Alumni Awards Thursday, April 15 | 7 p.m. Virtual Presentation - Elon University
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TOP 10 UNDER 10 Alumni Awards Thursday, April 15 | 7 p.m. Virtual Presentation
OPENING REMARKS
Deidra Smith
Director of Alumni Engagement
WELCOME
Darien Flowers ’13
2020-21 Young Alumni Council President
TOP 10 UNDER 10 ALUMNI AWARDS PRESENTATIONS
Presented by
Connie Ledoux book
Elon University President
Jay Reno ’10 Alex Dempsey ’12
Brooklyn, New York Houston, Texas
Emily Adams ’11 Ryan Keur ’12
Hunstville, Alabama Raleigh, North Carolina
Nick Dyer ’11 Brenna Humphries ’13
Maplewood, New Jersey Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kristin Kostka ’11 Heather Harder ’14
Sudbury, Massachusetts Brooklyn, New York
Alexandra “Allie” Solender Boyd ’12 Fergie Philippe ’17
Cary, North Carolina New York, New York
CONGRATULATORY REMARKS
President Book
CLOSING REMARKS
Deidra SmithTOP 10 UNDER 10 ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS
JAY RENO ’10
founder and ceo, feather
Jay Reno’s love for business and sustainability inspired him to found Feather in
2017, a next-generation furniture rental company for city dwellers focused on
keeping furniture in homes and out of landfills.
During his time at Elon, Jay was active in student government, spending
three years as SGA class treasurer and his final year as senior class president.
After graduating in 2010 as a business major with a concentration in
entrepreneurship, Jay earned a master’s degree in climate and environmental
science from Columbia University in 2012. He went on to launch three
companies, including a same-day grocery delivery company focused on local
food resources, an app dedicated to solving excess capacity at bars and restaurants in New York City as well as
his most successful venture thus far, Feather.
Feather has raised $76 million of venture capital from the top venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins and Spark
Capital. Jay has been recognized as one of Inc. Magazine’s Rising Stars, and has been featured in the New
York Times, ABC News, CBS News, Forbes, Vogue and, most proudly, his hometown newspaper, The
Concord Monitor.
Despite a busy schedule, Jay finds time to remain connected to his alma mater. He is a member of Elon’s
President’s Young Leadership Council and actively aids the Business Fellows in the Martha and Spencer Love
School of Business to provide learning opportunities within his company.
Jay lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works in Soho.
EMILY ADAMS ’11
eastern and southern africa science coordination
lead and research associate, nasa servir science
coordination office
Emily Adams has always been curious about how the world works. That interest,
paired with her concern for the gap between scientists and decision-makers,
inspired her passion for applied science.
A biology and environmental studies graduate, Emily’s interest merged during
her second Winter Term at Elon, when she took a field biology study abroad
course in Peru. That experience would eventually lead four years later to a
career at SERVIR, a partnership of NASA, USAID and leading technical organizations around the world that
develops innovative solutions to improve livelihoods and foster self-reliance in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
In her role at SERVIR, Emily is responsible for supporting and coordinating the direct science support,
capacity building and service planning activities for the SERVIR Eastern and Southern Africa hub, based at the
Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development in Nairobi, Kenya.
Emily has various expertise in numerical weather prediction for food security and agricultural applications,
land use/land cover change analysis, biomass mapping and greenhouse gas emission assessment, vegetation
conditions assessment, and mapping indicators for the sustainable development goals. She is also involved in
leading the integration of gender considerations at SERVIR, as well as science outreach and mentorship for
women in STEM fields, including representing NASA at the Women in Science STEAM camps sponsored by
the U.S. Department of State, Google and Intel, among others.
Emily lives in Huntsville, Alabama, where she also serves as research associate with The University
of Alabama.NICK DYER ’11
head of digital, the tonight show with jimmy fallon
Nick Dyer can trace much of the leadership and creative skills that
characterize his work to his days at Elon. While studying broadcast and
new media, he produced and directed a variety of shows, short-films and
documentaries.
After graduating in 2011, Nick began his career in the television industry
at Comedy Central’s parent company, Viacom, working across a variety
of TV series including “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” “South
Park,” “Key & Peele” and “Nathan For You.” He also led digital efforts for
the channel’s news and stand-up programming, a role that earned him and
The Daily Show an Emmy award in 2017 for “Outstanding Short Form Variety Series,” recognizing the
team’s online video content supplementing the late-night television program.
Nick has received other industry accolades throughout his career including two consecutive Emmy
nominations for “Outstanding Interactive Program” and the Outdoor Lions Grand Prix award at the
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Nick also helped produce “The Daily Show Presents:
The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library,” a New York Times Best Seller book and traveling
pop up exhibit showcasing and analyzing the finest works from the president’s Twitter feed. In his role
as head of digital at “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” he oversees the development of digital
content, strategy and production for the late-night program.
Nick and wife Jackie ’13 live in Maplewood, New Jersey, with their two French bulldogs, Winston
and Truman.
KRISTIN KOSTKA ’11
associate director of omop data networks,
americas at iqvia
Kristin Kostka’s passion for outcomes research traces back to 2009, when she
began conducting her first correlational case study examining alcohol education
initiatives in NCAA athletes at Elon. After graduating with a degree in exercise
science, she earned a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from Boston
University in 2013. A year later, she joined Deloitte Consulting to work in the
development of the firm’s real world evidence practice, ConvergeHEALTH.
Kristin’s time at Deloitte catapulted her into international recognition as
a thought leader in the space of big data, outcomes research and real-world
evidence generation, receiving numerous company awards as well as recognition from the open science
community. She is heavily invested in Observational Health Data Sciences & Informatics (OHDSI), a
global, multi-disciplinary open source community of more than 300 organizations aimed at improving
patient outcomes through large scale analytics. In 2019, she became associate director running the OMOP
Data Network at IQVIA, partnering with hospitals, payers and health care providers to help institutions
connect and run research within the world’s largest observational health data network.
In spring of 2020, Kristin took on her toughest challenge yet: coordinating a global team driving
COVID-19 research. Her research has led to more than 18 publications and numerous speaking
engagements for audiences internationally. She now consults on a variety of real-world data projects in
COVID, including the NIH’s COVID Cohort Collaborative and the World Health Organization.
In January 2021, Kristin began an appointment as a visiting scientist for the OHDSI Center at The Roux
Institute at Northeastern University, and in the fall, she will begin a fully funded part-time doctoral study
with the Centre for Statistics in Medicine at the University of Oxford.
Kristin lives in the suburbs of Boston with her husband, Philip, and their dog, Maslow.ALEXANDRA “ALLIE” SOLENDER BOYD ’12
physics teacher, apex friendship high school
Allie Solender Boyd’s path to physics was accidental. Despite plans for a career
teaching math, she fell in love with physics in high school when a physics class
was the only science course that fit with her schedule.
She carried her newfound love of physics to Elon as a Kenan Fellow, where
she immersed herself in both the study of the field and learning how to teach it
in the classroom. She graduated with degrees in physics and secondary science
education in 2012 and soon joined the staff at Holly Springs High School in
Holly Springs, North Carolina, where was honored by her colleagues as a teacher
of the year in 2016 and named the 2017 National PhysTEC Teacher of the Year.
Allie now teaches physics at Apex Friendship High School in Apex, where she has built the physics
program from the ground up. She was also responsible for rewriting Wake County’s physics curriculum
and serves on the Science Core Leadership Team to help support other science teachers within the county.
Allie has spoken at conferences such as the American Association of Physics Teachers, APS Conferences for
Undergraduate Women in Physics and Bridging the Gap. She has also participated in prestigious physics
educator workshops internationally.
Recently, Allie was elected as the high school representative of the North Carolina section of the
American Association of Physics Teachers. Allie credits Elon’s Department of Physics and School of
Education for supporting her on her journey in education, as well as husband Alex and son James for always
encouraging her to grow personally and professionally.
ALEX DEMPSEY ’12
associate, quinbrook infrastructure partners
A finance and accounting graduate, Alex Dempsey’s dedication to service
started early in his life and continued through his time at Elon and beyond.
While at Elon, Alex served as president of the campus Habitat for Humanity
chapter, participated in two Hurricane Katrina relief trips and was philanthropy
and service chairs for his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon. A Business Fellow, he
also served as vice president of Beta Alpha Psi, an honor society for accounting,
finance and information systems students.
Since his time at Elon, Alex has dedicated his career to stopping climate
change. At York Capital, a global institutional investment management firm, he
helped finance more than $1 billion of renewable energy projects worldwide. At the World Bank Group, he
worked on preservation projects in Kenya, distributed clean cookstoves to remote areas of Rwanda and helped
the solar energy sectors in India and Brazil.
In July 2018, Alex left the World Bank Group to pursue his MBA at the Wharton School of the University
of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 2020, he joined Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners in Houston, where
he is investing in renewable energy and net zero carbon infrastructure projects. To date, Alex has been
heavily involved in the acquisition of solar projects in California that provide clean energy to disadvantaged
communities as well as Quinbrook’s recent partnership with Birch Infrastructure to supply renewable energy
to large data centers.
Alex has also served on the boards of the Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C. alumni chapters.
In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, mountaineering and the great outdoors.RYAN KEUR ’12
managing partner, knuckleball entertainment
A sports and event management graduate, Ryan has spent the first decade of his
career after graduating from Elon in the sports and entertainment industry.
In 2013, he was named the general manager of the then-Burlington Royals
in North Carolina, making him the youngest GM in professional baseball
at the age of 24. In each subsequent season, the team achieved record highs
in total attendance and revenues, and Ryan was awarded the Appalachian
League Executive of the Year for each of the three seasons in 2014, 2015 and
2016.
After the 2016 season, Ryan was recruited to Daytona Beach where he
became team president for the Daytona Tortugas, the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. At the
conclusion of his inaugural season there, he was recognized by Baseball America and Ballpark Digest as
the overall Minor League Baseball Executive of the Year in 2017. The team continued to receive national
acclaim and set revenue records for each season with Ryan at the helm.
Following his time as the president of the Daytona Tortugas, Ryan negotiated on behalf of the
Appalachian League with MLB and USA Baseball to preserve high level baseball in these communities.
He is now the managing partner for Knuckleball Entertainment, which owns and operates the Burlington
Sock Puppets and the Danville Otterbots. He and his wife, Brittany, live in Raleigh, and have the greatest
ballpark dog, Barley.
BRENNA HUMPHRIES ’13
management consulting manager, accenture
From an early age, Brenna Humphries dreamed of serving others through
leadership. That dream became a reality when she attended Elon University as
an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow.
During her time at Elon, Brenna served as a resident assistant and member
of the Elon University Gospel Choir. She also dedicated time to expand her
nonprofit organization, Kids Read Inc., donating more than 4,000 children’s
books to underprivileged youth in several states and Jamaica. In addition,
during each summer break of her undergraduate years, she completed
internships at Fortune 100 corporations including Google, AT&T and Nissan.
After graduating in 2013 with a business administration degree, Brenna joined Oracle as a software
consultant in Atlanta. She then obtained an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. While
there, she was named one of the “Best and Brightest MBAs of the Class of 2018” by Poets&Quants, an award
given to only 100 student leaders from the world’s top MBA programs. Brenna now lives in Philadelphia,
and works in health care management consulting with Accenture. In her role as manager, she leads a team
that uses innovative technology to optimize clients’ business processes.
A member of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Board of Advisors, Brenna is glad to give
back to her alma mater, a place she attributes as the launchpad for her leadership and career achievements.HEATHER HARDER ’14
marketing and communications director,
rse ventures
As a Communications Fellow at Elon, Heather Harder was able to pursue
her passion for writing. She graduated as the Outstanding Strategic
Communications Senior, won the Arthur W. Page Case Study competition
and served as president of the Public Relations Student Society of America
(PRSSA). She was also elected National President of PRSSA, overseeing
communications and programming for 10,000 student members across
the country.
After a brief stint speechwriting at ExxonMobil, Heather joined Ketchum,
an international public relations firm, in Raleigh, North Carolina. She later moved to New York City,
handling financial communications at Prosek Partners with clients such as Ernst & Young and Travelers.
In 2018, Heather was recruited to oversee communications at RSE Ventures, an investment firm led
by CEO Matt Higgins and real estate billionaire Stephen Ross. As Higgins became a recurring Shark
on ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank,” Heather was drawn into the exciting world of entertainment PR. She
now splits her time between managing the CEO’s brand and working with RSE’s extensive portfolio of
consumer and entertainment companies.
Always looking for ways to give back to her alma mater and community, Heather volunteers as an Elon
Career Mentor and the New York Junior League. In her spare time, she enjoys going to concerts — back
when those were a thing.
FERGIE PHILIPPE ’17
actor, director, writer & puppeteer
Born Ferginho Philippe-Auguste, Fergie Philippe first caught the theatre
bug in Miami, Florida, at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, where
he learned about, auditioned for and got accepted to New World School of
the Arts. It was there he learned of his future alma mater, Elon University,
where he studied music theatre.
Prior to Broadway’s shutdown in 2020, Fergie was playing the roles
of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in the musical “Hamilton” on
Broadway. Some of his other notable roles include playing the same roles in
the National Tour of “Hamilton” and Coalhouse in the Playmaker’s Rep
Theatre production of “Ragtime.”
A versatile performer, Fergie is working toward obtaining a graduate certificate in puppetry from the
University of Connecticut and has his own podcast, “The Craft.” He is also a writer, dabbling mostly
in screenwriting and poetry. He hopes to soon produce his own works with his newly created production
company, “Et Toi Productions,” to present racially diverse, gender fluid/varying and disable inclusive
content that will reach a multitude of audiences.
Fergie dedicates this award to his late father, Fernand Philippe-Auguste, and his mother,
Sargine Dupuy.PAST TOP 10 UNDER 10 ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS
2019 2016 2013
Emily Favret ’09 Tyler Brandt ’06 Ashley White Creech ’03
Wyn Ferrell, Jr. ’09 J. Parker Turner iv ’06 Christian Wiggins ’03
Sam Slaughter ’09 Justine Davis ’08 Mark Hendrix ’04
Hannah Lane ’11 Kendra Nickel-Nguy ’08 Katie Sherman ’04
Josh Norris ’11 Garrett Turner ’08 Brett “Coop” Cooper ’05
Barrett Wilbert Weed ’11 Hallie Kilmer Cornetta ’09 Cecelia Thompson ’05
Jasmine Gregory ’12 Mitch Pittman ’09 Hilary Corna ’07
Tyler Marenyi ’13 Amanda Brown Marusiak ’10 David Morrow ii ’07 l’10
Alanna Vagianos ’13 Clint Irwin ’11 Amy Reitnouer ’09
Zora Stephenson ’15 Adam Kaplan ’12 Peter Ustach ’09
2018 2015 2012
Bernard “Bernie” Coston ii ’08 Mark Schwartz ’06 Jamie Sclater ’02
Stephanie Marken ’08 Amanda Taylor ’06 Stephen Charles ’03
Daniel Ross Brown ’09 Shea Coakley ’07 Erin Lawless ’03
Ryan Guthy ’09 Mark Horsburgh ’07 Jay Perry ’03
Andie Diemer ’10 Lace Varn ’07 Summur Shaikh ’03
Molly Heffernan ’11 Erica Ayala ’08 Melissa Will Banta ’04 g’06
Stephanie Robinson ’11 Phil Collins ’08 Elizabeth Schrauder-Ermis ’04
Stephanie Bement Gronewoller ’12 Andrew Wilen ’08 Dominic Barrett ’06
Greg Honan ’14 Carolyn Klasnick ’09 Maria Teresa Interiano ’07
Jasmine Turner ’15 Christine Winans ’10 James Black ’09
2017 2014 2011
Rob Marnell ’06 Brian McGuire ’04 April Durr ’01
Reginald Hall ’07 Mark Bender ’06 Bruce Cameron iv ’05
Damon Ogburn ’07 David Douglas ’06 Darris Means ’05
Lauren Durr Emery ’08 Carson Foushee ’07 George Memory ’06
Kristen Kennedy Howard ’08 Jennifer Heilman ’07 Gabrielle Raymond ’06
Ana Marie Jaramillo ’08 Nichole Allem ’08 Kali Geskus ’07
Amanda Clark ’11 Javier “Jay” Young ’08 MacKenzie Stroh ’07
Ginna Claire Mason Moffett ’13 Sara Gould ’09 Ian Baltutis ’08
Julie Morse ’13 Nneka Enurah ’11 Alexander “Webb” Bond ’08
Al Drago ’15 Kelsey Glover ’11 RJ Yozwiak ’08
A full list of recipients and bios is available on our website, elon.edu/alumniTHE 2020–21 ELON UNIVERSITY
YOUNG ALUMNI COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
Darien Flowers ’13, president
Sarah Dodge ’13, vice president/president-elect
David Campbell ’13, past president
LEAD COUNCIL MEMBERS
Kennedy Ojimadu ’17, career & professional development lead
Joe Incorvia ’15, alumni appreciation co-lead
Allison Stolte ’11, alumni appreciation co-lead
Lars Bredahl ’10, communications lead
David Brown ’13, internal relations lead
Gina M. O’Rourke ’11, philanthropy lead
MEMBERS AT-LARGE
Yasmine Arrington ’15 Jasmine H. Gregory ’12
Danielle Biggs ’15 Zach Guarino ’13
Welsford Bishopric ’14 Molly Heffernan
Mara Bollenbacher ’12 Grace Johnson ’17
Russell Boozer ’10 Elise Lake ’12
Rachel Campbell ’13 Danielle Prongay ’14
Jeff Casullo ’09 Evan Sassaman ’19
Gabriela Citrone ’17 Shakinah Simeona- Lee ’12
Danielle Deavens ’16 Taylor Smith ’15
Nolan Elingburg ’11 Jordan Thomas ’14
Audrey Engelman ’17 Jasmine Turner Perry ’15
Julia Finneyfrock ’15 Benjamin Waldon ’13
Michael Gaytan’13 Miles Williams ’15elon alumni | partners ∙ advocates ∙ investors
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