Aleta Grimes
Director of the new Center For Entrepreneurship at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc
Aleta Grimes Mitchell brings leadership and improved communication to any business venture. She is an expert in sales, project management, special events planning, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), fundraising and development, and an award-winning visionary with strategic solutions and a big-picture orientation. As the Director of the new Center For Entrepreneurship at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc., Grimes Mitchell will help the underserved in Metro St. Louis launch and grow successful and sustainable businesses. She will guide successful applicants through business launch into business profitability. The St. Louis Entrepreneurship Center is the 13th established by the National Urban League to bring jobs and wealth-building programs to underserved communities across the country. Launching successful start-ups is a part of Grimes Mitchell’s portfolio of experiences. She guided Senior Executives at Sprint Telecommunications Corporation to invest, develop and implement new initiatives in their companywide Employee Resource Groups Diversity Inclusion Program. As Program President, her team delivered an award-winning, on-time/on-budget program, supporting more than 120K associates. Scorecard measure included 80% over goal improving Diversity Supplier spend and achieving overall Inclusion index of 600% over previous year’s score. She launched Sprint’s Supply Chain Management’s first time “Balance of Trade” Program, (Reciprocal Business) helping Sprint to achieve $5 Billion over 3 years. She designed a strategic sales plan for a salesforce of more than 5,000 Sales Associates. Grimes Mitchell earned the “President’s Club Award” for the top 1% of sales in the country. Grimes Mitchell completed the Directors’ Leadership Development Program. Grimes-Mitchell also designed, managed, and launched the Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business in Missouri’s Department of Economic Development, under the administrations of Governors John Ashcroft and Mel Carnahan. As a member of the team that launched the Missouri Lottery, she also performed market analysis and trained retail merchants across the state. She is a motivational, energetic contributor, able to tap into the potential of existing employees to create collaborative, results-driven environments. For various phone and wireless companies, Grimes Mitchell has designed and implemented improvements that aligned with overall business strategy, including recruiting, training, sales, and marketing