Young Alumni Awards

“I dream of a world without cancer.” This sentiment moved Jon Juravich ’05 into action and into the role of Man of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Central Ohio 2012. Inspired by one of his former elementary students, Jon launched into a fundraising campaign that raised $60,264.26. He organized support from restaurants, sponsored a blood drive, sold t-shirts and buttons, and created a social event with music and a silent art auction, all for the benefit of cancer research. And all of this, after his normal work day is done.

Jon is an art teacher in Olentangy Local Schools, at Liberty Tree Elementary (LTES), in Powell, Ohio, where he was Teacher of the Year 2008. He coaches cross country and track & field at Hyatts Middle School, is an advisor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, manages an online gallery of student artwork, and an art resource library for the district’s elementary art teachers. He is a founding member of the Olentangy Arts Council, a member of the LTES Pay It Forward and Olentangy Professional Development committees, and district chairperson for K-5 visual arts. He challenges his students to “make the world a better place with their art,” and strives to do the same.

Jon’s leadership skills and interest in service blossomed at Otterbein where he was a member of the Otterbein Community Service Team. He was the leader and organizer of the America Reads Program at Avalon Elementary, in Columbus, Ohio, winning the C. Brent DeVore Community Service Award during his junior year. Jon earned a master of arts in art education degree from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 2011. He was awarded the Peace and Justice Grant Award from AAC in both 2009 and 2010.

Jon credits his experience at Otterbein with showing him that he “can be a strong, confident leader, when you are encouraging, thoughtful and humble…and it doesn’t hurt to incorporate humor!” Jon lives in Columbus with his wife Amy.

What is it like to be homeless? Zach Reat ’05 took this question to heart when he began his alumni journey as an Americorps*VISTA with the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless helping to form alliances between the organizations serving homeless in Columbus. In this full-time volunteer position, he developed Sleep-Out for Homelessness, an experiential learning program about homelessness for the benefit of educating university students. Otterbein was the first campus to host this type of event and Zach was on-campus facilitating the program along with the Center for Community Engagement, Dr. Margaret Koehler and Chaplain Monty Bradley. For his efforts, Zach received the 2006 Citizen Alumni Award from Otterbein’s Center for Community Engagement.

Zach became the part-time community education manager for the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless in 2007, where he was responsible for the implementation of the Annual Forum on Homeless Issue and a simulation project named “Unsheltered Life: Three Days on the Streets”. Dr. Melissa Gilbert, Director of the CCE, said, “The program challenged participants to understand homelessness from several different perspectives, expanding their capacity for compassion and inspiring clear and thoughtful action.”

At the end of 2008, Zach left the Coalition to become the outreach programs manager for the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, Ohio Benefit Bank. In this position, he is responsible for coordinating the activities of the Ohio Benefits Bank sites in a 15 county area, including recruiting and providing Bridge Out of Poverty training opportunities. In 2012, he became a Board Member for the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, where he provides oversight and support to advocacy initiatives and programs of the Coalition including Street Speech, the Marsha Donner Mother’s Day Brunch, Unsheltered Life, and the annual forum on homeless issues. Zach lives in Columbus with his wife Sara Smithson Reat ’05 and his daughter Lucy.

A true servant within her community, Carli Amlin Dean rises above professional duty to help those in need. Throughout her life, Carli has always been a giver.

In 2006-2008 she served on the Tipp City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. In 2007 Carli also served on the Tipp Monroe Community Service Board of Trustees, and as President from 2008-2010. In Fall 2009 she helped co-found the ClipShopShare coupon ministry, (www.ClipShopShare.com.) Since its launch, the ministry has donated over $48,000 in food, toiletries and household goods to local food pantries for less than $400 out of pocket expense. Carli teaches a coupon class twice a month to help show individuals how they can shop smarter and save money. She also helps churches and organizations around the country with this ministry. In 2011 Carli joined the Dream Builders Board of Directors at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church.

Along with the time given to ClipShopShare coupon ministry and the Dream Builders Board of Director, Carli coordinates meals to families in need, sponsors individuals for the Vera Bradley Breast Cancer Foundation Fundraiser, volunteers with PALS (Parents Actively Linked with Schools) an organization within the elementary where her children attend, and currently serves as the 2011 Levy Chairman for the Tipp City School District.

Carli’s professional career is selling real estate with the Amlin Advantage Team at RE/MAX Alliance Realty throughout the Miami Valley area. Carli teamed with her mother, Sue Amlin, after graduating in 1999 with a double major in Speech and Organizational Communications. Since then Carli had earned her ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative) in 2006, CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) in 2007, continues to stay involved in the Dayton Area Board of Realtors all while working with buyers, sellers, transferees and relocation companies.

Carli’s hard work and compassion for others shines through all of her efforts. She makes the most of each opportunity, refuses to accept the status quo, and leads by example in her community.

"All I really need to know in life I learned from being a student, who then became a teacher.” This post appeared on a blog by Sarah Martindell ’08 while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia, Africa. Since her graduation from Otterbein, she has devoted much of her time and energy to intercultural and global experiences through service, both home and abroad.

Upon graduation, Sarah moved to Salt Lake City to work as a US-2 United Methodist Missionary/social justice advocate with the nonprofit agency Crossroads Urban Center. Crossroads offered multiple opportunities to serve; it ran the busiest emergency food pantry in the state, and also organized several grassroots groups to advocate to the state legislature about policies related to poverty.

After two years with Crossroads, Sarah moved to a rural village in Namibia to serve with the Peace Corps as an English teacher, as well as a library supervisor. As former professor Shannon Lakanen said, “Sarah not only gained a wide variety of experience as she served in the Peace Corps; she also shared those interactions with the world through her regularly updated and thoroughly fascinating blog, 'Learning and Loving in Africa.' Sarah’s work consistently blends her training in English Studies with her dedication to service and her lifelong curiosity about different people and cultures -- an extraordinary accomplishment for such a young alumna.”

In the summer of 2012, Sarah served as an intern at a rural church in North Carolina, assisting with pastoral care and weekly services. This fall, she began graduate work at Duke Divinity School, where she seeks a Master of Divinity degree. An English major with a minor in religion, she credits Otterbein for "helping me know how to be with people who are different than I am. The religion courses helped me see how others live, think, and believe. I learned that the difference between cultures is not an issue of who's right and who's wrong. We're simply different. We're diverse. If anything, Otterbein didn't teach me how to educate people; it taught me how to be a student of people. That's what I want my life to be about."

Sarah would like to extend gratitude to the professors and staff of Otterbein for their role in developing her into a perpetual student, someone who is curious about other cultures and beliefs. She would especially like to thank Dr. Glenna Jackson for her inspirational  classes -- and for visiting her in Namibia!

Scott Lacy is founder and Executive Director of African Sky, Inc. (www.africansky.org), a non-profit organization that serves hard-working rural families in Mali, West Africa. The organization works within local ecological and cultural systems to promote sustainable food production, rural primary schools, adult literacy and numeracy, an annual Mothers & Daughters Summit, income generation capacity building, and collaborations with Peace Corps volunteers, agricultural scientists, and engineers.

After graduating from Otterbein, a small village of farmers from southern Mali adopted Lacy as a Peace Corps volunteer and gave him a host family. Lacy explains that he went to Mali to lend a hand to the poorest of the poor, yet before returning to the states he realized that his hosts were enriching his life far more than he was enriching theirs. A serious illness cut his Peace Corps service short, but after a brief period as a foster parent for seven Native American at-risk youth, Lacy earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and returned to Mali as a Fulbright Scholar.

Humbled by the extraordinary generosity of the impoverished families that were the foundation of his academic success and publications, Lacy recruited family and friends in the U.S. to build a primary school for his host community. This single project has grown into African Sky, which has raised approximately $250,000 to complete over 200 projects throughout Mali. African Sky is an all-volunteer organization, so during the school year Lacy works as a professor of Anthropology at Fairfield University. Lacy has published widely, and he has taught at the University of California and Emory University; he has presented his research and work at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Columbia University, MIT, the Institute d’Economie Rurale (Mali), and at the Guangxi Maize Research Institute in China.

In just a short time after graduation, alumnus Sam Jaeger ’99 has created a national reputation as an actor, director, writer and producer. Recently, Sam returned to Columbus for the local premier of an independent film he produced, directed, wrote and starred in. The film, Take Me Home, also starred his wife Amber Mellott Jaeger ’99,which  debuted and won awards at 14 film festivals from Boston to Napa Valley. Take Me Home included a cast that incorporated Sam’s Otterbein theatre professors, former Westerville employers and fellow Otterbein classmates.

Sam began his professional acting career while still a student at Otterbein, landing a role on Law & Order. He spent several years in New York City theater before moving to Los Angeles. Sam’s powerful role in Hart’s War, opposite Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell, was just the beginning of an impressive resume that includes roles in such television hits as ER, CSI, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, Scrubs, Eli Stone, That’s Life, Girls Club and most recently, as Joel Graham, the stay-at-home dad on NBC's Parenthood.

Sam’s tireless advocacy on behalf of Autism Speaks is evidence of his commitment to those who are less visible in society and his own caring spirit. He has filmed promotional videos for Autism Speaks, both in Ohio and Los Angeles, and the proceeds from many of his film-festival debuts often benefit the organiztion as well. In addition, he has written his own children’s book--with a message to parents to never forget to appreciate the world around them.

As former professor Ed Vaughan ’71 said, “Sam was an extraordinary student and I worked with him in the classroom and onstage where we developed a strong friendship that continues today. I was struck by his maturity, sensitivity, global awareness, and a sincere desire to make the world a better place for all of us to live.”

Erica Hlavin Bell graduated with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2010, where she studied chemotherapy resistance and DNA repair.

Currently, Erica aids in the fight against cancer as a research assistant professor and Barbara Hughes Fellow in the Dept. of Radiation Oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital. This endowed position has a sole focus of research and enables Erica to manage multiple projects, publish scientific manuscripts, present research at national and international conferences, and teach lectures that pertain to her research at The Ohio State University. The goal of her research is to detect novel tumor biomarkers that correlate with treatment efficacy and survival. As a result of her dedication and contribution to the field, Erica has been published numerous times and has been invited to speak across the United States, as well as in China and Europe.

During Erica’s time at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology in Baltimore, MD, her specific area of research was to elucidate the mechanism of repair of chemotherapeutically-relevant DNA interstrand cross-links and determine how cross-link structure affects repair.

Erica is currently a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology, and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group.

Since graduating from Otterbein University, Rebecca Rossiter Lachman has had a distinguishable career as an educator, a poet and a musical composer. Currently, Becca is the assistant coordinator of Ohio University’s student writing center and an adjunct faculty member, where she trains and mentors undergraduate, graduate and community tutors. Becca also devotes her creative talents as a freelance lyricist and composer of musicals, folk operettas and children’s choir for various commissions, publications and community events.

While at Otterbein, Becca majored in Musical Theater Composition and English, serving as a Rotary International Ambassador Scholar to England her junior year. A recipient of Otterbein’s Fisher Memorial Writer’s Award and the Grabill-Shackson Award in music, she won a national undergraduate contest in 2004 with her senior chapbook “Songs from the Springhouse.”

Following graduation, Becca later earned an M.A. in English from Ohio University, preceded by a year of Mennonite Voluntary Service with the fair trade non-profit Ten Thousand Villages in Seattle, Washington. A recent graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars, Becca focused her M.F.A. research on exploring a pedagogy of creative nonviolence for young poets in the “9/11 Generation.”

Her children’s chorus music (premiered at Otterbein) can be found through Heritage Press, and her first full collection of poems (The Apple Speaks) is forthcoming from Cascadia Publishing House. 

She lives in Athens with her husband Michael, a professional musician and fellow educator.

Accomplished television journalist, producer and host Scott Fais doesn’t slow down very often. As the host of Florida on a Tankful, Scott has earned the reputation as a master storyteller not only on News 13 in Orlando where he is based, but also Bay News 9, in Tampa. Since first hosting the series in 2007, Scott has traveled more than 50,000 miles across The Sunshine State, the same distance as circling the globe, twice. More than 2 million homes can watch Scott’s stories each weekend.

His stories are decisively positive in nature and affirm good is at work in the world we share. Besides sun and surf, Scott is also known for his ability to switch gears and cover the big stories, from hurricanes to space shuttle and rocket launches. His printed work can often be read in several travel magazines found aboard major airlines.

To date, Scott has earned 10 awards from the Associated Press and more than a dozen honors from The Society of Professional Journalists. In 2011, Scott won the Green Eyeshade Award, naming him the leading feature reporter on television in the southeast United States. Scott also is the proud recipient of two Emmy Awards for his reporting.

Yet, Scott will tell you he is most proud of the philanthropy event he co-founded for Give Kids the World. The not-for-profit organization in Orlando grants children with life threatening illnesses and their families a once-in-a-lifetime vacation away from medical treatments. “Coasting for Kids” began in 2009 at the Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. In four years, the event has grown to 10 amusement parks nationwide and has produced more than $200,000 in donations for Give Kids the World.

After working on campus with WOBN FM, WOCC TV and with the Tan & Cardinal, Scott joking says he ran away from Otterbein twice before graduating in 1998. Scott spent a semester In London, England taking part in Otterbein’s exchange program with Roehampton University. In England, he became the Sy-Fi Channel London’s first “apprentice.” A year later, Scott left Westerville again to participate in American University's Washington Semester program. In Washington DC, Scott spent time working at America's Most Wanted on Fox, where his direct efforts lead to the capture of wanted fugitives. He was cast in several reenactments.

Following graduation, Scott joined the Ohio News Network (ONN TV) as the statewide news channel's political and public affairs producer and was tapped to anchor overnight newscasts on WBNS TV. 

When not traveling, Scott returns to Ohio to spend time with his beloved 96-year-old “Granny” and to keep his Lyman wooden boat on Lake Erie floating.

Julie Longstreth Moorehead ’95 founded Growth Solutions Ltd., a sales, marketing and communication consulting firm in March, 2012. One step at a time, Julie provides the guidance and support organizations and individuals need to not only create the balance we all crave, but also leverage experience and potential into real growth. Through her role with Growth Solutions, Julie is a national speaker, trainer, sales coach and executive consultant targeting sales, marketing, recognition, leadership development and corporate communications strategies.

Prior to founding Growth Solutions, Julie spent four years with Thirty-One Gifts, most recently as the VP of Sales. In this role, Julie was responsible for overseeing the company’s sales and recruiting efforts, field leadership development and supported its over 80,000 independent sales consultants and leaders. Prior to joining Thirty-One Gifts, Julie spent over 19 years with The Longaberger Company. During the course of her tenure with Longaberger, she served in a broad range of Sales, Marketing and Communications roles. Some of these roles include: National Executive Director of Sales, Executive Director of Sales Events and Recognition, the Executive Director for Guest Experience, and the Special Assistant to the CEO, where she provided strategic development and coordination of all activities for Chair of the Board and CEO Tami Longaberger. Julie also served as Director of Corporate Communications, where she oversaw a nearly 70-person staff, including public relations, employee communications, sales force communications, convention services/events and video production. She also was the company’s primary spokesperson and oversaw Longaberger’s first year of involvement as an award-winning parade sponsor in the 2004 Tournament of Roses® Parade.

Joining Longaberger in 1989, Julie worked with the late company founder Dave Longaberger to establish Longaberger Homestead, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex; The Place Off The Square, a Longaberger hotel; and Longaberger Golf Club, a championship golf course. She was project director for Longaberger: An American Success Story, Dave Longaberger’s posthumously published autobiography that became a New York Times #1 best seller.

Julie received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Otterbein University and her MBA from Kennedy Western University.

Julie resides in Granville, Ohio with her family. She is a board member of the Licking County American Red Cross, a member of the Otterbein University Alumni Council, a member of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the International Association of Business Communicators, Women on Fire, the Columbus YWCA, The Direct Selling Women’s Alliance, and The Direct Selling Association, among other organizations.

Alumna and former co-worker Wendy Peterson Bradshaw '95 said, "As a trailblazer in the industry, Julie has mentored countless women to develop personally and professionally, many times without even knowing it. She is a humble person who leads by example with the ability to develop her teams to do more than they even felt was possible...Julie's leadership is innate and was evident even on campus in both her academics but also as a leader in Sigma Alpha Tau sorority. I had the pleasure to be Julie's little sister and I can truly say her authenticity, her drive and professionalism are unmatched."

Entrepreneur and author Melissa Dawn Johnson is a Global Branding and Personal Transformation Strategist. Johnson is the CEO and President of Atlanta-based Velvet Suite Marketing Consulting Group, Inc. (www.velvetsuite.com) and Brand Me International (www.brandmelive.com). Velvet Suite Marketing Group authentically brands people, corporations, organizations and destinations with a patent-pending methodology called ID3^TM innovation.
Melissa was trained by her tenures at Procter & Gamble, Victoria’s Secret and Nationwide. Johnson’s work has also enabled her to develop a powerful branding model for people. She developed signature partnerships with personalities such as Shania Twain, Jessica Simpson, Mary J. Blige, Common, Hill Harper, Olympic athlete Carmelo Anthony and World Cup soccer player, Oguchi Onyewu. Her work with executives, pastors, politicians, collegiate and professional athletes gives her a proven platform to brand anyone.

Melissa is an international on-air contributor to CNN through a weekly Sunday segment Sunday Morning Motivation. "Making the Brand " an online-web series, gives her audience an insider’s view to the recipe behind the world’s most renowned entrepreneurs, personalities and influential individuals making their mark.

Melissa travels the world speaking about personal and global brand leadership and has been featured in national media including The Wall Street Journal, Black Enterprise, Essence, Ebony and InsideBrandedEntertainment.com.

Her first title, Brand Me: Make Your Mark: Turn Passion into Profit (Ambassador Press – www.brandmelive.com) offers a 7-Step Brand Blue Print^TM to package your passion into a profitable life.

Melissa received a Master of Science degree from the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She graduated cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and a minor in Business Administration from Otterbein.

She currently resides in Atlanta, GA and enjoys extreme fitness, dancing, cooking and spending time with family.

Michael W. Morgan is the senior vice president of marketing for Netsmart Technologies, a $90+ million healthcare technology company that offers software solutions to health and human services providers nationwide. In Michael’s role, he leads the organization’s marketing, communications, client service and programs areas. During Michael’s tenure as senior vice president of marketing, Netsmart has grown from $20M to over $90M in revenue and is recognized as one of the top 100 healthcare IT companies.

Previously, Michael served as a partner at ThreeSoft, Ltd., a marketing and project management service company, the vice president of marketing at fourth Channel, Inc., director of marketing at Enact Inc., and marketing manager at Sterling Software/Sterling Commerce.

Michael is also the founder and co-chair of Lifting Hopes (www.liftinghopes.com), an organization that hosts athletic events to raise money and awareness for central Ohio children’s charities. In addition, Michael is a volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and actively works to support The Chapel Hill House.

Michael graduated from Otterbein in 1993 with summa cum laude honors, earning Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and business administration. He is married and the father of three children.

"Compassionate, intelligent and driven are just a few words that describe Katherine Visconti Hagemann '97, MBA '03. Kate has demonstrated outstanding leadership and has been an agent of change since the first day I met her at Otterbein as a fellow student. She always puts the needs of others in front of her own while maintaining a professional attitude and attaining her goals," said alumna and friend Frankie Pallone Folk '97.

Kate is currently acting as Director of Change Management and Adoption for Bluewolf, a consulting firm based in New York, New York. Kate leads the team and works with all levels of management to ensure appropriate change management & adoption programs. She also works closely with consulting project managers and clients to ensure operational readiness, change preparation, and change execution. She was awarded Rookie of the Year at Bluewolf in 2012 and was awarded as Bluewolf’s “Woman of Innovation” at the Global Conference in 2010.

Previously, Kate worked for Huntington Bank where she held various Vice Presidential roles for Customer Relationship Management since 2007. In addition, Kate was the salesforce.com Program Manager, acting as lead on scope, technology, vendor, and change management. Prior to assuming the Program Manager role, Kate was the Senior Change Management Champion for the salesforce.com deployment, managing adoption for the enterprise, over 7,500 users. With Huntington since 1997, Kate also managed Home Lending marketing/communications, the ATM Operations Division, and training for Operations & Technology. In 2008, Kate founded Viscokay Media, LLC, a personal, business, and nonprofit writing services provider.

Before joining Huntington, Kate taught English at Highland High School in Sparta, Ohio, coached track, and was the yearbook advisor.

Kate earned a Bachelor's degree in English/Secondary Education and a Master’s in Business Administration both at Otterbein. Kate is a Leadership Columbus graduate and has been a guest lecturer at Otterbein, as well as at NEU and Salesforce.com’s Global Dreamforce Conference. She serves on the Unverferth House Board, Friends of American Red Cross Programs Committee, YWCA Business Coach, United Way Leaders’ Circle and Campaign committee, and is an active volunteer fundraiser for several nonprofit agencies including Susan G. Komen, Alzheimer’s Association, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Pet Promise Rescue Run, Pelotonia, Adopt-a-Family, and Operation Feed. She plays softball on several teams in the summer, enjoys traveling, and spending time with her stepson Brock, her husband, Josh, and three dogs.

Born in New York and raised in California, J. Robert Burk ’00 has dedicated his life’s work to the equine industry. Currently, Rob is the Senior Advisor/Executive Director of the United States Department of Agriculture in the Research, Education and Economics (REE) Mission Area based in Washington D.C. In this position, he is a senior advisor to the Secretary of the USDA, and he operates the REE Advisory Board which serves as the main point of contact between agricultural business, industry, non-profit organizations, universities/colleges, farmer stakeholders and USDA Leadership as well as the U.S. Congress.

Prior to his federal role, Rob was the executive director of the Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Horse Industry Board, in Annapolis, MD, which managed all aspects of the mandatory equine business licensing program for the State of Maryland, provided direction to the Governor appointed advisory board, evaluated all equine related State legislation, testified to the State legislature, developed websites marylandhorseindustry.org, marylandhorsepark.com and mdhorseforum.com, organized the 2004 and 2009 Maryland Horse Forums, and administrated the statewide grant program which distributed 156 grants to educational institutions as well as non-profit organizations.

Rob has been a lecturer at the University of Maryland in the Institute of Applied Agriculture and at Virginia Tech in the Dept. of Animal and Poultry Sciences. He is a current member of the American Society of Animal Science and the Equine Science Society, while also participating in the Horse Council Political Action Committee, Mission Area Emergency Evacuation Assembly Coordinator, and Independent Equestrian Business Professional. From 2010-2011, Rob was the Coach of the United States Naval Academy Intercollegiate Equestrian Club.

During his years at Otterbein, Rob was the department senator on the student/faculty senate; activities coordinator, vice president and president of the equestrian team; member of Phi Eta Sigma national honorary academic fraternity; and in his senior year, a riding coach for Otterbein’s equestrian team. He was awarded the Department of Equine Science Betty F. Kennedy Award for Academic Excellence in 2000, as well as the Abdullah Award for Contributions to the Equine Science Department and Equestrian Team in 1999.

Rob has also continued his success in the riding arena with notable competitive equestrian awards including 2005 Morven Park CCI* 10th place Adult Amateur, 1999 4th place Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship AQHA High Point Western Rider, and the 1999 I.H.S.A. Zone 6 Region 3 Open Over Fences Champion, Open Flat Reserve Champion, and Open Western and Reining Champion.

Rob earned his master’s degree in animal and poultry sciences at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, in 2005, and his bachelor’s degree in pre-veterinary/pre-graduate equine science in 2000. Rob lives in Maryland with wife, Dr. Amy Ordakowski Burk and daughters Emma and Sydney.

Wendy Bradshaw joined the Thirty-One Gifts organization in March 2011. The new position of Director of Philanthropy was created with Wendy – and her passion to help others - in mind. Wendy is responsible for Thirty-One Gives, a philanthropic platform that mirrors the company’s mission and culture. The charitable efforts of Thirty-One Gives will focus on the health and well-being of women, adolescent girls and families.

Before joining Thirty-One, Wendy served a dual role as Executive Director of the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation and Director of Community Development for the National Hockey League (NHL) club for 11 years. As executive director of the team’s philanthropic arm, Wendy was responsible for the development and management of the Foundation. Under her direction, the Blue Jackets Foundation and its Board of Directors awarded over $3 million since 2000 to deserving organizations in Ohio that serve the Foundation’s primary pillars of giving: pediatric cancer; education; children’s health and safety; and the development of youth and amateur hockey.

Wendy was instrumental in the development of Hats For Heroes, a signature program which has raised over $1 million for pediatric cancer, the grand opening of the 5,000 square foot Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation Family Resource Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital serving over 90,000 families locally, and Rick Nash’s 61 Good Health Challenge.

Wendy came to the Blue Jackets after spending nearly five years as Manager of Programs and Special Events for the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce where she developed and maintained corporate partnerships for event sponsorship.

Bradshaw is a member of the Hospice Fundraising Council for the Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services Foundation and the YWCA Woman to Woman Steering Committee. Wendy, a Kent, Ohio, native, now resides in Westerville with her husband, John, daughter, Madeline, and son, Grayden.

Jason Jenkins is the Assistant Vice President of Community Outreach & Volunteer Recruitment at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio. During the past four years, Jason served as the African American Mentoring Manager and as a School Based Coordinator at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio, where he was responsible for enrolling, matching, and supporting volunteers, youth and families in BB/BS programs. Jason works with diverse populations and is committed to building strong relationships with marginalized youth in inner city Columbus.

Since his graduation from Otterbein in 2004, Jason has also worked as a case manager and teacher at the YMCA Truancy Center in Columbus, Ohio.

In addition, Jason is active with many community groups, including the African American Alumni Network at Otterbein University, Expanding Visions Foundation, the Youth Violence Prevention Advisory Committee, the Minority Male Provider Committee, Huckle Berry House – All Star Collaboration, the African American Male Initiative, and the Columbus Police Department Diversity Recruitment Council.

Recently, Jason received the Otterbein University African American Hall of Fame Award and in 2008, he was awarded the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mr. Project Mentor award.

Jason started dating his wife Melanie while attending Otterbein and they now have two beautiful daughters, Giana Marie (8 years old) and Graycin Belle (11 months old).