as the Commander (Senior Executive Vice President) of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), Pacific Region, where she led a $1.8 billion-dollar retail, food and services business, with full profit-loss responsibility, that employed 7000+ associates who provided goods and services to over 350,000 military, U.S. government civilian and State Department patrons and their families in two countries, two states and two U.S territories.
Ms. Gardner-Ince grew up in a U.S Army family and originally hails from Albany, Georgia. She was commissioned by her father, Colonel Arthur Gardner. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama and a master’s degree from Troy State University, Troy, Alabama. She is a Dale Carnegie and John Maxwell leadership consultant, coach and trainer.
Ms. Gardner-Ince is an Air Force Veteran and retired Colonel, having served 27 years supporting Veterans, military troops, and their families. Before the creation of her own small business, G-I Strategic Solutions LLC., she held numerous executive-level positions giving her experience in customer-centric business operations, training, consulting, strategic collaboration and directing complex global operations. One of her largest leadership roles was as the Commander (Senior Executive Vice President) of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), Pacific Region, where she led a $1.8 billion-dollar retail, food and services business, with full profit-loss responsibility, that employed 7000+ associates who provided goods and services to over 350,000 military, U.S. government civilian and State Department patrons and their families in two countries, two states and two U.S territories.
Ms. Gardner-Ince grew up in a U.S Army family and originally hails from Albany, Georgia. She was commissioned by her father, Colonel Arthur Gardner. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama and a master’s degree from Troy State University, Troy, Alabama. She is a Dale Carnegie and John Maxwell leadership consultant, coach and trainer.
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