Alumni Extension Member of the Year
Ivy White
NSBE Central Ohio Alumni Chapter
Senior Buyer, Honda Manufacturing of America
For the freshman engineering major at The Ohio State University, the 2001 NSBE Annual Convention in Orlando was an eye-opener.
“It was my first NSBE conference,” says Ivy White. “…I had never heard of the organization prior to being at Ohio State. But the exposure to the profession and all those black people doing things: Smart, black people; successful black people; people who were interested in serving the community. It’s something I wanted to be a part of.”
White became an active member of Ohio State’s NSBE chapter. In 2003, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering and went to work as a supply quality engineer for Honda and Acura. She now works in Honda’s North American Purchasing office, overseeing some $500 million in spending on brake systems. But she wanted to continue working with NSBE and was surprised to find there was no Alumni chapter in Columbus. She teamed up with Honda coworker Kristy Thompson and a few others in 2005 to reactivate the Central Ohio Alumni Extension Chapter, with Thompson as president and White as secretary.
“In 2007,” says White, “Kristy was asked to serve regionally, as chair-elect for Region IV. So I became chapter president…. We’ve now grown to 60 paid members, and we have a strong relationship with the Ohio State chapter.”
White, a native of Columbus, has worked to expand outreach programs at the pre-college level in her hometown, including an annual scholarship breakfast. In addition to serving as chapter president, White has served since 2008 as the regional Alumni Extension secretary and regional Alumni Extension programs chair. Under her stewardship, the Central Ohio AE Chapter has won both the National Face-Time Award for its Collegiate Initiative programs, as well as the Regional Alumni Chapter of the Year Award, two years in a row.
Roger Witherspoon is a journalist and author based in New York.