Martha Jimenez

Program Manager for Montgomery County

Martha Jimenez is the Program Manager for Montgomery County, including our successful retail business incubator, MWBC Shop Local located at Rockville Town Square. A native of Colombia with more than 30 years of experience in business administration, Martha has earned a reputation as an independent international consultant for various companies in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is passionate about helping others move toward the realization of their goals. Her open and energetic approach engages internal and external clients in proactive learning and stimulates their drive for growth and the team’s positive outcomes

Martha is bilingual and she holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an MBA in Management, and she is also certified in Project Management. She has a special interest in the literature about strategies, competencies, and strategic thinking skills.

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Karen Kalantzis

Senior Business Consultant for Frederick County

Karen Kalantzis is the Senior Business Consultant for Frederick County. She is an experienced small business community builder with a demonstrated history of supporting small business interests. Most recently, she was the Director, Community Programs for the Business Innovation Network, Montgomery County’s business incubator program where she created educational programming and provided business technical assistance to start-ups.

Prior to that, she worked for Montgomery County’s Department of Economic Development as a program manager for the Silver Spring and Wheaton Innovation Centers. She joined the local small business ecosystem after starting an IT company called Corporate Network Services in 1993 with her business partner. The company was a Maryland Certified Woman Owned Small Business, named to the Inc. 5000 fastest growing businesses list, and a winner of numerous Best Place to Work awards.

A native Chicagoan, Karen earned a Bachelor of Science from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University and an MBA from George Washington University. She is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery Core Class of 2018 and Leadership Frederick Class of 2023. On a personal note, Karen has four adult children, loves to travel to Europe and regularly visits our local beaches.

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Zeinna Estrada

Training and Events Coordinator

Zeinna Estrada is MWBC’s Training & Events Coordinator, who plans and executes programs that serve women entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout Maryland’s Capital Region. She is a born-and-raised Montgomery County local. Starting off in the restaurant industry at a young age, she learned the importance of curating exceptional experiences for her guests. After gaining customer service and hospitality skills, she switched gears and used that expertise to pursue an Administrative Assistant position, where she worked at a coworking space for small businesses. She was responsible for creating a community catering to entrepreneurs and providing a quality working environment for the members. During her time as an Admin, Zeinna evolved her graphic design skills by taking online courses at University of Maryland University College. With a few years of industry knowledge under her belt plus her passion for creativity, she was eventually offered a position in the marketing department. Zeinna learned valuable skills and tools that would eventually inspire her to begin freelance brand identity and design on the side. She has worked with many different types of small businesses, creating print and digital design assets. Zeinna is dedicated to using her aptitude to help other businesses thrive.

Outside of work, Zeinna’s hobbies include music, art, and spending time with her little family made up of two cats, a rescue dog, and her boyfriend (who is also a small business owner!).

Zeinna joined the MWBC team in March 2023. As a freelancer herself, she looks forward to contributing to the growth and success of women-owned businesses by organizing memorable training and events.

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