Our 2022 Commencement Celebrations

Following decades in international business, Christine Brown-Quinn embarked on a new career in 2010 to share with aspiring professionals around the world practical, hands-on business strategies to fast-track their careers. She‘s been on a mission to bust the myth that a rewarding career and a fulfilling personal life have to be at loggerheads. Known as the ‘Female Capitalist’, Christine unveils what really matters in getting ahead in demanding corporate environments through her webinars, workshops and one-one coaching. As a former managing director in international finance in London, Christine is well versed in what it takes to forge a thriving career in highly pressurized, alpha environments. In March 2020 Christine launched her book Unlock Your Career Success – Knowing the Unwritten Rules Changes Everything. Christine has an undergraduate degree in Foreign Languages from Georgetown University (Cum Laude) and an MBA in International Business from the George Washington University (Beta Gamma Sigma scholar). Christine is currently president of the George Washington University’s Alumni Association and a member of the GW School of Business Dean’s Board of Advisors as well as the Dean’s Diversity Council. Christine’s leadership is grounded in the principles of integrity, diversity and inclusion, and courageous conversations.

W. Russell “Russ” Ramsey is a successful entrepreneur, financier, businessman, educational leader and philanthropist. He has built  multibillion dollar businesses in the fields of investment banking and money management, invested in dozens of start-up companies and has been an active philanthropic investor, helping at-risk families. Ramsey co-founded Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group (FBR) in 1989, a top-ten investment bank where he was president and co-chief executive officer through 2001. In 2005, the Ramsey family donated $1 million to GW to create the GW Ramsey Student Investment Fund (GW RSIF), a portfolio managed by GW MBA students, providing real world investment experience; the fund is the foundation for the GW Investment Institute. Now, GW MBA and undergraduate students manage approximately $8 million of endowment capital across four funds. The endowment payout from GW RSIF supports the GW Ramsey Scholars program where annually the top ten students each receive $5,000 and a GW Ramsey Scholar designation. To date, $150,000 has been awarded to 30 GW Ramsey Scholars. Ramsey serves as chair of the GW Investment Institute Governing Board. Ramsey is a native Washingtonian. He attended GW on a baseball scholarship and is a member of GW’s Athletic Hall of Fame and All-Century Team. In 2021, Ramsey was inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame.

Shadane Makeda Ferraro is a leader by nature, philanthropist, writer, motivational speaker and businesswoman. She started the Master of Tourism Administration (MTA) program in 2020, when the world was forced to shut its doors, and has paddled her way through the waves of the pandemic with her studies. Her highest achievement outside of scholastic settings was being part of a panel discussion with leaders from the UNWTO, Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), World Bank, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on poverty reduction, environmental protection, and climate change in 2017. Following the 2017 UNWTO conference, she was a representative of Jamaica at the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) conference in 2018 in Washington, D.C. In 2019, she took on the role as a hospitality F&B manager in training at the Country Club of Florida and moved on to Bald Head Island. Currently, Shadane is working on her first book to inspire the minds of children living in poverty by shifting the paradigm of a poverty driven mindset to one of abundance and prosperity. Recently, she was invited to the 36^th BEYA STEM conference, where she delivered a powerful message of resilience and courage that motivated more than 60 high school students on their transition to university life.