Ryan Gies, MPA ’94, has been selected to receive the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Career Achievement.
Gies currently serves as director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. Director Gies has worked for the Youth Services Department since 1993, including the positions of bureau chief of subsidies and grants, subsidies manager and community corrections monitor. Throughout his career, he has worked with community programs for youth and subsidy funding to the county juvenile courts, including RECLAIM Ohio and the Youth Services Grant.
Kwame Christian, MA/JD ‘13, is receiving the Young Alumni Achievement Award.
Christian is the director of the American Negotiation Institute where he conducts trainings that empower professionals to persuade, lead and resolve conflict more effectively. He is dedicated to empowering others through the art and science of negotiation and persuasion. Christian is also the host of the negotiation podcast, Negotiate Anything. The podcast has a dedicated and growing following with listeners in more than 180 countries around the world.
Yvonne Lesicko, MPA ‘95, is being recognized with the Outstanding Alumni Service Award.
Lesicko has been a long-time supporter of the college’s NEW Leadership Ohio program that encourages collegiate women from throughout Ohio to seek public and political leadership roles and prepares them to one day run for office. She also served on the Glenn College POWER Commission, helping to raise over $150,000 for programming that trains women to run for office, work as community advocates and seek leadership roles. Sadly, Lesicko passed away this year but not before she made an indelible mark on the college’s leadership initiatives. While her energy and guidance will be deeply missed, her work will live on through the programs and women she helped to inspire to lead for decades to come.