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B M & T ••• November/December 2023 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 12 ALFONZO ALEXANDER JOINS PHD PROJECT BOARD AS CHAIRMAN The PhD Projest is thrilled to announce that Alfonzo Alexander has been appointed as the new chair of its board of directors. The 17-per- son board, which includes lead- ers in both business and acade- mia, focuses on helping advance The Project's mission to increase diversity in business. "We are so excited that Alfonzo will be serving as PhD Project Board Chair. He will be a terrific asset to our team," said Blane Ruschak, president of The PhD Project. "Alfonzo is a strategic leader with a proven track record of success that includes working with corpora- tions, nonprofits including col- leges and universities and entre- preneurial ventures. We are grateful that he's a part of The PhD Project family, and we're confident that he will make our organization better as we strive to build a stronger, more diverse workforce." Alexander serves as chief ethics and diversity officer of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), a PhD Project supporter since 2014, where he oversees strategic diversity initia- tives and ethics compliance. He is also the president of NASBA's Center for the Public Trust (CPT) – a role he has had since January 2012. Under his leadership, the CPT has cultivated new partnerships and built programs on more than 100 college and university campuses across the United States, established Ethical Leadership Certification and Training Programs, and grown its Being a Difference Award Program extensively. Prior to joining NASBA, Alexander served as the regional manager and managing director for the Southeast Region of INROADS, Inc., where he led operations and business development in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. He has also held several leadership positions in operations management and human resources at the Quaker Oats Company. He currently leads Alexander Success Group, Inc., where he and his team provide leadership and strategic business consulting and training services for companies throughout the United States. Alexander is a business school graduate of Tennessee Tech University. He also earned an MBA from Lipscomb University and completed an Executive Leadership Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Alexander is certified through sev- eral organizations as a facilitator and is a certified professional coach through Coach Training Alliance. In 2017, he received the Distinguished Alumni award from Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business, and in 2019, he was featured in Southwest: The Magazine. "I'm proud to serve The PhD Project in this new role," said Alexander. "From my first exposure to The PhD Project many years ago, I believed it to be an innovative and effective way to help make academia and busi- ness more diverse and inclusive. With the changing demographics and attitudes in our country, the mission of the organization is more impor- tant now than ever before." About The PhD Project Founded in 1994 by its current partners KPMG Foundation, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), The PhD Projest works to increase diversity in the business world. Through its unique model, the nonprofit organization's Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic American and Native American members pursue busi- ness PhDs with the intent to become university faculty, teaching and guid- ing students who aspire to a career in business and serving as role models to students of color and first-generation students. Since its launch, The Project has been responsible for more than quintupling the number of underrepresented professors, administrators and academic leaders at an extensive list of academic programs, helping more than 1,400 former busi- ness professionals and undergraduate students attain their doctoral degree. The PhD Project also includes close to 250 students currently enrolled in a business PhD program. For more information on The PhD Project, webinars and sponsors, visit www.phdprojest.org and follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.