Black alumni panel to speak Thursday

A panel of Black alumni will speak via Zoom from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday as part of Black History Month. The event is sponsored by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. The panel is open to all. The Zoom ID is 256 018 4018.

Panel members will speak about their journeys after college, and how they honed their skills and developed professionally in various industries. Speakers will be:

• Ornella Umubyeyi ’13 of Charlotte, North Carolina, received Ripon College’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2019. Originally from Kigali, Rwanda, she has served as a hospital chaplain for CaroMont Health in North Carolina and as a certified life coach. She hosts wellness/empowerment webinars, workshops and retreats for multi-ethnic and multicultural youths and women.

  She produced and directed the documentaries “Wipe a Tear in Rwanda” (Rwanda, 2007) and “Akwaaba (Ghana, 2009).” Her books include Life Beyond Sight: Existing Not Living and Ibintu 7 Biranga Umukristo. She also is the founder of Soul Survivors International, a nonprofit organization.

  Among her honors, she received an award from the first lady of Rwanda for her work toward orphans and street children in 2011.

  At Ripon College, Umubyeyi majored in religion with a minor in leadership studies. She was a phonathon caller, WRPN radio show host, member of the martial arts club and Black Student Union, president of the Cultural Diversity Club and president of Campus Christian Fellowship.

• Natasha Hoard King ’93 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is chief financial officer of Children Advocacy Centers of Texas where she oversees the Finance, compliance and grants departments. She is a certified public accountant and for 25 years has managed multi-million-dollar budgets, structured seven-figure real-estate deals, overseen administrative departments and supervised multi-generational work teams.

  Her strong belief in community and passion for nonprofit organizations that serve the needs of urban communities has fueled her career development and servant leadership. She is a fierce advocate for affordable housing and financial literacy and spends most of her free time volunteering for these causes.

  At Ripon, she majored in economics with an emphasis on accounting and leadership.

• Blaine Gibson ’81 of Grafton, Wisconsin, is a member of the Ripon College Board of Trustees. He is vice president and financial advisor with RBC Wealth Management, a global financial management company. He has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and has held positions at Baird, Citizens Bank and JP Morgan.

  He has been on the board of various community groups, including Mount Mary College, Fellowship Open, Cedarburg Art Museum, for which he served as president, Cedarburg Public Arts Commission and Asset Builders of America. He was appointed by the mayor of Cedarburg to serve on the City of Cedarburg Diversity Task Force.

  At Ripon, he majored in art, was a member of Beta Sigma Pi and was on the basketball and track and field teams.

• Kevin Warmack ’79 of Chicago, Illinois, is a senior compliance analyst with Bankers Life Securities Inc./Bankers Life Advisory Services Inc. where he focuses on the review of more than 300 branch offices of the company.

  He previously operated his own compliance consulting firm, Unlimited Freedom Compliance Consulting, assisting broker-dealers with regulatory compliance issues. He also served as vice president/chief compliance officer of SBK Brooks Investment Corp. and has been associated with other financial services firms in a compliance role.

  At Ripon, he majored in English and participated in Lambda Delta Alpha/Delta Upsilon. He has served on the Alumni Board of Directors, Leadership Alliance and Friends of Lane Library.

(Photo: Clockwise from top left: Ornella Umubyeyi ’13, Natasha Hoard King ’93, Blaine Gibson ’81, Kevin Warmack ’79)

Posted February 7, 2022 in Uncategorized.

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