Our Team

Antonio Aguilar Jr.

Central/Northern California Senior Outreach Manager

Antonio manages Small Business Majority's outreach efforts in the Central Valley and Northern California. In this role, Antonio develops relationships with business partners, small business owners and community leaders to promote economic change in the heart of California.

Prior to joining Small Business Majority Antonio worked for one of the largest community action agencies in the nation, where he focused on learning and development, as well as organizational culture. In his most recent role, Antonio led efforts in organizing and planning quarterly leadership retreats, a newly launched manager training series, and an all staff conference for more than 600 employees. 

Additionally, Antonio has more than seven years of human resources experience primarily in social services. Antonio has run the HR department of a private behavioral health agency, as well as operations for an adolescent substance abuse treatment agency. Antonio was born and raised in Fresno County, and now resides in Sanger where he serves on the city’s Planning Commission. He is passionate about providing resources and opportunities to underserved communities and wants to continue to give back to those in need. Antonio is fluent in Spanish.

Gerente Senior de Alcance Comunitario en el centro y el norte de California

Antonio administra los esfuerzos de alcance comunitario de Small Business Majority en el Valle de San Joaquín Central. En esta posición, Antonio desarrolla relaciones con socios comerciales, propietarios de pequeñas empresas y líderes comunitarios para promover cambios económicos en el corazón de California. 

Antes de unirse a Small Business Majority Antonio trabajó para una de las agencias de acción comunitaria más grandes de la nación, donde se enfocó en el aprendizaje y desarrollo, así como la organización cultural. En su más reciente puesto, Antonio dirigió esfuerzos para organizar y planear retiros de liderazgo trimestrales, una nueva serie de capacitación para gerentes lanzada recientemente y una conferencia de más de 600 empleados. 

Además, Antonio tiene más de siete años en recursos humanos en servicios sociales. Antonio ha dirigido el departamento de recursos humanos de una agencia privada de salud conductual, así como las operaciones de una agencia de tratamiento de abuso de sustancias para adolescentes. Antonio nació y creció en el Condado de Fresno, y ahora reside en Sanger donde es miembro de la Comisión de Planificación. A él le apasiona proporcionar recursos y oportunidades a comunidades desatendidas y quiere continuar ayudando a aquellos que lo necesiten. Antonio habla Español.

Robert Bennett

Small Business Engagement Director

Robert Bennett oversees the process of building and fostering relationships with small business owners, business organizations, and advocacy groups with a particular focus on cultivating spokesperson engagement activities for the Small Business Majority spokesperson program. He also manages the National Small Business Council, a grassroots leadership program that offers significant contributions to Small Business Majority’s work.

Before joining Small Business Majority, Robert worked with various national nonprofit organizations such as the National Homelessness Law Center and the ALS Association, where he was responsible for diversifying revenue programs and strengthening existing corporate partnerships. Most recently, Robert served as Business Operations Specialist with the Society for Human Resource Management, a professional association dedicated to empowering people and workplaces by advancing HR practices and by maximizing human potential.

Robert serves as a member of Small Business Majority’s DEI Council.

Bianca Blomquist

California Director

Bianca Blomquist leads Small Business Majority’s California operations, including outreach on programs and policy, external affairs, fundraising, and legislative activities. Bianca serves on the Board of the California EDGE Coalition and on the Board of California Association of Main Streets (CAMS). In addition to her role as California Director, Bianca leads Small Business Majority's federal policy portfolio on labor and employment law issues. She is also on the Steering Committee for the California Work & Family Coalition (CAWFC), as an Advisory Board Member of the Northern California SBDC Regional Network, and on an advisory group for Covered California. 

Prior to joining Small Business Majority, Bianca served as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill for a member of the House Financial Services Committee. She lobbied for five years on healthcare, transportation, labor and trade issues in Washington, D.C. Throughout her career, Bianca has campaigned in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin on state and national initiatives that impact the status of working families throughout the country. Bianca graduated from the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona with a Masters in Legal Science on healthcare and tax policy.

Simon Brown

Director of Public Relations

Simon Brown is responsible for planning and executing all media relations campaigns and strategies at the national, state and local levels, as well as building the public profiles of Small Business Majority’s spokespeople. Simon worked in a similar capacity at Small Business Majority from 2016-2019.

Prior to rejoining Small Business Majority in 2024, Simon led media relations at New America, where he promoted the work of some of the nation’s leading scholars. Simon also spent four years as a strategic communications consultant, developing media strategies and thought leadership profiles for clients in the tech startup and non-profit spaces. And before that, Simon spent eight years in non-profit communications where his responsibilities included leading media outreach, developing messaging, and conducting media training. Simon began his communications career in journalism, first covering sports for outlets including Sports Illustrated and NBC, where he won a Sports Emmy for his coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He later reported on state and federal tax policy for a trade publication. Simon comes from a family of entrepreneurs.

Rebekah Chase

Controller

Rebekah Chase is Small Business Majority's Controller. She maintains the organization’s accounting systems, prepares financial reports and assists in budget development. She also works with the Grants department to prepare, review and report on grant contracts.

Rebekah has more than a decade of experience in the non-profit, private and public sectors that includes fiscal planning, auditing and administering employee benefit programs. Before joining Small Business Majority more than five years ago, she was the Director of Accounting for a school district in California where she oversaw budget development, accounts payable/receiveable and other business operations. Rebekah began her career doing bookkeeping and auditing at a small business.

Rebekah recently successfully completed her Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP) Advanced instruction program through The Nonprofit CPA’s Alliance.

Alexis D'Amato

Government Affairs Director

Alexis manages Small Business Majority’s government affairs work through the organization’s relationships on Capitol Hill, the administration, federal agencies and the White House. Alexis ensures Small Business Majority’s national network of entrepreneurs and partner organizations stay up to date and actively involved in all relevant federal affairs developments, including legislative and regulatory developments as well as coalition engagement, to achieve the organization’s federal policy goals. Through her work, Alexis advocates for the voices of Main Street America and the organizations that support them through the federal policymaking process. 

Prior to joining Small Business Majority, Alexis served as the Director of Government Affairs at Prism Group, a bi-partisan government affairs firm located in Washington, D.C., where she managed and oversaw the government affairs and policy activity for clients in the small business, entrepreneurship and procurement portfolio. 

Alexis is a graduate of the George Washington University with a Master of Arts in Political Science. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Women in Government Relations and the Birmingham-Southern College Young Alumni Council.

Annemieke Farrow

Vice President, Development

Annemieke Farrow oversees Small Business Majority’s Development department, including the grant writing and impact measurement teams. She leads efforts to identify and cultivate long-term funding relationships, while also developing strategies to measure the impact of Small Business Majority’s programs and streamline impact data collection across the organization. Previously, Annemieke served as the organization's Grants Manager and Director of Development.
 
Prior to joining Small Business Majority in 2017, Annemieke worked as the Community Impact Fellow for the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. In this position, she researched new opportunities for grantmaking and supported multiple strategic initiatives, including a new program to increase college completion rates for under-represented students in the Sacramento area. She also supported the Foundation’s capacity-building initiative for local nonprofits, providing direct support for nonprofit staff while collecting and analyzing data to assess program effectiveness and participant learning outcomes.
 
Annemieke holds a Master of Science in Community Development from U.C. Davis. Her thesis used the lens of youth empowerment to explore how participation in a youth-led philanthropy program impacted the program’s high-school-aged board members.

Ira Gotliboym

Research Analyst

Ira Gotliboym is Small Business Majority’s Research Analyst. He helps conduct research on public policy issues surrounding small businesses, assists with developing questions for surveys and polls, analyzing research findings, and helps with managing research vendor relationships. 

Before joining Small Business Majority, Ira was an Economic Research Fellow at the Small Business Administration- Office of Advocacy, where he provided economic data on small businesses to media outlets and congressional staff. In addition, he aided with reviewing economic impacts of federal policies on small businesses. During his fellowship, Ira released two fact sheet publications on the breakdown of immigrant ownership throughout small businesses.

Ira holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from the University of Maryland and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Rutgers University.

Cassie Mills

Vice President, Communications

Cassie Mills oversees implementation of the organization's internal and external communications efforts, including state and national media outreach, social media and digital marketing, organization websites, reports and more. She also contributes to the organization’s communications efforts by writing reports, web content and media materials. Previously, Cassie served as the organization's Communications Manager and Senior Communications & Research Associate.

Prior to joining Small Business Majority in 2013, Cassie provided strategic communications support to the U.S. Department of Energy, where she focused on storytelling and promoting success stories of projects supported by the Department. She has worked as a writer and editor in a variety of sectors, including at the Louisiana state legislature, universities and research and nonprofit organizations.

Mayra Ordonez

Project Director

As Small Business Majority’s Project Director, Mayra coordinates complex projects across multiple departments and state offices, working collaboratively with senior leadership, ensuring a cohesive strategy and timely delivery across all initiatives. Previously, Mayra served as the organization's Bilingual Communications Manager and Bilingual Communications Specialist. Mayra also holds a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Georgetown University. 

Brian Pifer

Vice President, Research & Insights

Brian oversees Small Business Majority’s research initiatives, including scientific opinion polling, focus groups and economic research. This research provides policymakers, advocates and others in the entrepreneurial ecosystem with the information they need to navigate complex small business issues. Brian leads the design, execution and reporting on these multidisciplinary research projects and manages Small Business Majority's s Insights program, which provides custom private research and subscription services for partners interested in understanding entrepreneurs' needs, challenges and opportunities. 

Brian also manages Small Business Majority's Venturize platform, the one-stop educational hub for the nation's entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Small Business Majority eight years ago, Brian was an editor and reporter at daily newspapers in Northern California, covering small business and other issues.  

Alberto Sanchez

Southern California Outreach Manager

Alberto Sanchez manages Small Business Majority’s outreach efforts in Southern California. In this role, Alberto develops relationships with business partners, small business owners and community leaders to promote small business growth in Southern California.

Prior to joining Small Business Majority, Alberto worked in the offices of United States Senators LaPhonza Butler and Dianne Feinstein as a Field Representative for the San Diego region where he conducted legislative outreach in underserved communities and engaged community stakeholders. He also holds a Master’s degree in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University. Alberto is fluent in Spanish.

Rachel Shanklin

Senior Director, Education & Resources

Rachel Shanklin serves as Senior Director of Education & Resources at Small Business Majority, where she leads the organization’s national strategy to deliver impactful education and tools to small business owners across the country. 

In this role, Rachel develops innovative educational content, oversees strategic partnerships, and manages national programming—including webinars and events—to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge they need to start, grow, and sustain their businesses. She also leads content strategy for Venturize.org, Small Business Majority’s free online resource hub, ensuring small business owners—especially those in underserved communities—have access to practical, trustworthy, and actionable tools.

A passionate advocate for equity in entrepreneurship, Rachel brings a unique blend of policy expertise, community engagement, and strategic communications to her work. Previously she served as Georgia Director and National Women’s Entrepreneurship Director for Small Business Majority. She was selected as a 2024 Truist Foundation Fellow in recognition of her commitment to advancing inclusive economic development. She is also currently pursuing her MBA in Finance at Georgia State University, further deepening her knowledge in capital markets, financial strategy, and entrepreneurship.

Rachel is driven by the belief that small businesses are the backbone of the economy and that education is a powerful lever for equity, innovation, and growth.

Sara Thibodeau

Grants Manager

Sara Thibodeau writes and reports on grants for Small Business Majority. In addition to previously working as a grant writer and project manager for a series of Boston-based workforce development initiatives, she has held management positions at two tech startups. Sara is passionate about entrepreneurship and has often volunteered her time to advise small businesses, both in the U.S. and while traveling and living abroad. Sara earned her bachelor's degree in International Relations and her master's degree in International Business from the University of Denver. She is fluent in French and conversational in Portuguese and Spanish.

Lindsey Vigoda

New York Director & National Quality Jobs Policy Director

Lindsey Vigoda directs Small Business Majority’s outreach, policy and fundraising efforts in New York. Using her social work skills, Lindsey builds and maintains strong relationships with small business communities throughout the state, focusing on key policy issues. In addition to her New York Director role, Lindsey serves as Small Business Majority’s National Quality Jobs Policy Director to promote policies such as paid family leave and childcare that support access to quality jobs. Previously, she served as Colorado Director, leading the organization's advocacy, education and small business outreach across the state.

She also served on Denver Mayor-elect Mike Johnston's transition team as a volunteer to inform policies related to social equity and innovation. Recently, Lindsey joined the Board Advisory Group (C4HCO) for Connect for Health Colorado to advise the governing board on healthcare plan design, value, benefits, cost, outreach and marketing. Lindsey is a 2023 40 Under 40 awardee for the Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining Small Business Majority, Lindsey worked on Colorado’s successful Proposition 111 campaign, which capped the interest rates of predatory payday loans in the state. While working toward her Master of Social Work at the University of Denver, Lindsey conducted policy research for a statewide policy tank that focused on economic justice.