Alumni Success Stories

Octavia Taylor Jackson (BA ’93 and MA ’03) is set on a new path as an entrepreneur. In August 2009, she will open up Your Educational Supplies and Scholastic Services (Y.E.S.S.S.), a company that will have a retail division that will sell school uniforms and an IT consulting division. Jackson, a graduate of the University’s School of Business and Public Administration, honed her skills while serving most recently as a Senior Vice President at a non-profit organization that emphasized literacy for all children and at the Library of Congress, where she advanced the Library’s technological services. Jackson has been an active alumna as well. She served on the SBPA Dean’s Search Committee in 2007 and on the University’s Strategic Planning Committee (2005-2006). Jackson served as Mistress of Ceremonies for a number of alumni homecoming affairs and presented her findings for an Alumni Hall of Fame to an alumni advisory board. For her commitment and excellence in her work, she has received several federal government Cash Awards, and was Employee of the Year at Black Entertainment Television in 1997. For more information on Jackson’s new company, go to www.theyesss.com.

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Donald E. Watson (BBA ’95) knows about the financial assistance HBCUs need from both a personal and professional perspective. As a University of the District of Columbia graduate, Watson has a vantage point of knowing the struggles of an HBCU—his alma mater. And, as the Executive Director of the HBCU Capital Financing Program at the Department of Education, Watson gets to put skills and knowledge together to help the Capital Financing Program fulfill its mission of providing low-cost capital to finance or refinance the repair, renovation, and construction of education related facilities and physical infrastructure to support HBCUs. There is currently $450 million available for new loans with about $289 million available for private HBCUs and about $262 million available for public HBCUs.
Watson says that he is “responsible for approving the loan applications, managing the administration of the loan program, creating policies for the loan servicing and program administration, as well as overseeing construction monitoring.”

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University of the District of Columbia alumnus Kevin Broadus (M.A. ’97) recently received a two-year extension as Binghamton University’s men’s basketball coach, which gives him a contract that goes through the 2013-14 season. Broadus guided the Bearcats to the America East Conference championship and to their first NCAA appearance in the program’s history. Last season was his second at Binghamton and he was named the America East Conference Coach of the Year. At that time, he coached the Bearcats to a 23-9 record and both the America East regular-season and tournament titles.
Broadus says modestly that he received calls from “a few schools” after this season but feels that BU is a great place for him. He says that his learning on the job and that he is getting better.

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Suzanne Mayo-Theus (University of the District of Columbia, M.S. ’84) is known as a dynamic motivational speaker, innovative thinker, and expert fund-raiser across the United States and particularly at the College of Education at Kansas State University where she lectures and serves as the Graduate Coordinator of The K-State Student Saves Campaign. She has traveled extensively as a speaker and consultant on subjects of diversity, college success, leadership, organizational effectiveness, mentoring, fundraising, and more. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in her home state of Louisiana, Mayo-Theus organized efforts for student and corporate support to aid victims of the hurricane. Always looking ahead, she is pursuing her Ph.D. degree at Kansas State University.

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A master planner and builder, Dr. Portia Holmes Shields’ impact on the landscape of Albany State University, where she served as President for eight years, will be felt for decades to come. When Shields took the post in 1996, she faced the formidable challenge of rebuilding a campus that had been almost destroyed by a flood two years earlier. Shields successfully spearheaded a $153 million rebuilding program that culminated in a $7 million athletic stadium; an academic building that houses the academic administration, laboratories, an auditorium, and classrooms; a Physical Education Building; a new Dining Hall; and a state-of-the-art central energy plant. Shields was the keynote speaker at the University’s Annual Founders’ Day Convocation in 2009 and received its coveted Dr. Marjorie Holloman Parker Distinguished Educator’s Award. In April 2009, she was honored at the NAFEO Conference as a Distinguished Alumna.

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A challenge is not an obstacle according to Joyce A. Washington (Federal City College, B.S. ’75), and so she tackles teaching at the Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York while pursuing an Ed.D. Degree in Instructional Technology and Distance Learning from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Washington says that her work ethnic was instilled in her not only by her parents, but also by her professors at FCC when she was a student. Her aim is to pass those lessons on to her business management students today. “I tell them that in order to succeed, you must have a goal and that you must work hard every day toward that goal.” Also, like those who worked with her in-and-out of the classroom years ago, Washington, too, seeks to establish a rapport with her students on both academic and other life issues. She is a member of The National Business Education Association, serves on the Board of Directors for Miracle Way Bible College, and on several professional committees at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

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Valerie Curtis honed her athletic skills at the University of the District of Columbia, where she received a B.A. in ‘96 and an M.S. in 98. Now those skills on the basketball court—and in life—have brought her to Georgia Court University in New Jersey where she’s marked her second season as coach of the women’s basketball team. Curtis came to GCU via Lock haven University of PA, where she coached the Lady Eagles for three seasons. She coached the Lady Eagles to the third most improved team in the nation in 2005 with a record of 17-9. That season was the first winning season for Lock Haven in a decade. Curtis has a winning attitude coupled with perseverance and an eye that’s always focused on the prize. She was among the 2009 National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education’s (NAFEO) Distinguished Alumni Awardees honored at NAFEO’s Annual Conference in April 2009.

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