Our People
Terald L. Melton, Managing Director
Mr. Melton founded Ivy Ridge Capital Consulting, Inc. (predecessor to Sterling Gabriel, Inc.) in the Spring of 2004 after concluding an extensive and productive career in commercial and corporate banking with First Union National Bank.; NationsBank; Wachovia Bank. and Branch Banking and Trust Company. Mr. Melton, during his career, managed commercial, corporate, residential and commercial real estate portfolios in excess of $100 Million. He now manages the day-to-day business development and operations of Sterling Gabriel, Inc.
He received his Master’s in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance and General Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Accounting from the Bryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina. Mr. Melton received a certificate from the University of Shopping Centers on the campus of the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a certificate on ‘Dealing with an Angry Public’, a Program on Negotiation, at Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Melton is active with several local and regional community and educational Boards. Mr. Melton is also approved as a Part-time Instructor in the Department of Finance at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Mr. Melton either serves or has served as a Director / Member for the following organizations: Minority Alumni Advisory Council, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; International Academy of Smyrna, Smyrna, Georgia; Alumni Association at UNC-Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina; UNC-Greensboro Excellence Foundation, Greensboro, North Carolina..
He lives in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia and is married and has 4 children. Mr. Melton enjoys tennis, golf, cooking, traveling and spending time with his family.
Shaka Singleton, Director – Business Consulting & Strategy
Mr. Singleton has been a business consultant and strategy specialist for 15 years. He has a proven record of initiating and sustaining process improvement initiatives resulting in over $100MM in savings, implementing large-scale international projects, and understanding IT infrastructure and managing its relationship to business. Mr. Singleton has extensive experience in training, process documentation, executive presentation, developing strategy and transformation roadmaps/change management, business value creation and process improvement, and project management to include governance and reporting. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB). His previous clients include CARE Inc., Cox Communications, American Express Cards, Caterpillar, and Tyco-Kendall Healthcare.
Mr. Singleton received his Master’s in Business Administration from Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in Durham, NC in 2013. He received his Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC in 2007. His relevant application skills include SharePoint, MiniTab, Jira, Basecamp, TeamworkPM, Microstrategy, HP PPM, Troux, Visio, and Microsoft Office.
Nicole S. Dennis, Business Consultant – Change Management
Mrs. Dennis is a Change Management and Process Improvement leader with over 13 years of experience, who focuses on business transformation through the use of change management tools and methodologies, employee and customer engagement, performance metrics, and process redesign. Mrs. Dennis currently works with corporate customers to mitigate risks associated with organizational change initiatives.
In addition to her extensive Change Management experience, she works with business leaders to create and implement their organizational strategies. In order to provide the best opportunity for success, she develops supportive communication and training strategies to ensure alignment across the business.
Previously, Mrs. Dennis was a Business Lead with Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. She began at Turner in 2003 as a Financial Analyst and later served as an Organizational Performance Analyst and as Senior Organizational Specialist. Mrs. Dennis also has experience in training and development and leadership coaching.
Mrs. Dennis has received certifications in Change Management through the Association for Talent Development. She is also certified as a Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence through the American Society for Quality and IT Infrastructure Library through ITIL Foundations. Her other IT certifications include A+, Microsoft Certified Professional, and Cisco Certified Network Associate.
Gerald L. Melton, Business Consultant – Lean Manufacturing
Mr. Melton is a Continuous Improvement Manager with more than 18 years in high and low manufacturing environments providing efficient and effective leadership for plant operations in aerospace, defense, machining, plastic injection molding, semiconductor, test & assembly, and oil & gas industries.
Mr. Melton has significant experience optimizing Value Streams and as a Lean Six Sigma Champion and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Trained, he has instilled a Lean vision and philosophy across all plant operations, encompassing 5S, Kaizen, and CI events that optimized value streams, delivered cost avoidance, reduced cycle times, and improved quality. In addition, he has a reputation for meticulous attention to detail, solution-orientation, and data-driven approach to decision-making. Mr. Melton has versatile manufacturing experience. As a manufacturing plant leader he has experience spanning production, engineering, safety, quality, maintenance, facilities, and training.
Before most recently serving as a Materials Manager of Space & Intelligence Systems for Harris Corporation in Palm Bay, FL; Value Stream Manager of Machined Plastics & Seals for Greene, Tweed & Company in Houston, TX; Sr. Production Group Leader of the Directional Lab for the Halliburton Corporation in Houston, TX; Production Manager of Commercial Systems for United Technologies Aerospace (formerly Rockwell Collins, Inc.) in Melbourne, FL; and, Engineering Technician Supervisor of QORVO (formerly RFMD) in Greensboro, NC.
He received his Bachelors of Science in Business Management from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, in 2006. He also received Lean Champion certification in 2011 and Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Trained in 2014.