Integrative Management Solutions Expands to Serve Entrepreneurs Nationwide

When Integrative Management Solutions (IMS) first appeared in our database in 2022, founder Dr. Drena Valentine was fresh out of a role as Interim Executive Director with the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce. She was on the threshold of a transformative partnership with the Montgomery County Black Collective to launch the first cohort of the AMBER Fellows Program (All Businesses Excelling in Real-Time), a 14-week intensive designed to put MoCo-based minority, female, and disabled (MFD) businesses onto the path for operational excellence. In 2022, Dr. Valentine was the program’s first coach, and her proprietary assessment tool was a pillar of its design. 

“I developed the framework for AMBER,” she reflects, “and I coached that first group of entrepreneurs through it.” The proprietary IMS assessment she created — Insight for Operational Excellence — set the program apart from others in the community.

That early role has since evolved into a much larger vision.

Even as AMBER has moved on to serve more seasoned (but still early-stage) businesses, Dr. Valentine’s influence continues. She’s one of the coaches in the Collective’s new AMBER Ready Program: “I like to say I’m aligned with AMBER’s mission in an emeritus sense,” she explains. “They’re still using my framework, and I’m still supporting their alumni as well as a new class of startups.”

Operational Excellence at the Core

The success of the AMBER program led to the piloting of a second program, the Master CEO Series, through a collaboration with Prince George’s County-based FSC First. Unlike the Montgomery County-focused version of AMBER, this version was designed to scale — it was not tied to county-specific resources and supported 7-figure businesses. 

Meanwhile, IMS has its eye on its own national expansion.

IMS’s latest venture marks another step forward: The Executive: Thriving Beyond Millions. This new accelerator builds on her experience with AMBER and The Master CEO Series but sets its sights on entrepreneurs preparing for significant growth.

“This program is about moving beyond survival and even beyond six-figure revenue,” she says. “It’s about helping executives drive their companies into the millions — and doing it with the operational excellence that makes the growth sustainable.”

Whether working with startups or scaling firms, IMS’s proprietary assessment continues to shine a light on often overlooked requirements for business health. “It’s not trending, not sexy,” Dr. Valentine notes, “but these blind spots can hurt a business. Failing to understand what is necessary to run a business efficiently and effectively can cause the business harm.”

The tool is paired with executive coaching and hands-on education in areas like HR compliance, intellectual property, and integrating processes. For every program she designs, the measure of success is simple: participants leave with stronger systems than they came in with.

New Initiatives for IMS

IMS will launch a new cohort of The Executive: Thriving Beyond Millions accelerator on September 24, 2025, and it will run for 12 weeks, through December 17. Applications are open through September 19, with an informational session on September 10th at 12:00 pm. This launch represents the next stage of IMS’s national expansion — reflecting Dr. Valentine’s ongoing commitment to helping entrepreneurs institutionalize best practices and scale with confidence. 

This free, industry-agnostic program focuses 100% on operations. It avoids topics that are well-covered by other accelerator programs (e.g., access to capital, marketing). This program requires each business to work on its own operations in real time.

So, from Montgomery County roots to a national platform, IMS’s mission has stayed consistent: equipping entrepreneurs with the operational excellence they need not just to survive, but to thrive.