Sonia Clayton is invited to join the DeVry University Board
October 2006
HOUSTON – The DeVry University Industry Advisory Board is comprised of leading HR and technology visionaries who can help drive and deploy new product strategies and solutions, while developing the new vision to bring up to date several changes in the Business Degree programs. The main goal of DeVry University Industry Advisory Board is to obtain valuable input on DeVry’s program offerings from Industry leaders such Sonia Clayton, President and CEO of Virtual Intelligence Providers, LLC (VIP).
Sonia Clayton formed Virtual Intelligence Providers (VIP) in October 2001, fulfilling a lifetime goal of having her own business. VIP is an international IT / ERP solutions company, offering a cafeteria style menu of service options that include SAP end user training and documentation, e-learning and IT solutions. In its first year of business, VIP gained 14 clients to include large oil & gas corporations such as Marathon Oil, Pennzoil-Quaker State, Shell Oil, Continental Airlines, CEMEX, Huntsman Chemical Corporation and others. VIP’s most recent product is the SAP-VIP 5.0 LMS platform. VIP has also developed several human resource, talent and learning management portals for clients in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Today VIP serves over 70 Corporations around the globe.
Sonia’s background includes more than 15 years of expertise in the human resources, IT and e-learning. Prior to forming VIP, Sonia held management and director positions in Several consulting firms. She was also responsible for developing the Latin America divisions of three Houston based consulting firms. As a former International Manager for Continental Airlines, she was responsible for the business development and International HR strategies of Continental Airlines in South America, playing a key role in the carrier’s expansion into Bogotá- Colombia, Lima-Peru, Caracas-Venezuela, Sao Paulo-Brazil, Rio de Janeiro-Brazil and Santiago-Chile. During her time at Continental Airlines she also served as a Regional Manager of HRIS and Corporate Security. Her dedication and broad knowledge of the airline industry safety, security and intelligence standards has been recognized and brought her awards on several occasions.
Sonia has received honorable mentions from US Department of Justice, US Department of Treasury and the American Red Cross. In recent events Sonia and VIP have been the recipients of the HMBC E-10 Award, Top Minority Business 2005, and the “One Amazing Woman Nomination” (November 2005) by the National Association of Woman Business Owners (NAWBO). She speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and French fluently; as a result, VIP has established an impressive line of International Corporate Relationships that have taken VIP in a Global Spin.
Sonia is a faithful supporter of higher education programs, often being invited as a lecturer for the University of Houston, Cyfair College of Houston, Stanford University, University of Calgary and University of Hawaii. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee Board of the ITT Technical Institute and now DeVry University of Houston. Sonia is also the founder of the Alba Alicia Navarro Fund and Angels for Soldiers, two non-profit organizations dedicated to providing assistance to Liver Cancer patients in Latin America and Returning soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively.