About

The Black Alumni Council (BAC) is the officially recognized affinity organization and shared interest group within the Georgetown University Alumni Association that supports and engages current and future generations of Black Georgetown alumni.

The BAC is dedicated to inclusion, engagement, and outreach for all Black alumni of Georgetown. While the university will continue to celebrate and honor Black history month, it is important to the Alumni Association that commemorations and celebrations are no longer reduced to one month a year. The BAC is the group that aims to promote the interests and give voices to Black alumni, further strengthening relationships with the university and fostering a spirit of connectivity.

Our goal is to encourage more Black alumni to return to the Hilltop and re-engage with the university in ongoing efforts, including support of the Patrick Healy Fund and Dinner, Black Alumni Summit, Soul Hoya Reunion Weekend, John Carroll Weekend, and other Georgetown University Black Alumni Council initiatives.

Patrick Healy Dinner Committee

Coordinates preparations for the annual Patrick Healy Dinner, in partnership with the University’s Office of Advancement. Through the Patrick Healy Dinner, the Committee enhances the BAC’s efforts to recognize the accomplishments of Georgetown’s Black alumni, faculty, staff, and students. In
addition to supporting planning for the dinner, the committee is responsible for leading the BAC’s outreach and sponsorship efforts to widen the event’s reach each year. Proceeds from the dinner support the Patrick Healy Scholarship, which promotes diversity at Georgetown by providing assistance to students who have demonstrated financial need for scholarship aid.

Co-chairs: Marguerita Brunson Sims (C’91) and Willie Tate (B’94)

Black Alumni Summit Committee

Plans and manages the biennial Black Alumni Summit, in partnership with the University’s Office of Advancement, for the purpose of celebrating the professional and personal achievements of the diverse and accomplished Georgetown Black alumni community. The Summit brings Black alumni from across the globe, classes, schools, eras, professions, and walks of life back to the Hilltop to reconnect with each other and with the University.

Co-chairs: Eric Woods (B’91) and Mannone Butler (B’94, L’99)

Soul Hoya Committee

Plans and manages the annual Soul Hoya Reunion and GU Homecoming events for the purpose of fostering social camaraderie and community service, and generating financial support for current Georgetown Students. The Soul Hoya Committee works to encourage more Black alumni to return to the Hilltop for Georgetown Reunion and Homecoming Weekends and, ultimately, get re-engaged with the University in ongoing efforts, including support of the Patrick Healy GU Endowed Scholarship/Patrick Healy Dinner, Black Alumni Summit, John Carroll Weekend, and other BAC initiatives.

Co-chairs: Winoka Wendy Wilkes (SFS’91) and Keith Dent (B’89)

We Are Georgetown: Celebrating Our Black History Committee

Through storytelling and first-hand accounts, We Are Georgetown documents the history of the Black experience at Georgetown, leveraging oral histories, artifacts, and memorabilia. The project’s initial focus is on the stories of Black students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others from the 1960s to the present. The project aims to represent an intergenerational portrait of our narrative, spanning across the University’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools.

Co-chairs: Michael C. Ford (L’84) and Fonda Sutton (SFS’87, L’95, G’15)

Faculty, Staff, and Curriculum Committee

Serves as a catalyst for diverse and inclusive scholarship, by encouraging the faculty of the University to develop and sustain a diverse and rigorous academic environment and curriculum across disciplines. The committee seeks to provide support to academic and administrative staff around issues related to a diverse student body and the interests of students of color.

Chair: O. Felix Obi (MPM’11)

Admissions and Financial Aid Committee

Works in conjunction with the overall University admissions and financial aid offices on the Main Campus, Law Center, and Medical Center, to ensure that the admissions and financial aid processes yield a socially, culturally, and economically diverse population in order to provide world-class access and opportunity.

Chair: Chris Perkins (B’94)

Student Life Committee

Exchanges ideas amongst schools and units, including the Center for Multicultural Equity & Access, to identify opportunities to increase visibility and involvement of alumni with students across the University Community.

Co-chairs: Ky Adderley (C’98, SCS’01) and Ashley Hodges (L’14)

Nominations and Awards Committee

Responsible for selecting candidates for election to the Black Alumni Council Board of Advisors and makes recommendations to the Board of Black alumni candidates for any and all awards bestowed on alumni by the
Georgetown University Alumni Association. The committee reviews the awards structure of the BAC and makes recommendations to the Board of Advisors regarding how best to recognize and celebrate excellence, service,
and professional accomplishment within the Georgetown Black community.

Chair: Nigel Scott (C’95)

Philanthropy Committee

Devises ways to encourage philanthropy among Black alumni, drive strategy, provide thought leadership, and recommend to the Board of Advisors ways to celebrate the success of the BAC culture of philanthropy throughout all program areas and functions, supporting the fundraising priorities of the BAC. This committee is charged with facilitating the ability of the BAC to support the fundraising priorities of Georgetown University.

Over the years, Black alumni of Georgetown have engaged with the university and each other in a variety of ways. Three tentpole events have served as the focus of this engagement: the Patrick Healy Dinner, Soul Hoya Reunion Weekend, and the Black Alumni Summit. Through the years, these events have grown in number and impact, which created the critical mass to embark on a new and exciting journey.

In January 2020, a group of Black alumni leaders, including the leadership of the Georgetown University African American Advisory Board (GUAAAB), the Black Alumni Summit (BAS), the Soul Hoya Alumni Group (Soul Hoyas), as well as other Black alumni engaged at the leadership level in various aspects of the university, convened to discuss the current status—and consider the future—of Black alumni engagement at Georgetown University. In partnership with Julia Farr (C’88, Parent’19, ’21, ’24), executive director of the Georgetown University Alumni Association (GUAA), Black alumni leaders endeavored to consolidate resources in an unprecedented effort to provide meaningful and effective support for enhancing the empowerment and engagement of Black alumni.

In July 2022, the BAC will launch with the alumni leaders of the three tentpole events spearheading the development of this first-ever affinity group within the Georgetown University Alumni Association.

Mannone A. Butler (B’94, L’99)

Tyree P. Jones, Jr. (L’86, Parent’21)

Gail Gillis-Louis (C’75)

Conan N. Louis (I’73, MS’78, L’86)

Tammee Thompson (C’91)

Winoka Wendy Wilkes (SFS’91)

Eric Woods (B’91)

Eric Woods (B’91), Chair

Chief Operating Officer, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Boston, MA

 

Nigel Scott (C’95), Vice Chair

Managing Attorney, Aegis Law, LLC

Philadelphia, PA

 

Fonda Sutton (SFS’87, L’95, G’15), Secretary 

Partner for Public Engagement, Education Forward DC

Washington, DC

 

Conan N. Louis, Esq. (SLL’73, G’78, L’86), Parliamentarian

Founder and President, CNL Solutions LLC

Washington, DC

 

Ky Adderley (C’98, G’01)

Founder & President, The Adderley Group

Philadelphia, PA

 

Wilmot Allen (G’18)

Founder and Chairman, VentureLift Africa

Nairobi, Kenya

 

Theodore Burnett, D.D.S. (D’88)

General and Cosmetic Dentist, Los Angeles Dental Arts

Los Angeles, CA 

 

Mannone A. Butler (B’94, L’99)

Head of Programs and Partnerships, National Basketball Social Justice Coalition

Washington, DC

 

Robert Churchwell III (B’94)

Dean of Students, Gonzaga College High School

Washington, DC

 

Keith Dent (B’89)

Executive Director, Haven Adolescent Community Respite Center

Jersey City, NJ

 

Michael Ford (L’84)

President, Ford Group Unlimited, LLC

Baltimore, MD

 

Bserat Ghebremicael (B’17)

Global Growth Lead, Acquisitions Marketing, Google

New York, NY

 

Gail Gillis-Louis (C’75)

Relationship Manager, PNC Financial Services Group

Washington, DC

 

Karis Hawkins (B’18)

Senior Associate, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

New York, NY

 

Eddie Hill (B’92)

Director of YouTube Sales & Vertical Industry Insights, Google

New York, NY

 

Kendra Jackson (F’06)

Vice President of Customer Experience, The Flex Company

Los Angeles, CA

 

Christopher Jones, M.D. (M’01)

Division Director, Division of Hepatobiliary and Transplant Surgery and Professor in the Hiram C. Polk, Jr., MD Department of Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine

Louisville, KY

 

LaJwanne “LJ” Louis (B’04)

Chief Talent & Inclusion Officer, WPP

New York, NY

 

Erin Marie Meadors (C’05, L’21)

Assistant General Counsel, DC Government

Washington, DC 

 

O. Felix Obi (G’11)

Chair of the Economic & Trade Development Taskforce (Africa), State of Maryland

Annapolis, MD

 

Chris Perkins (B’94)

Senior Vice President of Commercial Accounting, The Related Companies

New York, NY 

 

Martin “Chip” Van Sherrill II (B’93)

Partner, PwC

Washington, DC

 

The Honorable David C. Simmons Esq. (L’84)

Contract Administrative Judge and Trainer, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Washington, DC

 

Marguerita Brunson Sims (C’91)

Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, AmeriHealth Caritas

Tampa, FL

 

Madeline Yvette Sutton, M.D. (C’89)

Founder, CEO of OneBrain4Health and Harlem STEM Up! | Assistant Professor, Morehouse School of Medicine

Stone Mountain, GA

 

Charlene Tarver (L’03)

President and Chief Executive Officer, The Women’s Economic Institute, Inc

Syracuse, NY 

 

Willie Tate (B’94)

Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch

Washington, DC

 

Winoka Wendy Wilkes (SFS’91)

Entrepreneur and Personal Chef

Washington, DC

 

Donna Wise (SLL’80)

Franchise Owner, InXpress

Atlanta, GA

J. Jacques Carter, M.D. (M’79)

Physician and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Boston, MA

 

Goren Dillard (C’84)

Senior Director, Adult Workforce Development, Urban League of Greater Cleveland

Cleveland, OH

 

Schuyla Goodson (L’92)

Executive Director, Ethics & Compliance, Chief of Staff & Quality Lead, Cummins Inc.

Columbus, IN

 

Ashley Hodges (L’14)

Associate, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Paris, France

 

Tyree Jones (L’86, P’21)

Partner, Reed Smith LLP

Washington, DC

 

Beverly Perry (L’81)

Senior Advisor, Executive Office of the DC Mayor

Washington, DC

 

Rick Sinkfield (SFS’91)

Chief Legal Officer, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Laureate Education, Inc.

Miami, FL

 

Markhum Stansbury Jr. (C’91)

Actor, Writer, Publisher

Los Angeles, CA

 

Tammee Thompson (C’91)

Chief Operating Officer, Environmental Solutions Group

Philadelphia, PA