Widely recognized as The Digital Diplomat™, Wendy Ekua (W.E.) Da’Cruz promotes the adoption of digitalization to help drive economic development. Awarded the 2021 Minority eCommerce Firm of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA, she is the cofounder of the Virtual Global Consultant (VGC) Group, a global IT company helps entrepreneurs, companies, and organizations adopt digitalization to access new revenue and value-producing opportunities.Through the use of digital tools and technologies, she and her partner Dr. Naomi Cook are responsible for helping to generate millions of dollars a year in at-will donations and business sales for VGC clients, with focusing on US and African-based companies. As an internationally recognized tech expert & thought leader in her field, she’s been invited to speak at high-level events, such as the US-Africa Business Summit (Mozambique), World Export Development Forum (Ethiopia), Africa Fintech Summit 2019 (Ethiopia), and DHL eCommerce Conference (Ghana). As a U.S. Embassy Speaker, she has led a masterclass for the Academy of African Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and an in-person training for the U.S. Embassy Pretoria, Zimbabwe and Kuwait – to name a few.Appointed by the White House’s US Secretary of Commercial Services to the District Export Council in eastern Michigan and At-Large Board Member for the national association, she continues to promote global entrepreneurship worldwide. Most recently, she was selected as part of the 2023 U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) Next Generation (Next Gen) Global Leaders Network and is a member of USGLC’s State Advisory Committee; and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture appointed her to serve on the Agriculture Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Processed Foods.As an International Consultant, she has developed and delivered an online training course on technology and innovation for African businesses in addressing the impact of COVID-19 for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.She launched The Mushroom Angel Company with her husband during the pandemic. They produce whole foods made from mushrooms. Their first product, Cruz Burgers, is currently available in more than 120+ locations across the Midwest region (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Illinois). Her new food-tech experiences will support agribusinesses & consumer packaged goods in the US & Africa. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Ghanaian-American New Jersey native is a wife & mother of three currently in Detroit, Michigan.