MLK Luncheon

 

 

$28.00 preregistration. $32.00 at the door

 

Jodie Jiles 
Director of Business Development - Transwestern

     Jodie had a remarkable 26-year career of making a decisive positive impact in investment banking. Licensed in municipal and general securities, Jodie provided solid direction and expert guidance to public finance clients and municipal issuers within the State of Texas. Prior to joining Transwestern, Jodie served as Managing Director of RBC Capital Markets where he orchestrated municipal finance activities and implemented strategic marketing plans with targeted large account clients throughout Texas.
     During his 26 year career Jodie had the pleasure of serving on the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas Board from 1998 to 2002. (Elected Chair, 2000 to 2001).

     Jodie was recognized in 2011 with a Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Texas at Austin. He finds great satisfaction in giving back to the community through involvement in public service, community partnerships, and is a committed member of the following boards, to name a few:

• Texas Business Leadership Council- Executive Committee, 2013 Chairman
• Greater Houston Partnership – 2014 Elected Lifetime Director, 2005 Chairman
• Baylor College of Medicine, Trustee, Executive Committee
• Texas Children’s Hospital, Trustee, Executive Committee
• Texas Heart Institute - Foundation Board 
• NAACP – Blue Ribbon Host Committee – National Convention, 2012
• Texas Southern University – Foundation Board Member
• The University of Texas at Austin – Development Board 
• UT Health- Development Board 
• KIPP Academy, Board Member 
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas-Houston Branch, Former Director, Board Member

    

     Jodie holds a Master of Professional Accountancy from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Southern University.

 

     Sonny Messiah-Jiles is the CEO and Publisher of the Defender Media Group (formerly the Houston Defender Newspaper), Houston’s leading Black Information Source. The media group includes the Defender newspaper , the website www.defendernetwork.com and several social media sites.  She has been at the helm of the company since 1981 when she purchased the newspaper at age 27.

     Messiah-Jiles served as the chairperson of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (The Black Press of America), a federation of African-American newspapers across the country. She also served as the National Alumni Chair for the Houston Alumni Organization (University of Houston).  Currently, Messiah-Jiles serves as Vice President and Director of Grand Slam, a marketing/investment consulting firm. Her professional activities include being the first African-American female board member of the Greater Houston Partnership, and she currently serves on the M.D. Anderson Board of Visitors. She has served on the Advisory Board of J.P. Morgan Chase-Houston, United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, Center for Houston’s Future, NAACP-Houston, JobPlus, Hester House, March of Dimes Texas Gulf Coast Chapter, American Diabetes Association, and American Leadership Forum.

     Messiah-Jiles recently received the Houston Association of Black Journalists Trailblazer Award.  In addition she has been honored with many other awards including the Phenomenal Woman Award, NNPA Publisher of the Year, American Civil Liberties Freedom of Speech Award, YWCA Outstanding Woman of the Year, Jaycees “Outstanding Texan”, “Women on the Move”, UH Distinguished Alumni Service Award and the National Dental Association Civil Rights Award. She has been named by EBONY Magazine as one of the100 most influential Black Americans. She and her husband were awarded the “Community Service Award” by the University of Houston Downtown. In December 2008, Messiah-Jiles was inducted into the Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce inaugural Hall of Fame along with former first lady Barbara Bush and eight other women.

     Messiah-Jiles received an undergraduate degree from the University of Houston and did postgraduate work at Texas Southern University and Rice University.

Prior to purchasing the Defender, Sonny worked as a radio news reporter, a television talk show host, and an advertising account executive at the Houston Chronicle.

     Messiah-Jiles is married to Jodie Lee Jiles an investment banker. They have two sons, Jodie and Clyde. She is a native of McNair/Baytown, Texas.