ABOUT US

Even at a young age, Avis Yates Rivers demonstrated a unique ability to envision possibilities and recognize opportunities, and credits growing up with five siblings in New York City as an important period in her life that prepared her well for the challenges that lay ahead. During the early part of her professional career, Avis enjoyed a highly successful eleven-year tenure at Exxon, five of which were spent selling early technology solutions to firms in lower Manhattan. This experience formed the platform from which she would eventually launch her own business. When Exxon sold off its Office Systems Division in 1985, it left a temporary void in the marketplace, which provided Avis with the opportunity to establish her first technology company and continue to service Exxon’s customers.

Never shying away from hard work and always willing to do what was necessary to succeed, Avis has accomplished a great deal as she continues to build on her 30-year career in the world of business. A strong believer in the late Shirley Chisholm’s ideal that “service is the rent you pay for the privilege of living on this earth,” Avis subscribes to both the principles and the practice of being ‘in service.’ She is a long-time advocate for the increased utilization of minority and women-owned businesses, and a change agent for increasing the meaningful participation of women and people of color in technology.

In that vein, Avis authored a book that breaks down the challenges of getting more women and people of color into tech. It also provides a road map to solving this ever-expanding problem. Avis’s book, Necessary Inclusion, was published in December 2017 and is available here. You can also go to avisyatesrivers.com for more information about her life, the book, book signings and personal speaking engagements.

She serves as a Director on the Board of a select group of non-profit organizations and is the National Spokesperson for NCWIT’s Sit With Me Campaign. Avis also serves on the board of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO).

She is a highly sought after business leader, a nationally recognized thought leader and social entrepreneur, and an effective, in-demand international speaker. Other awards and honors include Entrepreneur of the Year, Woman of Distinction, the Shirley Chisholm Award for Business, Top 10 Women in Technology and Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs & Business Owners, among many others.

Edwina’s career began in Washington, DC at IBM Corporation as a sales representative. She esteemed herself as Rep of the Year before leaving to pursue a career as VP of Sales with a large government integrator. Edwina is an innovator, pioneer, and skillful business development leader. Under her leadership she has architected and implemented global site licensing programs, transformed businesses burdened by multi-million dollars distressed programs, led DEI initiatives in UK and in the USA, as well as successfully managed global organizations with a P&L over $150M. She is a passionate People First leader that fervently believes in establishing healthy corporate cultures that both attract and retain high performing individuals where people are encouraged to be authentic and are valued. Edwina is an alumna of Boston University, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She has been married for over 30 years and is the proud mother of 4 amazing adult children. She is sought after as a speaker, mentor and small group leader. Her passions include mentoring women; traveling with her husband; and serving at her church Transformation Church, Tulsa OK.

Paul Mayne’s passion for technology has taken him from different roles as a consultant (interim CIO) at PWC to Convergys as a Professional Services Director. He was also CIO for Cable and Wireless, Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago, and Unicomer International. He has been a Business Consultant with EMC/DELL and Practice leader/director for CIBER, focusing on telecommunications, retail, finance and hospitality. His experience in enterprise architecture, customer experience, digital transformation, billing and settlement, cloud services, mobile applications, and business intelligence has led to key roles in companies including Del Monte Foods, Verizon, Cable & Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Hilton Worldwide.

Jeff’s career began as a Networking Engineer at Burroughs (later Unisys), travelling the world installing specialized communications processors. He soon transitioned to Data Processing and Networking for many large corporations in the Las Vegas Valley as an Interim Data Processing Manager, Data Processing Managers Association President, and Independent Consultant – even founding the very First Commercial ISP in Metro Las Vegas. Jeff spearheaded the development of a comprehensive Mutual Fund Simulation System for the training of Investment Fund Managers connected to Forbes, as well as Benefits and Scheduling Management Systems for eWomenNetwork, an International Women-owned Business Support Organization in Dallas, the Radio Advertising Trafficking System for the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) in Dallas, and the Service Activation system for activating the WiFi Services onboard American Airlines aircraft for Sprint, in Fort Worth. When not flipping bits, Jeff has a passion for Real Estate Investing and is one of those “flippers” (although he wouldn’t call himself that).

He has also worked as Controller for a Jersey-based toy company. In his spare time, Jay is a big sports and music fan. He can be reached at jheadden@technologyconcepts.com.

Her upbringing as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants and United Nations employees has shaped her global view and she has leveraged this personally and professionally to successfully develop relationships with clients, vendors and colleagues. Chi is also a part-time fitness instructor and in her spare time, also enjoys working out, listening to music and exploring all that NYC has to offer. Chi holds a BS from Syracuse University and an MBA from Baruch College. She can be reached at ciregbulem@technologyconcepts.com

to customers for products and support renewals, processing all purchase orders, and supporting customers through order tracking and problem resolution throughout the order lifecycle. Heath has 14 years of experience in this role. He started as a Customer Service Specialist with Perfect Order / Versatile Systems, Inc. in 2005, supporting a large sales team for this VAR (Value Added Reseller) working in the IT solutions space. Along with being a customer service representative, he began managing customer IT support contracts as part of the maintenance team by providing proactive renewal quotes to facilitate contract renewal and helping customers avoid coverage lapses for all their IT hardware and software. He later also took on the role of Purchasing Coordinator, processing all customer orders and maintaining strong relationships with vendors and distributors. Heath has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Penn State University. Prior to his sales support roles, he worked for 8+ years in human services, acting as a mental health case manager coordinating mental health services and providing support for children with mental health needs in residential, school, home, and community settings. In his free time, Heath is an avid sports fan. He enjoys playing golf, as well as playing baseball, basketball, tennis, and shooting pool with his 3 kids.

processing purchase orders, and analyzing data to help clients with their Tail-Spend Management. Her career has been in the customer service space for the last 8 years, primarily in IT support. She now uses her Data Science certification from Correlation One to aid clients in Tail-Spend Management. Martina can be reached at mdavis@technologyconcepts.com

A few months later, she joined us full-time as a Marketing Specialist. Sunjana brings a wealth of industry expertise from her various marketing roles at renowned companies such as Movado Group and Jones Road Beauty. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants in NYC (often those recommended on TikTok) and taking photos. Sunjana can be reached at suddin@technologyconcepts.com.

She’s the Executive Assistant for Avis Yates Rivers, CEO of Technology Concepts Group International. Rachel’s mission is to empower executives to find joy in their work and maximize their time working in their genius zone. When she’s not having fun organizing, decorating, or cooking, you can find her adventuring outside and enjoying life with her husband TJ and two boys, Jax and John Michael.