Antwanye E. Ford is President & Chief Executive Officer of Enlightened, Inc., a leading Information Technology and Management Consulting firm founded in 1999. Enlightened serves federal, state, and local government agencies and provides cybersecurity, software development and integration, management consulting and business process outsourcing services. In 2016, the Company expanded its service offerings to support the transportation and healthcare sectors. As co-founder of Enlightened, Antwanye has led the Company’s growth from a start-up business to a diverse organization with over 200 employees. He continually leads the Company’s corporate vision, strategic planning, and innovation efforts. As a thought leader with a keen eye on emerging trends, his passion is developing and delivering business solutions to global, national, and local problems. Antwanye is also a Managing Partner of Prolightened, LLC., a commercial real-estate development firm focused on development in the inner-city core.
Prior to Enlightened, Antwanye served as Director of Applications Support for INTELSAT, leading the business unit’s development of applications, consulting projects and document management infrastructure. He served as a Development Project Manager at MCI, where he was responsible for designing, building and delivering systems that invoiced over $20M per month, and as Product Manager for the Company’s Flagship Friends and Family product.
Antwanye Ford is the Vice-Chair of the US Black Chambers, Inc. This national organization provides leadership and support for over 150 Black Chambers throughout the US and focuses on developing and growing Black enterprises. In January 2018, Antwanye was appointed as Board Chair of the District of Columbia Workforce Investment Council (WIC). Antwanye is board member and Board Secretary for the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), a national organization dedicated to the continuous improvement of work in the workforce development industry. Antwanye was one of the founders of The Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (“GWBCC”), the leading Voice for Black Business
in the Greater Washington Area. Antwanye also serves as the Board Chair of the – CyberSecurity Education & Research Center at Howard University. In addition, He is a former Board Chair of the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce and a Board member of the Association of Black Estate Planning Professionals, where he focuses on economic development.
An advocate for community investment, youth mentorship and corporate philanthropy, Antwanye’s personal philosophy is “To whom much is given, much is required.” He spends much of his personal time mentoring youth and overseeing the management of a robust and award-winning internship program at Enlightened. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Howard University School of Business, Information Systems. He has authored several chapters in business books on leadership and life’s challenges.
A native Washingtonian, Antwanye earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Information Systems Technology from The George Washington University with honors. In June 2019, he obtained an MS., Divinity, Lancaster Bible College, June 2019 (Summa Cum Laude).