Shawn D. Rochester is the CEO of Good Steward LLC (GSL) and the founder of PHD Enterprises, and the IDEA Institute. These organizations provide financial education and advisory services to consumers, increase the presence of Black employees and enterprise in US public and private sectors payroll and supply chains, and facilitate commerce between the Black business community across the African Diaspora and on the African continent. Shawn is also an author and sought-after speaker who has spoken on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley, at leading universities and the United Nations. Shawn is also a seasoned corporate development and strategy executive who has extensive strategic planning experience and has executed over USD $500 million transactions in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. While in the private sector, Shawn was the Global Director of New Business Development, responsible for mergers, acquisitions and identifying new growth opportunities for Amphenol Corporation’s $1.2 billion portfolio of businesses covering the IT and Data Communications marketplace. Earlier in his career was a member of IBM’s Emerging Business Opportunities (EBO) program which identified, funded and monitored 17 businesses that generated over $10 billion of revenue. Shawn has also had leadership roles in new product development, operations management and IT project management at Amphenol and International Paper Co. Shawn has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from The University of Rochester and a master’s degree in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a focus in Accounting, Finance and Entrepreneurship. He is the author of The Black Tax.