Reggie L. Barnett, Treasurer, most recently served as president and owner of WRN Inc., a provider of business telecommunications networking solutions. He was previously a senior executive at IBM. Barnett holds a law degree and an MBA from Duke University and an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame. He is a resident of Bloomfield Hills.
Felipe Sahb Furtado, MD, is currently completing his MBA at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and will join McKinsey & Company as an associate in Detroit later this year.
Furtado previously conducted research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, publishing multiple highly cited papers in cancer imaging and medical innovation. He has also led digital health and AI initiatives in Brazil and has been actively involved with UEI’s research collaboration with McKinsey on the Urban Innovator Platform.
Fred Elliott Hall, Vice-President, is concurrently president of H&P Protective Services and owner of NovaTech Computer Services, Inc. In addition to serving as UEI’s vice-president, Hall heads the board’s development committee. He is an entrepreneur, community servant, and lifelong Detroit resident whose commitment and connections to the city remain strong.
Karen Lopez, Secretary, has a private law practice in Flint. She previously served as Vice President for External Affairs & Governance for Hurley Medical Center and Chief Legal Officer for the City of Flint. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from Michigan State University and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She is a Flint native and current resident.
Lisa Prasad is the Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Henry Ford Health (HFH) in Detroit, Michigan, where she leads strategic innovation initiatives, industry collaborations, and commercialization efforts designed to advance healthcare solutions. As driving force behind the HFH + Michigan State University Innovation Hub and one of the directors of the Innovation Fund, Lisa fosters collaborations that translate promising research and emerging technologies into practical applications. Her work has earned national recognition, including being named one of Modern Healthcare’s Top Innovators for 2025.
Leslie Lynn Smith serves as President and CEO of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation and is widely recognized as a national leader in community and economic development. Over the course of her career she has led major entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives, including serving as President and CEO of TechTown Detroit and as founding President and CEO of Epicenter Memphis. Smith has raised more than $75 million to support entrepreneurial ecosystems and economic development initiatives and has served on numerous national boards supporting entrepreneurship and economic mobility.
W. David Tarver, UEI board president, is a Flint, Michigan native who holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and also lectures in the U-M Center for Entrepreneurship. Tarver worked as an engineering manager at AT&T Bell Laboratories before founding the telecommunications instrumentation company Telecom Analysis Systems, which he sold in 1995. Tarver founded UEI in 2014.