Dr. Morris Jackson of Riverdale, Md., was the recipient of the Anchor Award presented by the University of Hartford Alumni Association during the University’s Annual Alumni Weekend. The award is established to recognize alumni who have distinguished themselves by achieving the highest level of professional accomplishments and possessing the absolute standards of integrity and character to positively reflect and enhance the prestige of the University of Hartford.

Kathleen's forte is partnering with entrepreneurial nonprofit sand corporations that have a compelling vision and need outside expertise to design a plan, build the team, raise the money and apply complex project management strategies to create rapid forward movement. Her clients have included the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Girl Scouts, the Greenbrier Resort and global nonprofit, the Guardian Angels. She has guided the raising of more than $100 million for various organizations and has been a keynote speaker and trainer for hundreds of audiences. Prior to her role at Progressity, Kathleen held leadership positions with the West Virginia University College of Engineering & Mineral Resources and the West Virginia University Foundation. She also served as chief advancement officer for the prestigious Ellis School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Kathleen is certified John C. Maxwell Leadership Coach and is part of a global corps of executive coaches and trainers who have been certified by Maxwell to teach his materials and administer the 360 Leadership Assessment Tool. She has coached and advised executives and entrepreneurs from 12 countries. Kathleen holds a graduate degree in Corporate and Organizational Communication. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and a graduate of two management leadership programs: Robert Morris College (Pittsburgh, PA) and Leadership West Virginia. She is the author of Monday Motivation: 52 lessons for living the best year of your life and resides in Washington, DC.

Suzan Cailliau graduated from Chemical Engineering Department at the Middle East Technical University(METU-Ankara/Turkey) in June 1992. She completed her Masters in Business Administration at Bilkent University in Ankara. After receiving her education, she started to work at the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey(DE?K), the prominent private sector organisation in charge to coordinate the economic relations of Turkey, to become “business diplomacy” organisation comprising Business Councils. She was in charge of the Middle East and Africa Business Councils. Her main task was organize events and to develop new business strategies with the respective countries. In 2006, Suzan Cailliau was assigned as the Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Countries Business Councils. She leads a four person team and cooperates closely with business organisations in the respective countries to develop new means of collaboration in different sectors and to organise high level events for the private sector on a regular basis. Suzan Cailliau is also a Board Member of International Cooperation (UIP) based in Istanbul since 2007.

After an outstanding tenure as Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCU) in April of 2010 Haynes was named Senior Director of Institutional Service (IS) for Office of Postsecondary Education which administers the programs authorized by the Higher Education Reauthorization Act of 1965 impacting the development of minority serving institutions including Title III for Historically Black Colleges, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribally Colleges, Title V for Hispanic Serving Institutions, and the Historically Black College Capitol Finance Program. The budget for IS is approximately $900 million. Prior to directing the Office of Institutional Services and the WHIHBCU office Haynes served as Director for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education in the Office of Postsecondary Education. Haynes retired from the Department of Education on February 29, 2016 and is now a Distinguished Adjunct Professor for the John Glenn College of Public Policy and Management of The Ohio State University and Senior Fellow for the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Region.

Mike is an experienced communications executive and veteran journalist with more than 3 decades of leadership in the broadcast, political, event planning, business communications and entertainment arenas. As a primary Television News Anchor in major markets including Washington, Baltimore, and Dallas, Mike has won multiple awards including the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Broadcasting and multiple Emmy Awards.

Mr. Omar serves as an advisor to Global Diplomatic Center (GDC). As an advisor, he provides the management team of GDC advice in the areas of management- structure, organizational development, and most importantly strategic financial guidance.

For over a decade, Mr. Jones has provided guidance and execution of business-critical functions through the innovative use of software. He possesses extensive experience in enterprise technology strategy, technical consulting, and business application solution architecture, serving as a trusted advisor to organizations in both the commercial and government sectors.