Keynote Speaker and Author
Laurie Sayles
“I help promote entrepreneurship and wealth so they can focus on never giving up.”
Travels From: Maryland (outside Washington, DC)

About Laurie Sayles
Laurie Sayles formed Civility Management Solutions (CivilityMS) in 2012 as a professional consulting services firm working within the Government and Commercial space. CivilityMS is providing Project, Program, Financial and Grants Management; Training; Conference Logistics, Acquisition, Call Center and Administrative support. CivilityMS clients include Department of Defense, NASA, Department of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Department of Veteran Affairs, Government Accounting Office, Department of Transportation, State of Maryland and Baltimore County. CivilityMS is a certified Small Business Administration 8(a), Women Owned, and verified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business with an office in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone).
Meet Laurie- Change Agent
She was introduced to Federal Government Contracting in 2008, and immediately realized it was the ideal business to develop a legacy for herself and others. Laurie has always been an entrepreneur, beginning with baby-sitting, selling candy to the neighborhood kids, modeling professionally during High School in downtown Chicago, all before joining the United States Marine Corps.
Laurie’s seven years’ active duty in the Marine Corps increased her leadership, integrity, teamwork and persistence. She was tested as she earned the respect as a Woman, who is African American in a man’s world. Her Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was Maintenance Management and she served in Camp Lejeune, NC; Kaneohe Bay, HI and Cherry Point, NC. Laurie was highly regarded as a Woman Marine and was often called upon by superiors to mentor and train others. The importance of her job is best stated as “A Marine must be properly equipped to function at 110%,” as her demanding role was to push mechanics, technicians, armorers, etc., to maintain a 98% equipment readiness at all times.
Meet Laurie- Advocate
Laurie has become an outspoken advocate for Veteran’s as she has served on four Small Business Committee Hearings in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives regarding Veteran Entrepreneurship Training, SBA Reauthorization and parity within the statuses. Elected as the first Woman Veteran Officer on the Veteran Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force) Committee. She has been honored to speak on panels for Maryland Legislatures, Department of Veteran Affairs, DC PTAC, and many others. One major honor for her was being invited to the 2015 “Joining Forces” Women Veterans Day Luncheon with Mrs. Michelle Obama and the highest-ranking Veteran of the country, Vice President Joe Biden.
Meet Laurie- Thought Leader
Awarded Washington Business Journal “2020 Veterans in Business” award; 2019 Maryland Women Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year and VIB Network’s “Above and Beyond” award; 2018 CivilityMS selected as 1 of 100 Minority Businesses in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area, and “Compassionate Business Leader” due to her advocacy on behalf of Veterans business owners. CivilityMS participated in many pilot programs: Department of Veteran Affairs, OSBDU program for Women Service Disabled Veterans “VetBizLady”; Bowie University, BowieBic referred to as an 8(a) accelerator program for SBA certified 8(a) programs in Prince George’s County, MD; Baltimore, MD Cohort 1 Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Business Program with Babson Entrepreneurship Training at Johns Hopkins University. CivilityMS has received numerous awards during the past seven years of being established, and most recent is being #2504 in Inc 5000 list for 2020.
Laurie received her BS in Social Science and a Minor in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, along with a Business Project Management Certification from University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and has been accepted in UMGC Graduates Program and plans to return for MBA. Her advocacy work also includes Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), and Women Veteran Business Coalition (WVBC), which fights for policy changes for Women Owned Businesses. Lastly, Laurie is an author of her journey of moving through tough challenges, “As My Leaders Go … So Do I,” which has promoted women conferences for empowerment to survive and operates through the nonprofit R3 (Recognize, Repair and Repeat).
TOPICS:
- Government Contracting Entrepreneurship
- Serial Entrepreneurship – Looking For Your Team
- Focus On Being Wealthy – Not Spending
Testimonial
Being selected up to five times to be a witness on the Hill for Minorities, Women and Veterans entrepreneurs.