ALF National Advisory Council

Danielle Frazier, Special Assistant to the City Manager for Workforce Development, City of Charlotte

Danielle is a lifelong public servant with more than 23+ years of workforce development experience. In her current role as Special Assistant to the City Manager for Workforce Development, Danielle oversees the City’s workforce development initiatives in supporting and equipping job seekers with the skills needed to meet our businesses’ growing talent demands.

As previous President and CEO of Charlotte Works, she focused on the cultivation of a thriving local economy through the upskilling of job seekers creating sustainable talent pipelines for businesses. She led the execution of Charlotte Works’ strategic plan, vision, and priorities for workforce development in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

During her tenure in workforce development, Danielle’s roles have included program and operations management, planning and budgeting, leadership and team development, and organizational strategy. Under her leadership at Charlotte Works, career services support was provided to over 100k Mecklenburg County residents, helped over 5,500 businesses with their talent needs, and invested over $3.7M in upskilling more than 1,540+ job seekers.

Danielle’s collaborative leadership has warranted several awards and recognition for innovative practices and partnerships, one of which, she had the honor to present to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce.

As a recognized workforce development thought leader, both locally and nationally, Danielle has served as keynote speaker, conference presenter, moderator, and panelist for numerous convenings. She is also a recipient of the Charlotte Business Journal’s 40 Leaders under 40 and named one of Charlotte’s Power 100 key players who are leading Charlotte’s growth into the future.

Appointed by her peers, Danielle currently serves as the second vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council. She also serves on the local and national Board of the American Leadership Forum.

Danielle received her Bachelor of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University and her Master of Public Administration from Strayer University.

Donna Fujimoto Cole, President and CEO of Cole Chemical & Distributing, Inc.

As VP Sales, 26% owner of del Rey Chemical International and 3% owner of GoldKing Chemicals, Donna Fujimoto Cole founded Cole Chemical in 1980 at the age of 27, divorced with a four-year old daughter with $5,000 from savings. At the encouragement of chemical buyers from Exxon, Shell, Monsanto and Dupont, she started a certified minority/woman owned chemical business to help customers meet their government purchasing goals. Ms. Cole has started, invested and divested many types of businesses; chemical manufacturing, promotional advertising, chemical distribution, chemical supply chain and entertainment industry. Serving on many Federal, National boards, Local Government Corporations, Advisory boards and currently serves the Rockwell Fund, Women’s Home, and Center for Asian Pacific American Women.

Joseph Jaworski, Chairman of Generon International

Joseph Jaworski founded American Leadership Forum in 1980 in Houston. He left his successful law practice to address what he increasingly saw as a crisis of leadership throughout the country. He envisioned an organization dedicated to bringing together diverse leaders from multiple sectors in communities across the country to explore their personal leadership capacity, build deep trust among the group to help each leader get beyond the devaluing prejudices that we all hold, and discover new possibilities.

As founder and chairman of Generon International, Joseph collaborates with leaders who are committed to developing the capacities for innovation and transformation that result in fundamental change both in themselves and in their organizations.

Melody O’Neal, Owner Services Manager, Elliott Realty

Melody is a short-term vacation rental manager with almost 20 years of experience. She specializes in helping vacation rental owners meet their revenue goals while caring for their properties. At Elliott Realty, a trusted family-owned vacation rental company that has been around for over 60 years, Melody has faced many challenging changes in the vacation rental market. Originally from Sumter, South Carolina, Melody owes her work ethic and passion for leadership to her parents Carl and Linda O’Neal. Melody graduated from the Waccamaw American Leadership Forum in April of 2023. Although Melody is a new member of the American Leadership Forum, she is excited to participate in its growth and treasures the lifelong friends she has made through the ALF program.

Lyle Quasim

University of Puget Sound, BA
Pacific Lutheran University, MA
University of Puget Sound Honorary Doctorate

Lyle was born in Chicago in 1943 and came to Tacoma, Washington in 1966 as a member of the United States Air Force. Lyle served as the Director of the Washington State Psychiatric Hospitals and the Washinoton State Director of Mental Health from 1979 to 1983 and 1983 to 1987, respectively. He also served as the Director of the Safe Streets Campaign for Tacoma and Pierce County from 1989 to 1993.

Lyle was a Cabinet member for two Governors as the Secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services from 1995 to 2000. DSHS was the largest department in state government. In Pierce County Washington he served as the Chief of Staff for the Pierce County Executive from 2001 to 2009 overseeing 16 county departments. He then became President of Bates Technical College, one of the 34 Community and Technical Colleges in the state of Washington from 2009 to 2012. His last position prior to retirement was the Senior Advisor to the chancellor of the University of Washington Tacoma.

Peter Tateishi, Chief Executive Officer of Associated General Contractors of California

In January of 2018, Peter became CEO of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of California where he is responsible for bringing to life the mission of the organization which believes the construction industry is vital to the success of California. Prior to his current position, Peter served in numerous leadership roles including President and CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, and Chief of Staff to a US Congressman in Washington, D.C. Peter was recognized as one of Sacramento’s “Most Admired CEO’s” in 2023 and “40 Under 40” in 2013 by the Sacramento Business Journal. He graduated with a BA from CSUS and an MPA from USC. He resides in Carmichael, CA with his wife and four children.

John Yarborough, Vice President of Winery Operations, Delicato Family Wines

John was introduced to the ALF Great Valley Chapter in 2011, shortly thereafter entering Class III and graduating in 2013. He joined the board of directors the following year, most recently serving as board chair. He has served on numerous not-for-profit boards over the years advocating for diverse, respectful and unified communities, where everyone has a voice. He is the Vice President of Winery Operations for Delicato Family Wines and has been employed with this family-owned company for over forty-two years. He leads a talented team operating facilities in the Central Valley, North Coast, Napa, and Central Coast wine regions. John and his husband Chuck live in Lafayette, CA.