Economic Development Expert Taneshia Nash Laird Named Advisor To Athletes Economic Alliance

Ms. Laird brings her formidable experience as an entrepreneur and public speaker to the groundbreaking organization AEA

NEWARK, NJ--Taneshia Nash Laird, an acclaimed community economic development specialist, has been named to the Advisory Board of the nonprofit Athletes Economic Alliance (AEA), which seeks to provide economic empowerment for athletes and performing artists, with an emphasis on financial and business education.  Ms. Laird brings her formidable experience as an entrepreneur and public speaker to this groundbreaking organization, where she joins several current and former professional athletes, celebrities, and other luminaries who lead by example through their competitive success in the corporate arena.  Ms. Laird takes her place alongside TV One anchorman Roland Martin, NBA veteran Junior Bridgeman, who rose from the plywood courts to preside over a $400 million restaurant empire, and Ed O'Bannon, a former NCAA and NBA star who successfully litigated a class-action lawsuit against the collegiate league, which incorporated his image in video games without compensating O'Bannon for its use.

Ms. Laird brings a wealth of accomplishments to this new position, including decades of experience as a dynamic leader in public and private-sector community revitalization and strategic communications, enlightening and educating businesswomen from a wide range of professions and industries.  As the CEO of Legacy Business Advisors, a strategic think tank that guides government agencies and social entrepreneurs alike, in communications strategies, business development, and economic development, Ms. Laird and her associates take an active role in the financial health of the community.  She also works hard to promote Newark's physical health, taking a major role in building the Dunbar Center for Kidney Dialysis and Wellness, a $20 million facility which will address the critical need for a 24/7 nephrology and hemodialysis clinic, and create 175 new Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) jobs for the city.

Legacy Business Advisors has offices in Newark and Trenton, NJ and serves clients across the country. 

Ms. Laird is a co-owner of My Image Studios (MIST) Harlem in New York City, a multimillion-dollar entertainment complex, and co-wrote the critically-acclaimed anthropological volume, Still I Rise: A Graphic History Of African-Americans.  In 2014, she was tapped to serve as Regional Director for the US Women's Chamber Of Commerce, and is active on the boards of numerous cultural and economic groups, including Art Pride of New Jersey Foundation, Advocates for New Jersey History, and the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority to which he was appointed by NJ Governor Jon Corzine in 2008.  Rounding out Ms. Laird's portfolio are her work as a Business Advisor to Felician College, and as a Senior fellow with the Eastern Regional Network of the Environmental Leadership Program.  In October 2015, she toured across New York and New Jersey, speaking at signature events such as Women Entrepreneurs: Driving innovation through Diversity at Berkeley College, at the Black Women Trailblazers In Media awards gala in Newark, and at Trenton Business week, where Ms. Laird spoke about the impact of women in business on the state's economic health, all as part of Women's Entrepreneurship Week. She also appeared on panel discussions in New York City and Washington, DC for the Catalyst Network Foundation addressing the challenges faced by Black and Latino athletes in business and contemporary society. And in November Ms. Laird appeared as a commentator on WWOR-TV My 9's New Jersey Now program, talking about the role of women as entrepreneurs.

As the sole female member of AEA's Advisory Board, Ms. Laird will work to further its mission of bringing athletes and entertainers the educational tools they need to develop their personal wealth as well as their business presence in a fast-changing corporate marketplace.  "One of my goals is that as our group grows, so will the number of women on the advisory board of this new organization," Ms. Laird states proudly. "Until then, I will represent."

Follow Ms. Laird at Instagram: TANESHIANASHLAIRD  & Twitter: @taneshia 

For bookings and media inquiries on Ms. Laird, please contact Ernest Jackson of MNS Media Group at mnsmedia@gmail.com


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