12 minute read
Inspiring by Example
Inspiring by Example
By Zac Howard (B.A. ’14)
Seizing opportunities offered to them after graduating, FSU alumnae Nada Usina (B.S. '93, M.S. '94), Stacie B. Harris (B.S. '02, J.D. '05), Loretta Jackson Brown (B.S.N. '87) and Anne Hamilton (B.S. '79) have elevated the university’s reputation to new heights through groundbreaking work in their respective fields.
Since 2016, the Florida State University Alumni Association has presented the Inspire Awards to alumnae of distinction with exceptional character who have demonstrated extraordinary success in their profession. In addition to conferring the 2021 Inspire Awards through an upcoming digital ceremony this March, the Association is highlighting one honoree from each of the past four years as part of the celebration. The university’s iconic legacy was built by women and it has been sustained, advanced and carried to the height of industry by women of true inspiration.
Stacie B. Harris cheers on the Noles during an FSU home football game. Harris was a member of the FSU All-Girl Varsity Cheerleading Squad from 2000-2002 and captain from 2001-2002.
Nada Usina
INSPIRE AWARD RECIPIENT, 2016
Nada Usina with her husband Gary and children Vuk and Mirko at the FSU vs. Boise State football game in August 2019.
Those who knew Nada Usina (B.S. '93, M.S. '94) when she was young might not have predicted that she would become a pioneer in the new media and mobile technology revolution of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but they likely expected her to succeed in whatever career path she followed.
The Toronto native currently serves as managing director at the global leadership advisory and search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. The daughter of a Yugoslav immigrant scientist and a former singing nun, Usina is the oldest of four children, and grew up in what she calls, “a super competitive family, one that valued education, athletics, music and well-roundedness.” She competed in seven sports in her youth, including swimming, which earned her a full scholarship to FSU.
Not long after graduating, Usina and her husband moved to Dallas. During her job hunt, Usina interviewed at a small company called AudioNet, where she met with the two enterprising founders, Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, who hired her on the spot. Usina ran the sports prosperities for AudioNet, which later became known as Broadcast.com — the first company ever to stream a live sporting event online.
“It was amazing,” she said, reflecting on the momentous time in her early 20s. “I did deals with teams and leagues. I built webpages. I connected satellite dishes and couplers, and whatever else needed to happen to get sports streamed live on the internet back in the 1990s. It sort of all came together and we built an industry.”
“The company went public in 1998 and was purchased by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion. Though still in its infancy, Usina understood the internet’s limitless capacity. It was very clear to me that that was where the future would go,” she said. “The fact that it’s taken 20 years to get where it’s gotten to, I find fascinating. You sort of see the picture and paint it. That’s what we were doing as fast as we could.”
“Following the acquisition, Usina stayed with Yahoo for another three years before joining the cellular powerhouse Nokia in 2002, where she rose to president of Nokia Canada. While there, she facilitated tremendous innovation, such as adding games to cell phones and allowing users to keep their mobile number when changing providers.
In 2005, Usina led a startup known as XOS Technologies as president, a role she maintained after JumpTV acquired the company for $60 million and at age 33, she became the president of a public company in the techspace. JumpTV merged with Neulion, where Usina remained on as president, which is now part of the global leader Endeavor Streaming.
Today, Usina helps match many of the world’s top companies with visionary leaders like herself. “Right now, I have a view into the C-suite around countries, and that’s a really cool vantage point,” she said. For FSU students and alumni, Usina says executive connections are ample across industry, making the possibilities limitless. “You can absolutely make the connections and leverage them to wherever you want to take them.”
Stacie B. Harris
INSPIRE AWARD RECIPIENT, 2017
Stacie B. Harris gives the welcome remarks at the National Law Enforcement Training for Child Exploitation in Atlanta, Georgia, in June 2019.
The daughter of two public servants, Tallahassee native Stacie B. Harris (B.S. ’02, J.D. ’05) aspired to do the lifesaving work of a medical doctor when she grew up.
Harris, a federal prosecutor, ultimately opted for law school rather than medical school, but the contributions of her vocation are no less heroic than those of a cardiologist or neurosurgeon. She currently serves as an associate deputy attorney general, the national coordinator for child exploitation prevention and interdiction, and the national human trafficking coordinator for the United States Department of Justice, having joined the staff of the United States Deputy Attorney General in 2018. She received the statewide Human Trafficking Prosecutor of the Year Award from Florida’s governor and attorney general in 2013.
Once a pre-med student at the University of Florida, Harris moved back home to attend FSU, and she was a cheerleader at Florida State during some of the Seminoles’ best seasons in football. After graduating from law school, Harris worked in private practice in Tampa for three years before jumping at the opportunity to become a federal prosecutor in 2008.
Harris also took on the daunting role of human trafficking coordinator for the Middle District of Florida, working closely with the FBI’s Innocence Lost Initiative, a program dedicated to investigating and prosecuting Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.
“Back in 2008, society looked at prostitution very differently than it does now” she said, noting that underaged sex workers received far less sympathy than they do today. “These were cases that people, including prosecutors, weren’t excited to do. You’d often hear comments like, ‘They’re victimless crimes.’”
Understandably, Harris said more than a dozen years on the job has taken a toll. She credits her counselor, church and family for providing the necessary support that allows her to carry on with her arduous work. Of course, the reward is invaluable.
“It has been great to see how the attention we have brought to the issue has changed society’s perception about our most vulnerable citizens; but most importantly, the work that’s being done is giving these men and women a voice” she said.
Loretta Jackson Brown
INSPIRE AWARD RECIPIENT, 2018
Loretta Jackson Brown at the Atlanta Seminole Club's 2019 Seminole Service Day at the Atlanta Food Bank.
When Loretta Jackson Brown (B.S.N. ’87), senior health specialist and team lead at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), met with the residents of Flint, Michigan, during the city’s water contamination crisis of 2016, she learned an important lesson.
Building trust with strangers isn’t easy, yet it was essential for Brown and her team to be effective in critical situations. She has responded to over a dozen public health emergencies, including Ebola, Zika and most recently COVID-19. Prior to joining CDC, Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, served as chief nurse executive for the 94th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base just outside of Atlanta. She learned about Air Force nursing during an FSU College of Nursing Career Day event and credits much of her success to the training she received in the military. She went on to complete her master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing.
In 1991, while stationed at Kessler Air Force Base (AFB) in Mississippi, Brown found her niche in nephrology, or kidney specialization. After three years at Travis AFB in California, she relocated to Dobbins AFB, just outside of Atlanta. While stationed at Dobbins, Brown deployed to Japan, Germany, Hawaii and Alaska for numerous domestic and international assignments. Notably, Brown helped facilitate the airlift evacuation of wounded soldiers in Southeast Asia as part of project Iraqi Freedom.
Brown has served on the board of directors for the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association (ANNA) and Emory Decatur Hospital in Atlanta. In 2020, she received the ANNA’s Nephrology Nurse Educator Award. Whether she is advising best practices for medical systems or on the ground assisting the public during a crisis, Brown maintains a selfless mindset.
Anne Hamilton
INSPIRE AWARD RECIPIENT, 2019
Anne Hamilton speaks on the live panel featuring the Inspire Award honorees at the 2019 ceremony in Orlando, Florida.
Anne Hamilton (B.S. ’79), vice president of global travel and expense management at Disney, has a life motto that sounds like it belongs in the script of a Disney movie.
"Why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary?” she says. Longtime employees at any company know that the culture inevitably rubs off on them, so Hamilton, who has worked at Disney since 1996, is a true believer in the iconic brand’s inspirational mission.
Yet anyone who knows Hamilton can attest that her life and career are not marked by magic or fantasy, but by her exemplary resolve, work ethic and magnanimity. “I always raise my hand for the hard projects,” she said. “The day you wake up and think you know it all, you’re dead.”
Staying hungry and humble has helped Hamilton rise to the top of her industry. In 2019, she received the Industry Leader Award from Meeting Professionals International, the event planning industry’s largest association.
Hamilton’s father worked in Miami’s thriving hotel business; she knew at an early age that she wanted to do the same, so FSU’s highly ranked Dedman School of Hospitality — now a college — made her university choice a no-brainer. After graduating, Hamilton began her career at Hyatt Hotels in 1980 and became director of sales and marketing for Hilton Hotels in 1989.
Seven years later, she found herself sitting next to a gentleman on an airplane who noticed Hamilton was wearing a Disney scarf and asked if she worked there. She replied that she did not, and then listed out many of the company’s shortcomings she had identified from afar. Her candor proved fortuitous in the long run, although slightly embarrassing in the moment given the stranger’s response.
“‘I’m the guy that just got hired by Disney to fix everything you just talked about,’” Hamilton recalled him saying. “And then he hired me three weeks later. I worked for him for 19 years.”
In addition to blazing a trail for other women to follow, Hamilton has always believed in giving back to her alma matter, often mentoring students and fellow alumni.
The Inspire Awards for FSU Women of Distinction: 2021 Recipients
ON MARCH 11, 2021, THE FSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WILL CONFER THE 2021 INSPIRE AWARDS IN A VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION AND CELEBRATE ITS FIFTH CLASS OF INDUSTRY LEADERS. THOSE RECIPIENTS ARE:
2021 PRESENTING SPONSOR
Cecelia Bonifay (B.A. ’71, M.S. ’76, J.D. ’85)
Cecelia Bonifay
Chair of Akerman’s Land Use and Development Practice, Bonifay helps developers navigate the governmental approval process for their real estate projects. Her professional accolades include recognition in Chambers USA and The Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in land use and zoning. Bonifay has devoted more than 25 years to her community, holding several leadership positions at the Urban Land Institute. She is a proud three-time alumna of Florida State University receiving a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1971, a Master of Science in Planning from the College of Social Sciences in 1976 and a Juris Doctor from the College of Law in 1985.
Marion Hargett (B.A. ’93)
Marion Hargett
Hargett is senior vice president of agency partnerships and national sales for Ampersand, a data-driven TV advertising sales and technology company. She is responsible for building and maintaining strategic relationships with Ampersand’s core clients and driving national sales efforts for the company’s advanced advertising products. She received a Bachelor of Arts in communications and education in 1993 from FSU, where she has served on the university’s Foundation Board of Trustees and Alumni Association National Board of Directors. Hargett has been recognized on numerous occasions for her sales leadership and success and received the FSU Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa and the FSU Alumni Association’s Grad Made Good Award in 2016.
J’Tia Hart (B.S. ’02)
J'Tia Hart
Hart is a nuclear engineer currently serving as the program lead in the Security Sciences Division at Argonne National Laboratory, where she directs analysis covering international affairs, nuclear energy and safety, energy security and cybersecurity to inform department decisions. She received a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from FSU in 2002 and holds her master’s and doctoral degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Hart has been nationally recognized for her outstanding leadership as a White House Fellowship finalist. Her outreach efforts have led to her designation as a Department of Energy Minority in Engineering (MIE) Champion Partner, an Intelligence Community Barrier Breaker and an Energy Slam Champion.
Nan Casper Hillis (B.S. ’76)
Nan Casper Hillis
Hillis earned a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University’s College of Business in 1976 with majors in marketing and finance. She is the senior vice president and chief strategy officer for Prime Meridian Bank. Hillis and her husband, Mark, have established seven endowed scholarships for students at FSU and one professorship in real estate. Additionally, they have donated to the FSU Alumni Center, the new College of Business building, Legacy Hall, and the Veterans Legacy Complex. Hillis is a member of the FSU College of Business Hall of Fame and a recipient of the following awards: FSU Alumni Circle of Gold, FSU Faculty Senate Mores Torch, FSU Real Estate Network, and the 2019 FSU Panhellenic Alumni Advisor of the Year.
