After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10
Board of Directors
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Dondi Staunton, President
Dondi Staunton, a native of Pennsylvania, “The Keystone State,” is a Senior Advisor for the U.S. Department of Commerce. She began working at Commerce as an Import Compliance Specialist and later became a Desk Officer covering the countries of Uruguay and Paraguay. After that, she stepped into a position performing federal budget formulation and execution. In Mrs. Staunton’s current role, she has specific budgeting, contracting, and financial management responsibilities within the Bureau of Economic Analysis. She brings over 22 years of project management, project evaluation, and strategic planning expertise to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Bethany Christian Services, where she serves on the Board of Directors.
Over the years, she has worked for various non-profit organizations as well as the federal government, leading and developing multi-functional teams, focusing on streamlining and improving processes, workforce planning, and strategic and financial management. She has served on multiple federal Presidential Transition teams. In addition to this, she holds years of experience in contracting, acquisitions, budgeting, grants administration, and auditing. She has led business operations pertaining to training, awards programs, IT, FOIA, Privacy Act, Data Transparency, OIG, and GAO implementation. Mrs. Staunton serves in federal and private leadership roles and has held various ministry positions over the years. Her tenure at Commerce has enabled her to travel all over the world and aid small and mid-sized businesses. Mrs. Staunton is now passionate about making an impact on those within the international community who need social and economic assistance.
She is a member of the Association of Government Accountants, holds a FAC/COR II and FAC/PPM II, and is an alumnus of Shippensburg University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Johns Hopkins University. Mrs. Staunton has been awarded a federal Bronze Medal Award for her role in streamlining business processes which resulted in the roll-out of a common data platform used by over 1,500 employees. In addition to being the Founder/President of The Regency Group, her highest honors since beginning her career include being a wife to Michael and mom to Elizabeth!
Ann-Marie Padgett
Ann-Marie Padgett is the Director, Market Access within the Remanufacturing Division at Caterpillar Inc. In this role, Ann-Marie leads Caterpillar Reman in developing specific market access strategies to penetrate closed markets and defining growth strategies for existing markets. She advises on activities related to the acquisition projects at Cat Reman; including private and public acquisitions, mergers, and joint ventures; develops a thorough understanding of the Reman business and its contribution to sustainability and develops growth strategies to achieve organizational goals.
Ann-Marie has been at Caterpillar for twelve years. In her previous role, she served as Manager of Federal & International Government Affairs - Asia Pacific portfolio. Her responsibilities included connecting Caterpillar business units with significant sales opportunities in Asia, particularly in China, India, and ASEAN member countries. She was also Caterpillar’s lead lobbyist on healthcare and skilled workforce issues.
Before joining Caterpillar, Ann-Marie served as the Global Public Policy Manager for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). AEM is a U.S.-based international trade group representing the business interests of companies that manufacture, and market equipment and services used worldwide. Supported industries include construction, agriculture, road building, mining, energy, forestry, and utilities. At AEM, Ann-Marie worked with more than 700 member companies to develop policy positions on international trade issues and advocated to Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and various Executive Branch officials.
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Ann-Marie also worked as an International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce, China office. She ensured U.S. companies’ access to the Chinese market and the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. Her portfolio included standards and technical barriers to trade, consumer goods, textiles, and U.S. trade with Hong Kong and Macau. Ann-Marie received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Chinese from Middlebury College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hawaii. She is also a graduate of The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Ann-Marie is an American Mandarin Society Fellow and serves on the board. She speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, and Jamaican Patois.
Laniera Jones, Treasurer
Laniera Jones started her federal career as an intern with the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in June 2003. After being converted to a Student Career Employment Program intern during college, Laniera was hired full-time upon graduating from Lynchburg College with her master’s degree in Educational Leadership in May 2010. Since she began her career with BEA, she has worked in Human Capital & Workforce Development. As Training Officer, growing Workforce Development from a team of 1 to 4 within the last three years is one of her most notable achievements. Through this, Laniera has demonstrated the significance of training and development and is excited about the future of BEA. Ms. Jones also serves as a long-standing board member of the Training Officers Consortium and holds the Marketing and Communications Chair title. Furthermore, she also serves as a federal Career Coach.
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