In addition, he launched a volunteer app called "Chip’N" that allows users to earn "chips" a social currency by volunteering their time. Those "chips” can be used to purchase cool sponsored incentives such as Broccoli City Festival tix, e-gift cards, and live experiences. Currently, the app has over logged over 65,000 volunteer hours in urban communities and one of the fast growing mobile apps. 

Marcus was recognized by Stanford University as one of the top social innovators in the world during their Executive Program for Social Entrepreneurs.

Marquita has been a Finance professional for over 15 years.  Upon graduating from West Chester University in 2004 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting and a minor in Finance, she began her career in the Public sector of Accounting going to work for one of the “Big 4” Accounting Firms, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP as a Tax Accountant. There she focused primarily on Corporate Tax Return Compliance and tax provision preparation.

 

Upon leaving PwC Marquita transitioned into the Private Sector of Accounting going to work for Thales, a large French International Engineering firm with 68,000 employees and $12.3 Billion in annual revenues and a presence over 50 countries. Under the Tax Manager title, Marquita took on the role of managing all of Thales’ Domestic interactions including  their Consolidated Return Preparation, Tax Provisioning, Deferred Tax Analysis ‘Studies, Transfer Pricing Documentation and Studies for all 12 Subsidiaries, State Tax Compliance and Nexus qualifications and any and all research involving Tax Law. She consulted with her International counterparts on all US tax ramifications, they would face based on the terms of specific Bids/Contracts as well as many of their Merger and Acquisition and Bid/Proposal Contracts.  Siting out ways to arrange the language and flow of the contracts to ensure her Firm had the best and most compliant financial result.   She held a major role in consulting with one of their biggest acquisitions to date — the $400 million acquisition of LiveTV a sub division of JetBlue Airlines.

Marquita’s current professional role is the Vice President of Global Taxation at a large Pharmaceutical firm in Princeton, NJ. This firm is a Multi-national firm with over $2B in annual revenue. In this role, she manages compliance-related issues and tax planning analyses for the Company’s foreign subsidiaries and their hybrid subsidiaries in various non US jurisdictions. She consults on their merger-and-acquisition deals, both domestic and internationally, International tax compliance, Bid/Proposal Tax analysis, transfer pricing, and nexus issues globally as well. She’s held a significant role n three of her company’s acquisitions to date which include the acquisition of Paragon and Juniper Pharmaceuticals. In 2012 Marquita also launched Araba & Associates, LLC www.arabaandassociates.com (@arabaandassociates) her own private tax preparation firm, specializing in tax consulting, financial planning and tax preparation for individuals and small to mid-sized businesses. In 2014 she opened a Hair Salon, Studio 44 Hair Salon located on 19th and Cecil B. Moore Avenues in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pa. She purchased the building which has three levels with commercial space on the bottom that houses the salon. She rents out both the second and third levels to students attending Temple University. Additionally, she has partnered in 4 other real estate projects throughout the Philadelphia area which include a 4-story condo building in Fish town.

She is also a founding partner and Finance consultant with The Business Babes www.businessbabesonline.com (@thebusinessbabes) which is a group she and 4 colleges started in order to promote entrepreneurship among women in addition to helping them start, manage and re-vamp their businesses. Since their start in 2014, they have grown their network of followers to over 100K women and men. Marquita graduated with a Master’s of Business Administration from Rosemont College in May of 2018. She has also recently received her Real Estate salesperson license in the state of Pennsylvania and signed on as an An agent with the Top Luxury brokerage in the Tri-State area. She will leverage this with her continued love for real estate investing. Marquita is also a huge advocate of financial freedom. She has ventured into public speaking and currently have 7 speaking engagements under her belt and is gearing up for more in the upcoming months.

She currently sits on the Board for the The Jill Melmed-Buzzeo Award Non-Profit Organization which is an award for Philadelphia “girls with grit.” Their mission is to equip ambitious, resilient young women from Philadelphia with the tools and support to advance their professional dreams.

Lydia T. Blanco is a trusted journalist, vibrant host, and digital media personality who is passionate about building community through storytelling.

As a journalist, Lydia focuses on entrepreneurship, business, technology, and lifestyle. Throughout her career, she has reported on education, financial literacy, health and more at NBC News, BlackEnterprise, and a variety of publications. In addition to writing feature stories, Lydia is an on-air talent, speaker, moderator, facilitator, and brand transformation specialist. Some of her highlight interviews have been with Percy ‘Master P’ Miller, Jemele Hill, Sheryl Sandberg, and Debra Lee. And, her speaking engagements range from Google to Social Media Week in Lagos, Nigeria.

Lydia is the host of the ‘how through’ lifestyle podcast, The Get My Life Tour, which focuses on

practicing vulnerability and how to show up for yourself. To date, The Get My Life Tour has an

international audience and the podcast is distributed on 9 listening platforms.

Additionally, Lydia is the creator of Sincere Visions, a digital platform with a focus on media literacy, storytelling, and public interest technology.

As a media professional, Lydia is committed to amplifying the voice of marginalized communities.