Alumni Updates

Sydney

Syndey

Sydney Moechoe (UA ‘18) graduated from University of Central Missouri in December 2022 with her degree in Business Administration. She just started a new job at UCM as an Admissions Counselor, where she’s also working on her MBA. We love seeing UA alumni carrying on the tradition of supporting students as they make bi life decisions. Congrats, Syndey!

Byron

Byron White (UA ’04) is the new UA Foundation Board President. We’re so happy to have him at the helm!

Avionne

Congrats to Avionne Jones (UA ’17) on becoming the new UA Alumni Council President!

Brandon

Brandon Fields (UA ’16) has recently launched his own electrician business, Sync Electric Inc. Learn more about it here.

Damona

Damona Williams (UA ’09), special education teacher in Lees Summit, won the Inaugural Support Professional of the Year for that district last year. She’s also a founding leader of WeVIBE KC, which was a finalize in the KC People’s Choice Awards in 2023. Learn more about them here.

Brittany

Brittany Taylor (UA ‘22) interned at Helzberg Diamonds in the Human Resources department and was given the opportunity to take charge on several hiring projects. She reviewed resumes, entered candidate information into the HR system, and even made decisions on moving candidates forward in the hiring process. Brittany was offered an extension of her internships during her school breaks. She is a sophomore at Alabama A&M University majoring in Political Science.

Jamaiyah

Jamaiyah Amerison (UA ‘22) interned with University Academy Foundation and assisted with social media management, donor database management, and more. She did such a great job that she was asked to stay on during the school year as the Social Media Marketing Fellow and continue managing the Foundation’s social platforms. She is a junior at Harris Stowe State University majoring in Political Science.

December 2022 and Spring 2023 College Grads

Samiah Hafiz (UA ’18) graduated Spring of 2023 from Grambling State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice.

Kiara Bilberry (UA ‘19) graduated from Austin College in May 2023 with her degree in Theater. She secured a job shortly after graduation as a Social Media Manager at NCA Sports Training.

Raina Pace (UA ‘18) graduated from Mizzou with her degree in Business in December 2022. After graduation, she moved to Washington D.C. to pursue her career goal of getting into the legal field. She secured a job as a Case Manager Trainee at Morgan & Morgan and is currently studying for the LSAT.

Omobude Eke (UA ‘17) completed his Master’s of Health Administration at Mizzou in May 2023. After graduation, he moved to New York to work as an Administrative Fellow for the Western New York VA Hospital.

Jesse Schaaf (UA ‘11) earned her Master’s in Student Affairs for Higher Ed Leadership from Baker University in May 2023. She currently works at Park University as a Financial Aid Counselor.

Mahlet Getahun (UA ’19) graduated from Stanford in June with honors.

Jade Williams(UA ’12) graduated from Mitsu Sato Academy’s Esthetics program and passed her state boards.

Ahnia (Lewis UA ’19) graduated from Western Illinois University. Ahnia has already secured a job in corrections where she will utilize her Psychology degree.

Bernadette Looney (UA ’19) graduated from Harvard with honors this Spring and was accepted to the Stanford Teacher Education Program where she is completing her Master’s in Education.

Domini Johnson (UA ’19) graduated from Tulane University. This fall Domini will be starting a masters program at Tulane in Neuroscience and working as a graduate assistant in athletics.

Katanna Clark (UA ’04) graduated from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law with a JD in May, took the Texas bar in July and passed! Katana is now working in Texas.

Eriana Townes (UA ’18) graduated from Winston-Salem State University! Upon graduation, Eriana secured a job with the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. working as a Program Analyst.

Raina Pace (UA ’18) graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia and secured a job at Morgan & Morgan in Washington D.C.

Che Williams (UA ‘17) graduated from the University of Southern California in May with a BA in economics.

Raven LaBarrie (UA ’18) graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Intelligence and Information Operations. Raven will be working in Intelligence for the Airforce as a GS-12 in Cyber Operations.

New Jobs or notable accomplishments

The Kansas City Chiefs named Kayla McClellan (UA ’11) the first-ever Norma Hunt Super Bowl Champion of Education. McLellan was gifted tickets to Super Bowl LVIII to be played in Las Vegas. In 2022, she also won “Teacher of the Year” for Lincoln Prep, the entire Kansas City Public School District, and for the KC region. (Sept 2023)

Congrats to Frenklyn Piggie (UA ’16) on receiving his white coat for his Doctorate of Physical Therapy program!

Congrats to Aniah Kemp (UA ’18) on her new job as University Academy’s JV Volleyball coach! Way to go, Aniah!

Congrats to Aidan Smith and Chloe Williams (UA ’23) for receiving the Accelerated Career Awareness Program (ACAP) scholarship award from National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). Congrats!

Congrats to Mykia Malone (UA ’17) for being promoted to Junior Account Executive at Yelp!

Congrats to Braxton Fink (UA’17) on his new role as an Account Services Representative at Branded Custom Sportswear, Inc.

Congrats to Sydney Moechoe (UA ’18)! UCM is lucky to add you to their Admissions team as an Admissions Counselor.

Congrats to Kyndal (UA ’14) on starting a new job! Kyndall is working as a Workforce Developer at Phalen Leadership Academies. She will also be starting her Master’s program at Avila University this summer!

Kudos to Malon Lee (UA ’16) on receiving the 2023 Female Support Person of the Year for the Jacksonville State University Women’s Track & Field team!

Congrats to Julian McGhee (UA’ 15) on starting a new job! Julian will be working as the Social Media Marketing Manager at TPN, a creative commerce agency.

Congrats to Safiya Maxwell (UA ’18) for recently landing a new job at Yelp as an Associate Account Executive.v

Summer 2023 Internship Program

Ashanti Minnenhall (UA ‘19) interned at Children’s Mercy and was able to shadow numerous professionals at the hospital. Shadowing the hospital social workers and psychologists and sitting in on child mental health assessments, really gave Ashanti insight into her future career. By the end of the summer, Ashanti felt more aligned with her major and had confidence in knowing what she could do in her career path. Ashanti is a senior at Baker University majoring in Psychology.

Kenath Mitchell (UA ‘19) interned at BNIM in the Architecture department. Kenath interned with BNIM in 2021 and was specifically requested to return for the 2023 summer. Kenath is a senior at Cornell University majoring in Architecture.

Kearra Rentie (UA ‘20) interned at American Century Investments in 2022 and has stayed on with the company since. American Century participated in the Career Exploration events hosted by UA Foundation this past summer and Kearra joined as part of the panel and shared her experiences working at the company for the past year. She is a senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia majoring in Accounting and Business Administration and will graduate with her master’s degree soon as part of an accelerated program.