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Meet our National Director
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Posted On: Thursday October 5th, 2006 at 9:00am EDT
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CAPSULE
President George W. Bush appointed Ronald N. Langston as the head of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) on March 19, 2001. He is the first individual to officially hold the title of “National Director.”
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RONALD N. LANGSTON
President George W. Bush appointed Ronald N. Langston as the head of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) on March 19, 2001. He is the first individual to officially hold the title of “National Director.”
Mr. Langston is an experienced executive who brings a wealth of expertise from the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He has initiated a transformation of MBDA from an administrative agency to an entrepreneurial organization that focuses on entrepreneurial training, managing organizational knowledge, and strengthening the performance verification of its core competencies. A central theme of MBDA’s management vision is empowerment through entrepreneurship. Mr. Langston believes that a national business enterprise model will serve as the catalyst to foster capacity and growth to the Nation's minority business community.
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BACKGROUND
Mr. Langston’s private sector career includes serving as Vice President of Administration and Organizational Management for EMCO Enterprises; Director of National Markets for Principal Financial Group; Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation; and Director of Economic Development for the Institute for Social and Economic Development. Mr. Langston’s federal career began as a Legislative Assistant to former U.S. Senator Roger Jepsen (R-Iowa) from 1979 to 1981. He next served as a presidential appointee during the Reagan Administration (1982 to 1984) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Langston served as Legislative Research Analyst to the Iowa General Assembly (1974-1979). He was the first African-American to win the Republican nomination for the Iowa Senate and represented the Iowa Republican Party in 1996 and 2000.
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HONORS
Mr. Langston is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including: the Minority Business and Professionals Network's 50 Influential Minorities in Business Award; the Ronald H. Brown Economic Development Prism Award from Minorities in Business Magazine; the Asian Business Association's Strategic Thinker Award; and the National Diversity Gala Best Practice's Government Leader Award.
Mr. Langston is the former Chairman of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African-Americans and Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Transportation. He was the co-recipient of the prestigious Iowa Literary Award as a contributor to “Outside In: The History of African-Americans in Iowa, 1838-2000.”
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INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Mr. Langston’s international experience includes: serving as delegate of the American Council of Young Political Leaders where he traveled to West Germany, France, and Belgium. He served on the Council of International Understanding (Des Moines, Iowa), and in that capacity, hosted several international guests and sponsored several delegations from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Middle East and Europe.
Most recently, Mr. Langston served as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s delegate to the 2003 Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Conference in Mauritius. He also traveled to Ghana, South Africa, and Botswana on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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PERSONAL
Mr. Langston holds degrees from the University of Iowa, the City University of New York (National Urban/Rural Fellow) and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and is married to Inga P. Bumbary, attorney, of Des Moines Iowa.
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