Sonia Clayton - Top 30 Influential Women of Houston

Sonia Clayton is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. She is also best known as the Founder, President and CEO of Virtual Intelligence Providers, LLC (VIP); a recipient of 25 awards of excellence since inception to date, including White House and state recognition. Sonia was born in Colombia and raised in Venezuela and Brazil. She studied business administration in Venezuela and arrived in the U.S. in 1984 with five dollars in her pocket. She married Kirk Clayton, a Computer Engineer, and became the mother of two children: Aaron, a U.S. Navy Pilot, and Leica, a senior in the Fine Arts Program at Brigham Young University. Sonia’s background includes 22 years of experience in Human Resources and Information Systems management, ERP Systems Integration, Training and e-Learning platforms. She has visited and conducted business in more than 50 countries and speaks four different languages. Sonia is a co-author of “Corporate Bold,” a multi- year project now published on Amazon. com. Corporate Bold outlines a strategy for business-corporate success and it is now a New York Best Seller. After 10 years in the Airline Industry, in 2001, and just two weeks after 9-11, Sonia created VIP (Virtual Intelligence Providers, LLC) in an effort to help all of her former employees and colleagues who had lost their jobs due to the economic downturn that followed those tragic days. Today, VIP is a global consulting firm serving more than 100 corporations with a large international footprint in five continents. VIP is a Business

Technology Service Provider specializing in IT Project Management, Organizational Change Management, SAP Business Process Documentation, Corporate Training, Technical writing, e Learning and Staff Augmentation. VIP and Sonia recently made history when they became the selected small business partner to join the Lone Star College of Texas, creating the first accredited- comprehensive corporate and blue collar- training model with philanthropic benefits for LSCS-UP students and targeting the Oil and Gas industry. Sonia gives generously to the community; she has created and benefits three nonprofit organizations: The VIP Education Foundation; The VIP Cancer Foundation; and The Angels for Soldiers Fund.