Alumni of Color Network Weekend
Celebrate the connections that build community.
Thank you for joining us for the fourth annual Alumni of Color Network Weekend, an annual tradition that celebrates the accomplishments of Fisher College of Business alumni and the diverse perspectives and experiences that unite all of us.
2024 Alumni of Color Award Winners
The Alumni of Color Awards provides us with an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments and positive impacts of the diverse leaders we are proud to call Fisher alumni.
The Alumni of Color Legacy Award recognizes Fisher alumni of color who have achieved excellence and recognition in their professional careers and have provided extraordinary service to their alma mater and their respective Black, Hispanic, Latinx and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) communities.
As the CEO of Walker and Company Brands, the makers of Bevel, Damon leads an innovative team dedicated to making health and beauty simple for people of color through solution-oriented products made with Black and Brown people in mind.
As the CIO of Procter & Gamble’s Global Beauty business, he leads the IT and digital capabilities for a portfolio of brands including Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Olay, SK-II, Secret and Old Spice. This includes driving digital and data strategy for all P&G Beauty brands and all end-to-end IT needs including AI, innovation and productivity opportunities.
Throughout his career, Damon has gained a broad depth of IT experiences including: leading DevOps for P&G’s sales, marketing, brand systems, initiative management and business intelligence systems; implementing P&G’s first ever global email system; leading the IT strategy for the coffee business; running P&G’s end user computing platforms and serving as the P&G India CIO.
Damon has been recognized in CIO Magazine India’s CIO 100 Winners in 2012, given the Professional Achievement Award by the Fisher College of Business in 2019 and been a member of Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) since 2015.
Damon holds a BSBA from Ohio State and currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife Karyn and two daughters. He serves on The Ohio State University Alumni Association Board of Governors and the Fisher College of Business Alumni Board.
Evangelina earned a BSBA in finance in 2000 from Ohio State and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati in 2020. She is a financial systems analyst at Constellation Insurance (previously Ohio National Financial Services), where her previous roles in investment accounting included investments operations, leading financial transformation projects, creating straight-through process improvements and new system implementation and deployment.
Before joining Ohio National Financial Services Evangelina worked in the investment department at the State Teachers Retirement Systems in Columbus, Ohio. She enjoys supporting her husband, Thomas Giron, with his small business and cheering on her two sons, Max and Thomas, during their sporting events.
Eric is a human resources manager at LG Chem Ohio Petrochemical, Inc. based in Ravenna, Ohio.
He held several HR leadership positions at Visteon Corporation, Eaton Corporation, Transtar Industries and Stanley Black & Decker before joining LG Chem in March 2023. Eric’s prior HR experiences in different industries has been instrumental in setting up LG Chem’s new manufacturing site in Ravenna for future growth and success.
Eric, a Hawaii native, holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from The University of Hawaii at Manoa, an MBA from The Ohio State University and a MEd from The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. As a graduate assistant at Fisher’s and Corporate and Community Outreach, Eric partnered with other students to create the Asian Business Student Association.
Eric has also served as a board member at the United Way of Portage County, Ohio and as a committee chair and den leader with Cub Scout Pack 3280.
In his spare time, Eric enjoys spending time with his family, wife, Holly, and two children, Reina and Kenton, traveling, building small projects with LEGO, and supporting the Ohio State football team.
The Alumni of Color Emerging Leader Award celebrates Fisher alumni of color of the last 15 years who have made early yet meaningful contributions to their profession and their alma mater, and their respective Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) communities.
Malia Funk is a founding member and Vice President of Willistown Capital, a private investment firm dedicated to partnering with businesses with a strong service ethos and vibrant culture. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, promoting diversity and inclusion, and advancing women's health.
Devin has worked at Google for the past six years in a variety of roles across People Operations, currently serving as the head of hiring equity for the Cloud, YouTube, Marketing, Data Science, Canada and LatAm Recruiting teams. She and her team work to ensure that equity, intentionality and accountability is built into every stage of the hiring process. Devin is also a co-lead of the NYC Chapter of the Black Googler Network.
Outside of work, Devin is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and she also sits on the boards of the Buckeye Leadership Fellows, AIMbassadors and CREATE for Education. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and loves live music, art, and finding new ways to build community.
Kevin D. Hollis of Lansing, Michigan, attended J.W. Sexton High School. He was a three-sport athlete and graduated as one of the top high school students in the state of Michigan. Kevin earned a full ride football scholarship to Tennessee State University (TSU) and graduated Magna Cum Laude in the spring of 2004.
After graduation, Kevin launched Brothers For Life, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization created to empower inner city youth to pursue academic excellence and be leaders in the community. Kevin attended The Ohio State University’s College of Medicine and Fisher College of Business. Dr. Hollis completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Dr. Hollis is currently a practicing anesthesiologist, CFO and co-founder of Anesthesiology Consultants of North Carolina in Greensboro.
Josh lives with passion, purpose and joy, striving to help others do the same. Grateful for the values instilled by his parents and grandparents, he leads his family, community and clients with these principles.
An accounting and finance leader, Josh began his career at Ernst and Young in Cleveland after graduating from The Ohio State University. In 2020, he joined The Siegfried Group, enhancing his skills and serving clients strategically. Now, as the Leadership Advisor and Associate Director, The Siegfried Group, he delivers innovative solutions through Talent Delivery Services.
In the community, Josh mentors others, enhancing their leadership capabilities. His involvement in his local church and organizations like Siegfried Youth Leadership, Junior Achievement, ALPFA and serving on the Fisher College of Business Alumni Board reflects his dedication to empowering others and fostering growth in his community.
The Thaddeus Spratlen Alumni of Color Distinguished Educator Award honors an educator who continues in the trailblazing footsteps of Dr. Spratlen, achieving great impact within academia and/or higher education.
Upon William’s retirement in 2020, the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington established the William Bradford Professorship, to be awarded to a faculty member concerned with diversity.
William served as the dean of the Foster School of Business and the Kirby Cramer Chair from 1994 to 1999 and was awarded the Endowed Professorship in Business and Economic Development in 2000 as a professor of finance and business economics , a position he held until retirement. His other roles included faculty director at the Consulting and Business Development Center and of the Minority Business Executive Program.
In 2020, with Alfred Osborne, professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business, he established the Bradford-Osborne Award, the first national recognition of scholarly research on businesses owned by people of color.
William holds a BA in economics from Howard University and an MBA in finance and PhD in finance and economics from Ohio State.
He serves as a consultant to numerous firms and conducts international lectureships in corporate finance and entrepreneurship in the UK, Indonesia, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, South Korea, Canada, China and South Africa and serves on the board of directors and board of advisors of the Commerce Bank in Seattle, Washington.
William has authored or co-authored three books and more than 75 articles on finance during his career and was inducted into the Minority Business Hall of Fame in 2013.
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