“TIME FOR CHANGE: ALPHAS TAKING A STAND”
Introduction of Speaker Bro. William Fry Arnold
Founders’ Day Address Bro. Issac Addae, PhD. Author: Black Boys Fly
Pan-Hellenic Pause Bro. Anthony Sledge Pan-Hellenic Counsel President Past President - ΑΔΛ
Community Service Award Bro. Daron A. Patterson, Sr.
Awards, Recognitions & Closing Remarks Bro. Anthony Branch ΑΔΛ Chapter President
Greek Medley Mrs. Yvonne Cleveland-Holmes Recessional
TIME FOR CHANGE: ALPHAS Taking A Stand 116th FOUNDERS’ DAY | 2022 3
Dr. Isaac Yao Addae
Dr. Isaac Yao Addae is an award-winning educator, author, speaker, and business strategist. He is an inspirational and servant leader that uses his influence to shift the trajectory of individuals, communities & organizations. As the oldest child of Ghanaian royalty, Dr. Addae was born in Greensboro, NC. He lived in Pine Bluff, AR from ages 5 to 15, and completed high school in Natchez, MS. His coming of age in the racialized South coupled with his Ghanaian heritage allow him to interpret the world through a unique, bicultural lens.
Due to his parent’s careers in academia, Dr. Addae spent many of his summers on Black college campuses. He is a staunch HBCU advocate and wields 10 years of experience as a college business professor, having educated nearly 2,000 minority students. Since 2015, Dr. Addae has been on the faculty at the Tennessee State University (TSU) College of Business, teaching courses in business strategy, entrepreneurship and leadership. He is an expert in social entrepreneurship with numerous scholarly contributions. His research has been published in various academic journals and he has presented at regional, national, and international conferences.
Dr. Addae serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of Pivot Technology School, a technology workforce development firm founded in 2019. By leveraging his expertise in business development and strategy, the firm was featured in Forbes, experienced tremendous growth during the pandemic, and will close 2022 with revenues over $1 million.
He advises C-suite executives at firms such as Nissan, Ingram, and Terracon on strategies related to leadership development, diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, Dr. Addae has more than 10 years of experience in coaching entrepreneurs and has advised over 50 business founders. To help Black entrepreneurs overcome the challenge of accessing capital, he formed Kente Capital as an emerging venture capital fund to offer equity financing for tech-based startups.
Isaac possesses 8 years of experience in consulting and technology systems development across the automotive, defense, and information technology industries. He began his engineering career at IBM, and held roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, and Raytheon. He ended his engineering career as a team leader of various multi-million-dollar, global defense programs requiring a topsecret clearance.
TIME FOR CHANGE: ALPHAS Taking A Stand 116th FOUNDERS’ DAY | 2022 4
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering at TSU. He also earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business Administration at Morgan State University.
As an engaged servant leader, Isaac is a board member of Corner To Corner, Knowledge Bank, Nashville Black Chamber, and the Nashville Metro Health and Educational Facilities board. In 2016, he created the Conscious Conversation community engagement platform, which galvanized the general public around economic development issues. Through this platform, Isaac organized and moderated over 20 community-based discussions on topics such as affordable housing and urban transportation. He is regarded for his ability to research, organize, and moderate conversations on complex issues with a variety of stakeholders in a unifying manner.
Dr. Addae has received numerous awards and recognition for his service and community engagement, including TSU National Alumni Association Top 40 Under 40 Award; TSU National Society of Leadership & Success Teaching Excellence Award, Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 Award, Nashville Chamber of Commerce Leadership Connect Award, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. South Eastern Region Connector Award, NAACP Nashville Branch Legacy Award.
He was initiated into the Beta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated on February 14, 2004. During his graduate studies at TSU, he served on the Beta Omicron chapter advisory team and the Tau Lambda chapter executive board as the corresponding secretary. When he returned to TSU as a faculty member, Dr. Addae continued his service as a chapter advisor. He is currently a member of the Tau Lambda chapter and a charter member of the newly formed Tau Alpha Lambda chapter in Accra, Ghana.
In the Fall of 2021, Dr. Addae released his first book, Black Boy Fly: Embracing My Ancestry, Blackness, and Purpose in the African Diaspora. The book serves as a tool to empower Black males to overcome obstacles and fly toward greatness by documenting his life as a firstgeneration Ghanaian-American. He has spoken to many audiences on the themes of his book.
Dr. Addae is married to Dr. Lakisha L. Simmons, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and award-winning expert in women’s financial empowerment. Together, they are raising their three sons to become intellectually curious and responsible young men. He is an avid runner and road cyclist having completed multiple half-marathons and 100-mile bike rides. He spends his free time enjoying family, traveling, reading, writing, and empowering the next generation of Black leaders.
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The House of Alpha
By Bro. Sidney P. Brown
GOODWILL is the monarch of this house Men, unacquainted, enter, shake hands, exchange greetings, and depart friends. Cordiality exists among all who abide within.
I am the eminent expression of friendship. Character and temperament change under my dominant power. Lives, once touched by me become tuned, and are thereafter, amiable, kindly, fraternal.
I inspire the musician to play noble sentiments, and assist the chemist to convert ungenerous personalities into individuals of great worth. I destroy all ignoble impulses. I constantly invoke principles which make for common brotherhood, and the echo resounds in all communities, and princely men are thereby recognized.
Education, health, music, encouragement, sympathy, laughter: All these are species of interest given of self-invested capital. Tired moments find me a delightful treat, Hours of sorrow a shrine of understanding, At all times I am faithful to the creed of companionship.
To a few I am the Castle of Dreams, Ambitious, successful, hopeful dreams.
To many, I am the Poetic Palace where human feeling is rhymed to celestial motives. To the great majority, I am the Treasury of Good Fellowship.
In fact, I am the College of Friendship; The University of Brotherly Love; The School for the Better Making of Men.
