About

Rasul Sha'ir

Founder and CEO

As the son of a Panamanian immigrant and a former FBI agent turned Las Vegas entrepreneur, Rasul learned early in life how diversity nurtures and fuels creativity. As a design thinker, blogger, and music enthusiast, Rasul's focus is on developing narratives around business, technology and culture, and how to help communities weave together stories that help them thrive in a global marketplace. Having work and travel experiences in over 30 cities in the US and 15 countries across the world, Rasul brings a unique perspective to the table.

Graduating with an architecture degree from Prairie View A&M University Rasul decided to explore how communities form and grow by joining the Peace Corps in post-apartheid Southern Africa. Based in Namibia, he organized multi-country diversity conferences for the region. He then leveraged this experience to help develop recruiting and marketing strategies for Peace Corps programs in 136 countries across the world.

Since 2007, he has helped develop digital products and marketing initiatives for Fortune 100 companies such as Verizon, Wal-Mart, Sony, AllState, and Kaiser Permanente, and for the R&D division of KDDI, Japan’s second largest telecommunications company. In 2010 he founded TEDxWDC, as a vehicle to help drive more productive conversations around creativity, innovation and shared narratives in the Washington D.C. region.

Rasul ultimately sees huge potential in viewing ‘community’ through a 21^st Century lens, and realizing the economic energy communities can generate in a networked economy.

Jamal Williams

Partner/Director - Innovation Strategies

As a partner Jamal primarily focuses on business development & sustainable growth strategies.  When it comes to creating breakthrough thinking, Jamal transforms creative ideas into innovation like a conductor turning instrument players into a symphony. With a multi-disciplinary background in architectural design, management and business development, Jamal has over 15 years of experience with bringing ideas to life, developing them and ensuring that they flourish.

For his whole career Jamal has always asked the question: what does an organization want to be and why? Hence his natural affinity for brand strategy. With the proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s business, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, Jamal’s expertise in enhancing competitiveness, increasing revenues, and expanding company growth are unparalleled.

Jamal's business expertise cross multiple areas: context, language, environment, economics, design, and scale to name just a few. His unique ability to synthesize these ideas, helps position organizations in the ideal place for optimum decision making. His ability to manage these varying arenas allows Cnvrgnc to also think in terms of vertical & horizontal integration. This allows Cnvrgnc to occupy an even more unique space in the marketplace.