Failed
Empowerment & Inclusion Capital I Corp.
- Registration2020-12-22 Filed S1
- IPO2021-01-09 IPO, search begins
- Definitive AgreementNo merger agreement yet
- Failed2022-12-27 Merger Failed
- Raised
- $200M
- CIK
- 1825720
- SPAC Ticker
- EPWR.U
- Focus
- Diversity & Inclusion
SPAC Team
Leadership
Harold Ford Jr. has been our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since September 22, 2020. Mr. Ford served in Congress for 10 years from 1997 to 2007 representing Tennessee’s 9th congressional district and was a member of the House Financial Services, Budget and Education Committees as well as the Congressional Black Caucus. After serving in the House of Representatives, Mr. Ford spent 4 years as Vice Chairman and Senior Policy Advisor of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 7 years at Morgan Stanley, where he was a Managing Director and Senior Client Relationship Manager, and he is the former non-executive Chairman of Rx Saver, a patient-directed prescription medication search engine platform. Mr. Ford has also taught public policy at Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan. He is currently Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman of PNC’s Corporate & Institutional Banking group and a Director of Live Oak Acquisition Corporation, a blank check company founded in 2020. Mr. Ford received a B.A. in American History from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Virginia (Ginnie) Henkels has been our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since November 4, 2020. Previously, Ms. Henkels was the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Swift from 2008 to 2017, a then $4 billion publicly traded transportation services company, where she led numerous capital market transactions including its 2010 initial public offering and balance sheet recapitalization and its 2017 merger with Knight Transportation. Ms. Henkels joined Swift in 2004 and was a key leader in successfully navigating the business through the great recession after completing a $2.5 billion leveraged buyout in 2007. While at Swift, Ms. Henkels served on the board of Swift Charities, a non-profit organization focused on employee assistance grants, scholarships and community grants. Prior to Swift, she held various finance and accounting leadership positions with increasing responsibilities from 1990 to 2002 at Honeywell International, Inc., a worldwide diversified technology and manufacturing leader. Ms. Henkels currently serves on the board of three publicly traded companies: LCI Industries, Viad Corp, and Echo Global Logistics. Ms. Henkels chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee for LCI Industries, chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee for Viad Corp, and is a member of the Audit and Nominating and Governance Committees for Echo Global Logistics. Ms. Henkels is currently a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Women Corporate Director organizations. Ms. Henkels received a B.S.B.A. in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Arizona and a M.B.A. from Arizona State University. She passed the May 1995 CPA and June 1995 CMA examinations.
Laura L. Long has been a Director since September 17, 2020. Previously, Ms. Long was our Interim Chief Executive Officer from September 17, 2020 to September 21, 2020, and our Interim Chief Financial Officer and Interim Secretary from September 17, 2020 to November 4, 2020. Ms. Long is Deputy General Counsel, M&A of our sponsor, PNC, with responsibility for legal oversight of PNC’s M&A, alternative investments and securities transactions. In this role, Ms. Long has been responsible for negotiating and executing numerous M&A transactions. Prior to joining PNC in 2006, Ms. Long practiced as an M&A attorney for Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in Los Angeles, California. She serves on the boards of Susan G. Komen of Greater Pennsylvania and Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh. Ms. Long received a B.S. in Political Science from Illinois State University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Richard K. Bynum will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Bynum is Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer of our sponsor, PNC, with responsibility for the PNC Foundation, Community Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility; Community Development Banking; and Diversity and Inclusion. In addition, Mr. Bynum is leading the implementation of PNC’s $1 billion commitment to help end systemic racism and support the economic empowerment of Black Americans and low- to moderate-income communities. Prior to being named to his role in July 2020, Mr. Bynum served as regional president for PNC’s Greater Washington market from 2017 to 2020. He previously served as a member of PNC’s retail executive leadership team, where he led the Business Banking division. Prior to joining PNC in 2005, Mr. Bynum had a 12-year career as a senior manager for the American Red Cross. His last role with the organization was as the managing director for disaster response and emergency communications at the Chicago chapter. Mr. Bynum serves on the boards of the corporate council for the Smithsonian National Museum of Black American History & Culture, the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the Federal City Council, the Philip L. Graham Fund Foundation, the United Way of the National Capital Area, and the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Mr. Bynum received a B.A. in Political Science from Florida State University and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He also is a graduate of the Consumers Bankers Association Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.
Stephanie M. Phillipps will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus form a part. Ms. Phillipps is a communications veteran who, during her time as a partner at Arnold & Porter, advised wireless, cable, satellite, media, and internet service providers on a broad range of transactions, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, corporate governance, and regulatory issues. Having successfully navigated over $300 billion in complex merger proceedings, Ms. Phillips thoroughly comprehends dynamic business models and how regulatory schemes affect transactions and growth strategy. Ms. Phillipps currently serves as a senior advisor to Grain Management LLC, a private equity fund which invests in the communications sector, as Treasurer and board member of the Clara Elizabeth Jackson Carter Foundation, a foundation that supports educational and cultural programs for disadvantaged youth and families, as co-founder and board member of the Harvard Law School Black Alumni Network, as board member of The Ellington Fund, which supports the only public school in Washington D.C. dedicated to the creative arts, and as founder and Chief Executive Officer of Genkast LLC, a start-up company providing digital services targeting mothers of Black children. Ms. Phillipps retired from Arnold & Porter in 2019. Ms. Phillips previously served as an experienced advocate before the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory agencies and public bodies. Ms. Phillips received a B.A. from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Marjorie Rodgers Cheshire will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Cheshire is President and Chief Operating Officer of A&R a diversified real estate investment company which owns large-scale multifamily, commercial and mixed-use properties, where she is responsible for the firm’s business operations, asset management, and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining A&R, Ms. Cheshire spent many years in senior leadership positions in the media and sports industries. Ms. Cheshire was the Senior Director of Brand & Consumer Marketing for the National Football League, was a Vice President of Business Development for Oxygen Media, and served as a Director and Special Assistant to the Chairman & CEO of ESPN. Early in her career, Ms. Cheshire also worked as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group and in brand management at Nestle Foods. She serves as a Director of our sponsor, PNC, where she is Chair of the Compliance Committee and Chair of the Special Committee on Equity & Inclusion, is a Director of Exelon Corporation, Chair of the Board of Baltimore Equitable Insurance, and is a Trustee of Johns Hopkins Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She also actively volunteers with other local civic organizations focused on education and the arts. Ms. Cheshire received a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Gagan Singh will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Singh is the Chief Investment Officer of our sponsor, PNC, where he directs the activities of the economics group as well as mortgage servicing acquisition and hedging. In addition, Mr. Singh serves as Chief Executive Officer of PNC Capital Finance and PNC Investment Corporation, overseeing each firm’s private equity, mezzanine and alternative investments. He is a member of PNC’s asset and liability committee and chairman of its pension investment committee. Prior to joining PNC in 2004, Mr. Singh held a variety of market-related positions at J.P. Morgan Chase, including head of the North America derivatives strategy team. He is a member of the advisory board of University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, the board of IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation and the board of Pratham USA. Mr. Singh received a B.Tech in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland.
Margaret B. (Peg) Smith will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Smith retired in June 2019 after 42 years with Experian, where she served as Executive Vice President of Investor Relations at the time of retirement. During her time at Experian, Ms. Smith worked in a myriad of areas including, sales and sales management, operations management and technology transformation, product marketing, compliance and government affairs, general management (local, regional and global roles), start-ups and incubator businesses, business development including M&A, disposals, and partnership, corporate communications, media relations and company spokesperson, industry expertise in credit, information services, and digital decisioning and corporate restructuring. Ms. Smith participated in the development of the business and the industry from its infancy and acquired deep knowledge and understanding of data collection, data quality, product development, market development, and client engagement. Ms. Smith led Experian’s expansion into decision analytics, modelling, process automation, database marketing, and other key opportunities that combined rich deep data content with decisioning tools and enabled clients to improve their businesses. Over the past decade, Ms. Smith directly participated in the buildout of Experian’s global footprint including strategic planning and business reviews in all major markets in all regions. Ms. Smith received a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Toni Townes-Whitley will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Townes-Whitley is President, U.S. Regulated Industries at Microsoft. In this role, Ms. Townes-Whitley leads Microsoft’s U.S. sales organization across the financial services, healthcare, education and federal, state and local government sectors. Previously, Ms. Townes-Whitley was Corporate Vice President for Global Industry at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Ms. Townes-Whitley worked for CGI, an IT and business consulting services firm, from 2010 to 2015. During her tenure at CGI, Ms. Townes-Whitley held the positions of President and Chief Operating Officer from 2011 to 2015 and Senior Vice President, Civilian Agency Program, from 2010 to 2011. From 2002 to 2010, Ms. Townes-Whitley held various positions at Unisys Corporation, a global information technology company that provides a portfolio of IT services, software and technology, including Vice President, Global Public Sector, Vice President, North America Consulting & Systems Integration, and Lead Partner, Federal Civilian Business Unit. Ms. Townes-Whitley is an active participant in industry client and partner organizations, and a presenter on IT innovation and societal impact. Ms. Townes-Whitley sits on the executive committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, is a board member on the United Way Worldwide, the Northern VA Tech Council and Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and serves as an advisor to the Women’s Center of Northern Virginia and a past president of Women in Technology. Ms. Townes-Whitley received a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School.
Andrea L. Zopp will serve as one of our Directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Zopp is the President and Chief Executive Officer of World Business Chicago, the city’s economic development organization. Prior to joining World Business Chicago, Ms. Zopp was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Sara Lee Corporation, a $20 billion international consumer products company, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Sears Holdings Corporation, a $50 billion retailer with operations in the U.S. and Canada, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Exelon Corporation, Deputy Mayor and Chief Neighborhood Development Officer for the City of Chicago, where she led the Mayor’s neighborhood development and community engagement efforts, and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Urban League, a 100 year old nonprofit that promotes strong sustainable communities and works for economic and educational progress for African Americans. Ms. Zopp currently serves as a director at Relativity, a global e-discovery and data management software company. Ms. Zopp previously served as a director and member of the Compensation and Human Resources and Nominating and Governance Committees of Andrew Corporation, a global communications cable and equipment manufacturer, on the board of Urban Partnership Bank, a privately held community bank, where she chaired the Human Resources Committee and served on the Nominating and Governance Committee, and as trustee of the National Urban League on, a historic civil rights organization that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Americans and against racial discrimination. Ms. Zopp received a B.A. in History of Science from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.