Robert Bond is a leading national authority on the exceedingly complex franchise industry. As the founder and president of Source Book Publications, located in Oakland, California, his sole focus for the past 12 years has been the dissemination of timely and in-depth information on franchising through books, websites and databases. Source Book Publications currently has five websites and eight publications on the subject of franchising, including Bond's Franchising Guide (16 editions), considered by many to be "the industry bible."

Recognizing the need for a national forum to address the under-representation of minorities in the U.S. franchising community, Bond created the National Minority Franchising Initiative in 1999. The 2000 program included publishing the first edition of The Minority Franchise Guide, developing this website and putting on seven seminars on minority franchising.

Since receiving his MBA from Stanford Business School, Bond demonstrated an extraordinary record of achievements in several Fortune 500 companies, real estate development and consulting. As an author, lecturer and consultant, he is regarded as one of the franchise industry's most knowledgeable and widely-quoted spokesmen.

C. Everett Wallace is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of franchise development, housing and small business finance and community economic development. Over the past decade, Mr. Wallace has been instrumental in establishing several of the nation’s largest minority businesses in the areas of franchising and product distribution. He has successfully developed national programs, initiatives and tools using franchise systems as a tool to build wealth and revitalize underserved communities.

He is the Co-founder of the National Minority Franchise Initiative and currently serves as Chairman of the Minorities in Franchising Committee of the International Franchise Association (IFA) and on the Board of Trustees for the IFA Educational Foundation. He has served on numerous local and national boards. He is a frequently requested public speaker and has been sited in many publications for his expertise in franchising, business formation, finance and economic development. Mr. Wallace writes a feature column on franchising for Turning Point Magazine and he has written numerous articles for national publications like, USA Today, Black Enterprise, Franchising World, and Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Wallace received his JD with honors in Taxation and Corporate Law from Northwestern University and completed his formal legal education in the LLM Program at the University of Chicago School of Law (Taxation). He has served in a number of senior positions in the federal government including: General Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Senior Legislative Assistant to the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Counsel and Analyst for the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and Head of Transition and Chief of Staff for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Wallace's record in the private sector has been equally impressive. His business experience includes the ownership and operation of one of the nations' top 20 minority owned companies. He has also held business interests have been in the areas of: computer software, telecommunications, real estate development and the specialty retail business. Mr. Wallace's business acumen and civic contributions have been acknowledged in a variety of national and local publications including: Crains' Chicago Business, list of "Who's Who in Chicago Business" and "Chicago's Top Minority-Owned Businesses", Black Enterprise magazine's "Top 100 Black Businesses", and the 43rd edition of Who's Who in America.

In 1998, at the request of the Governor of the State of Tennessee, he relocated to Nashville, to design and implement a new statewide collaborative program – Tennessee’s Strategically Targeted Area Redevelopment (TN-STAR). TN-STAR was designed to improve systems integration and service delivery between various departments of state government and the four (4) largest population centers in Tennessee. The program results in measurable improvement in the interaction between these entities and brought in more than $70 million in addition federal money over a 3-year period.

As President of Wallace Enterprises, he has amassed an impressive list of clients included: American Bankers Association, Countrywide Mortgage, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, G.E. Capital Mortgage Corporation, International Franchising Association National Association of Investment Companies, National Bankers Association, National Congress for Community Economic Development and many local and state governments and agencies.