ABOUT US

Harrison Roday founded Bridging Virginia in 2020 and currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors. He is passionate about leveling the playing field for access to capital. He also serves as Chair for Foodshed Capital, a mission-aligned CDFI focused on agricultural microlending.

Most recently, Harrison was a Partner at American Industrial Partners, a group focused on investing in American companies in the industrial economy. He resides in Richmond, Virginia.

Marland Buckner serves as Co-Founder and Principal of MB2 Solutions LLC, an impact development firm with offices in Washington D.C. and Richmond Va. Prior to Co-Founding MB2 Buckner was Director of Federal Government Affairs for Microsoft Corporation in Washington, DC. Prior to Microsoft, Buckner served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) as well as Senior Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff to then-Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN -09). Buckner has also served as a policy analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Progressive Policy Institute. Buckner earned his B.A. in political science and history, his M.A. in U.S. history from the University of Saskatchewan, and completed his Ph.D. examinations in American Studies at the College of William and Mary. He also holds a certificate in Business Administration from Georgetown University. Buckner serves on the boards of the Richmond chapter of Communities in Schools, the Valentine, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Bridging Virginia, and the Reinvestment Fund, one of the nation’s largest Community Development Finance Institutions.

Leesa joined Bankers Insurance from Markel Corporation where she served as Associate Director of Finance. She is an alumna of The College of William and Mary, where she received both her Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance). Outside of work, she serves on the board of directors for Children’s Home Society of Virginia, Foodshed Capital, and Bridging Virginia.

As Regional Vice President of the Southern Region of NeighborWorks, Dr. Christie Cade and her staff provide an array of resources to lenders, developers, and community development partners in both urban and rural communities in 13 states throughout the Southern U.S. She is responsible for ensuring technical assistance and funding support for leadership development of staff, boards of directors, and local residents in the revitalization of their communities.

Dr. Cade has more than 30 years of progressive leadership experience in the arenas of real estate development, financing, mortgage lending, corporate strategies and growth, business development and financial management, board governance, and leading high-performance teams. She currently serves on the Cadence Bank Community Capital Advisory Board, Georgia Advancing Communities Together Board of Directors, the Atlanta Nonprofit Collaborative, HouseATL Advisory Committee, Transformation Alliance Advisory Committee, Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition, and the Greater New Orleans Equitable Development Funders Roundtable. Dr. Cade holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Finance and a PhD. in Organizational Development and Leadership. She has also obtained several certifications in nonprofit leadership, real estate development and finance.

Following retirement from an extensive career in public legal service for both state government (as Chief Deputy Attorney General in the administration of former Attorney General Mark Herring) and local government (as former Hampton City Attorney), Cynthia Hudson now performs legal and government affairs services as owner of Eppes-Hudson Law, PLLC. She also provides mediation and ombuds services as a member of The McCammon Group. This work follows her successful tenure in the government practice group of Sands Anderson PC.

Cynthia’s experience, leadership and civic engagement have been recognized in several ways, including her induction as a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation (2015); receipt of the Oliver Hill Civil Rights Leader award from the Richmond Chapter of the NAACP (2018), and recognition in Virginia Lawyers Weekly's first Class of Influential Women of Law (2019). As a dedicated public servant, Hudson was also appointed by former Governor Ralph Northam to Chair the Governor's Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in the Law and by former Governor Terry McAuliffe as Co-Chair of his Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She is also an appointee to the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary.

Cynthia has served as well on the governing boards of a number of nonprofit organizations including the Virginia Law Foundation, the Virginia Bar Association, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Hampton Roads, Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA, Transitions Family Violence Services, and Riverside Behavioral Health Center. Hudson received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her law degree from the College of William & Mary.

Leah Fremouw is a familiar face in the economic development community and has a rich background stemming from multiple sectors. She currently serves as Bridging Virginia’s President & CEO - a newly established community development loan fund. In this role, she partners with businesses, nonprofits, and localities in a variety of industries and growth stages to support their capital needs and movement to the next level. In 2020, she led the relaunch of the Richmond region’s small business development center (SBDC) and in 2021 helped secure $10 million from the General Assembly to establish and fund the new VA CDFI Fund. Additionally, Leah helped found and chairs the newly formed VA CDFI Coalition, a nonprofit established to be the voice for the CDFI industry in Virginia.

Prior to leading Bridging Virginia, Leah spent six years as SVP and Director of Community Innovation at Virginia Community Capital, a community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides loans and advisory services to communities in all regions of the Commonwealth. She led talent management and cultural initiatives for CarLotz, a fast-growing Richmond business, served as an organizational development consultant with the Performance Management Group at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and for three years worked in the Richmond’s public housing communities. 

Leah’s commitment to her community brings her out of the office and into initiatives moving the greater region and state forward. She sits on the board of the ChamberRVA, and is a member of Virginia Tech’s Center of Economic and Community Engagement Advisory Board. Leah launched a nationally known podcast, Renegade Capital in 2021, helped lead TEDxRVA from 2012-2017, and served as Chair for Impact 100 Richmond from 2014-2016, where she supported strategies to raise large grant funds for local nonprofits. Leah earned her Bachelor and Master degrees at VCU, where she was twice recognized as an L. Douglas Wilder Graduate Scholar (2008-2010). In 2019, Leah was a recipient of the VCU Top 10 Under 10 award and was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to the state-wide Growth and Opportunity Virginia (GO Virginia) Board. She was reappointed to the GO Virginia board in 2021 and will serve four more years.

Melody Joy Short has a long history of uplifting small businesses and entrepreneurs across Virginia and beyond. As Director of Business and Community Engagement, Melody leverages her expertise in business and brand development to support Bridging Virginia’s clients and partners.

Melody jump-started her career in the Urban Marketing Department of Sony Music Distribution. Her career in the music industry afforded her the opportunity to establish relationships with small business owners in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southwest markets. This proved pivotal to Melody’s career, because it’s where she developed a passion for supporting small business owners. As an entrepreneur and co-founder of the Richmond Night Market, she puts her passion into practice, supporting small business owners and independent artists with public relations, marketing, business development, and more.

Melody is the Co-Founder of The JWC Foundation and served as the former Director of Marketing & Communications at the Metropolitan Business League. She is also the former Director of Marketing and Business Development for the largest collection of Black-owned Inns in the United States, Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns and was featured as part of the cast of their television show, on the OWN Network, Checked Inn. Melody proudly serves on the board of the Afrikana Independent Film Festival, The Valentine Museum, ChamberRVA and CultureWorks. She is also a graduate of Morgan State University’s Earl Graves School of Business.

Melody balances all this while managing her most important role of all—mother to 15-year old Nia Abiose.

Abdulahi is an Economics major at the University of Richmond with a concentration in Finance and Data Analytics. Abdulahi has been on the universities’ Dean’s List since freshman year. He is also a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Societies.He has job experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Since January 2023 he has been working at MBL as a finance intern and mentor. In the summer of 2023 Abdulahi interned at Amref Health Africa as a finance intern. He has previously completed a rotational internship at Horra Real Estate in the Marketing, Finance, and Administration departments.

Abdulahi is interested in the financial services industry especially about investment banking. Consequently, to enhance his knowledge, he has been attending Business/Banking Bootcamps and Training the Street Workshops. He has passed the Excel competency Exam at the University of Richmond and has also received the Bloomberg Market Concepts certification.