UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
The Black Alumni Network is an inclusive leadership organization that seeks to empower, connect, and celebrate the University of Rochester Black Community. This group encourages communication and cooperation between alumni, students, friends, faculty, and staff who are committed to the advancement of people of the African diaspora. The Black Alumni Network fosters a network for personal and professional connection and provides a sense of community and family for alumni of color.
Ashley Campbell ’09, ’10 (MS)
Rochester, NY
National Co-Chair
Gina Cuyler ’92M (MD), ’95M (Res)
Rochester, NY
National Co-Chair
Emerson Fullwood
Rochester, NY
National Co-Chair
We build a sense of community and belonging as extended family members of the African diaspora. With your support, we can:
We invite you to take an even more active role in our community. Together, we can do more, change more, and inspire more. With your support, we can channel our collective philanthropic resources to advocate for the causes that matter to us the most, from student support to career and leadership development to innovation across academic disciplines and beyond.
In celebration of the Black Alumni Network’s first anniversary, a distinguished panel of Black members of the University of Rochester’s Board of Trustees hosted this special event to share their career paths, their commitment to serving the University, and their perspectives on efforts to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education and in their professional work.
Please email Amari Tevell Simpson at amari.simpson@rochester.edu for upcoming events and details at this time.
These videos exemplify the values of the volunteer-led Black Alumni Network. The Network unites the University of Rochester’s Black community through engaging and empowering programming and conversations.
In March 2019, Kathy Waller ’80, ’83S (MBA), retired from her position as chief financial officer at Coca-Cola, following a successful, 32-year career.
The lives of family members inspire an engineer to improve health care in Africa.
In high school, Yvette Conyers ’07N, DNP, MS, RN, FNP-C, CTN-B, dreamt of becoming a neonatologist.
You can help us build the Black Alumni Network. As one of our founding members, there are many ways for you to be a part of this effort. To join and volunteer for the Black Alumni Network, please tell us about yourself.
Through new events and activities, such as networking with students, celebrating at Meliora Weekend, and conversations around Juneteenth, the Black Alumni Network has grown its membership, involvement, and awareness.
For more information on the Black Alumni Network and additional identity-based programs and events, contact Amari Simpson, associate director of affinity networks and equity, diversity and inclusion at amari.simpson@rochester.edu.
Amari Simpson has gained vast experience working with diverse populations of postsecondary students, collaborating with university departments and alumni to develop retention curriculum for Black students, and recruiting, hiring, and onboarding student employees during his Doctor of Philosophy program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Amari builds our affinity networks, collaborates with campus partners, and engages underrepresented members of the University community through events and volunteer opportunities. He manages the Black Alumni Network and the emerging LGBTQ Network. He also works with our Admissions Office connecting our Posse scholars and alumni.