Natalie Cofield is President of the NMC Consulting Group a boutique consulting firm that specializes in business development, program management and public affairs. She operates her company with the mission of increasing entrepreneurship and business development opportunities and improving business programs for people of color, women and youth. Her firm has worked with clients including Carnegie Mellon, University of Rochester, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and the United Negro College Fund, among others.

In addition to working with external clients, the NMC Consulting Group has two signature programs to advance expertise and knowledge sharing amongst aspiring and existing entrepreneurs – Walker’s Legacy: A Women in Business Lecture Series and PROSPECTUS a nine-week entrepreneurship training program and business plan competition.

In 2010 Ms. Cofield testified before the US Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on “Assessing Access: Obstacles and Opportunities for Minority Small Business Owners in Today’s Capital Markets” alongside Robert Johnson.

She has received numerous awards, including a Certificate of Recognition from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for her contribution to economic policy in Los Angeles. Her work on entrepreneurship and business development programming has been case-studied by the International Economic Development Council. In 2006, Ms. Cofield was named one of Ebony Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30. In 2010 she was listed as one of the Top 30 Under 30 in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia by WKYS.

She is a professional who brings years of expertise in strategic planning, program development and management, public affairs and marketing for businesses, nonprofit and economic development entities. She has worked in major global markets including: Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY and London, UK.

In her prior roles she has served as the Director of Industry & Business Development for the Washington, DC Economic Partnership. During her tenure she developed a number of original programs on behalf of the District of Columbia including: PremierPlan, the District’s first $100,000 business plan competition, BusinessPremier, the District’s business retention and expansion initiative, BusinessPremier Small Business Awards, and the Initial Start-Up Considerations Program, a community entrepreneurship initiative. In her role as Director, she served as a liaison to elected and government officials, community and business leaders on business development matters, as a representative of the District of Columbia before international delegations both domestically and abroad (England and China) and at national conferences related to business development and entrepreneurship.

Ms. Cofield has also served as a Special Assistant to the General Manager for the City of Los Angeles, CA Community Development Department and as a Management Consulting Services Analyst for JPMorganChase in New York where she began her career.

Ms. Cofield, is a frequent public speaker, radio personality, presenter and lecturer on topics of business, economic and community development. She is a researcher, writer and published author on topics of entrepreneurship and industry development including having served as the co-author and lead editor of the Doing Business in DC Guide Book with more than 20,000 copies published in five languages (Korean, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, English), as author of the 2007 State of Nonprofits and Associations in the District of Columbia on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development, and has written articles that have been published in industry journals including the DC Building & Industry Association quarterly journal. In 2009, Ms. Cofield, published The Pursuit of Entrepreneurship a Guide For African American Entrepreneurs commissioned by the Congressional Black Caucus with more than 1,500 copies released at the 2009 Annual Legislative Conference.

In 2008, Ms. Cofield was appointed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty as the youngest Commissioner for the District of Columbia Commission for Women where she serves as Chair of the Public Affairs Committee and Co-Chair of the International Affairs Committee. She is a board member for the DC Coalition for Capital, and the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce and has served on the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development’s Nonprofit Task-force.

She is a graduate of Howard University, magna cum laude and obtained her Master of Public Affairs as a Pi Alpha Alpha graduate of the National Urban Fellows at Baruch School of Public Affairs in New York.