New members bring fresh perspectives to Alumni Advisory Board

The following content first appeared on the news page while UMass Global operated under its former name of Brandman University.

The Alumni Advisory Board recently welcomed three new members, each of whom brings a new way of looking at alumni matters to the body. The recent appointees include the panel’s first-ever member who completed a Brandman MyPath^TM degree as well as two new members who can, respectively, provide insights on topics of interest to alumni in the Bay Area and Central Valley regions of California.

The new members:

• Kayla Crooks, M.B.A. '14, is the director of U.S. operations for Wix.com, a San Francisco-based website design company. Crooks oversees a multi-million dollar office operation and has also organized teambuilding activities and employee clubs. She was confirmed to the board on May 14.
• Nathan Diamond, B.B.A. '20, attained alumni status after completing a Brandman MyPath^TM program, the first member of the board to do so. He now works as a business analyst examining activities related to manufacturing, supply chains and cost accounting for Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc. a frozen foods company headquartered in Ontario, California. He was confirmed to the board on March 12.
• Diamond Muganzo, B.A. '17, lives in Bakersfield and is a substitute teacher and co-founder of the nonprofit Kenya My People Ministries. Muganzo, who is continuing her education as a student in Brandman’s Master of Arts in Education, Educational Leadership program, also knows and has taught American Sign Language. Diamond was also confirmed to the board on March 12.

Many Alumni Advisory Board members live near Brandman’s Irvine headquarters. The new members will help their colleagues be more aware of alumni concerns in other regions where Brandman maintains campuses, as well as topics affecting the growing number of alumni who have earned their degrees via Brandman MyPath^TM, the university’s self-paced, competency-based alternative to credit hour programs.

“Being a CBE graduate I believe is extremely valuable to help represent a newer segment of students. The fully online experience is different in many ways and having this perspective is important,” Nathan Diamond wrote in his application to join the board. “Interaction with teachers, staff, and other faculty is substantially different, so solutions and offerings might need tailoring with these students in mind.”

The advisory board is adding additional members, and Director of Alumni Relations Jana Cupp said she looks forward to the board becoming more culturally, geographically and professionally diverse in the future. To become more inclusive of alumni who earned degrees in a broad range of disciplines, the advisory board would benefit from new members holding degrees in subjects related to mental health care, nursing and social work.