\nRoger A. Ramsammy\u00a0has served as president of Hudson Valley Community College in Troy since 2018. Under his leadership, the college has greatly expanded international outreach and partnerships across the globe; recruited students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds; expanded on-campus offerings by bolstering the college’s office of diversity, equity and inclusion and creating a new Veterans Resource and Outreach Center; and introduced diversity training initiatives and programs, including both for-credit and non-credit micro-credentials in DEI.<\/p>\n
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Also recognized for DEI achievements are:<\/p>\n
Trent Griffin-Braaf<\/strong> Christa Grant<\/strong> ACES Incubator<\/strong> Hill & Markes<\/strong> Mission Accomplished Transition Services<\/strong> The honorees will be recognized\u00a0at an event on June 24\u00a0at the Hilton Garden Inn Troy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Published:<\/strong>\u00a0Thu, 12 May 2022 12:20:57 +0000 by\u00a0d.gardner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Business Honorees Sam Raudins \/Associate Editor \/ Albany Business Review \/ May…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTrent Griffin-Braaf is the owner of Tech Valley Shuttle and GB Logistics. Tech Valley Shuttle started a Get-To-Work program three years ago that’s growing in popularity as it helps transport employees to employers in “transportation deserts.” Griffin-Braaf has also been working to share the business lessons he’s learned with the next generation of women- and minority-owned businesses,<\/p>\n
\nChrista Grant\u00a0currently serves as assistant dean for intercultural affairs and one of the four chief diversity officers at Union College. Prior to working at Union, she was the director of the Damietta Cross-Cultural Center at Siena College. During her tenure at Siena College, Grant played an integral role in transforming its campus culture by implementing programming and DEI workshops for students and employees. She’s provided coaching on how to lead difficult conversations to bridge differences across cultures and beliefs.<\/p>\n
\nThe Albany Center for Economic Success Incubator \u2014 ACES \u2014 provides affordable space for entrepreneurs and organizations at the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region in Albany’s Sheridan Hollow neighborhood. It has hosted\u00a0startups such as the the Hearts and Mind Training Center, which is helping train people for health care jobs, and\u00a0organizations like Building Blocks Together, which is working to increase homeownership in neighborhoods that suffer from disinvestment.<\/p>\n
\nHill & Markes\u00a0partnered with New York State Industries for the Disabled to diversify its workforce\u00a0as well as its customer base. The company took over NYSID\u2019s distribution and delivery operations. The six-month process included investment in new infrastructure and equipment at Hill & Markes\u2019 Amsterdam facility and a shift in perspective to allow for more flexibility in an integrated workplace. Hill & Markes is now preparing for phase two, which involves working with NYSID as a partnership in the private sector.<\/p>\n
\nMission Accomplished prepares rising young professionals and entrepreneurs for the workforce by providing access to industry-specific coaching, mentoring and sponsorship. The organization coaches, develops and supports people to find purpose, develop skills and become leaders. Mission Accomplished founder\u00a0Carmen Duncan is also a board member for Advance Albany County Alliance, where she’s a voice advocating for people from underrepresented groups so that they can share in the prosperity that results from economic development projects.<\/p>\n