WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors welcomes new members

Four eminent West Virginia University alumni were appointed to serve the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors at its fourth quarterly meeting on Friday, June 4. Kamau Brown, Gabrielle St. Léger, Nesha Sanghavi and Monté Williams have been selected to serve six-year terms.

During the meeting, the board also elected Todd Mount of Charleston to his first term as chair; Darren Feeley of Falls Church, Virginia, as vice chair; Tracy Schoenadel of Stamford, Connecticut, as secretary; and Greg Darby of Beckley as treasurer.

“Our new board members represent a wide range of expertise and success across very different industries and geographic locations,” Mount said. “Their unique backgrounds, talents and perspectives will help us to continue improving and maximizing the association’s engagement with our alumni. I’m excited to have such a diverse and accomplished group of alumni join our board. Kamau, Gabrielle, Nesha and Monté will bring tremendous energy to the organization through their love of the university. I look forward to working with them to advance the interests of West Virginia University, the WVU Alumni Association and our more than 200,000 graduates.”

Kamau Brown

Kamau Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in English and history as well as a master’s degree in industrial and labor relations from West Virginia University. Brown completed both degrees while playing football for the university, and later attended Harvard Business School’s Executive Program.

Brown currently works for Microsoft and manages Global Sales Accounts for LinkedIn. Throughout Brown‘s career, he has been accountable for cultivating executive relationships to increase revenue. With twenty years of experience, Brown is recognized for his expertise in activating corporate vision and transforming tactics into sustainable results. Brown has previously led marketing, sales, and M&A teams for Bain Capital portfolio companies, The Coca-Cola Company, Hess Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Company, PepsiCo, Inc. and DuPont Chemicals, where he first began his career in their Executive Leadership Program.

Brown lives in New York City with his wife and son.

Gabrielle St. Léger

Gabrielle St. Léger, a three-time graduate of West Virginia University, completed her bachelor’s degree in English and her master’s degree in secondary education and language arts before earning her doctorate degree in educational leadership studies and higher education administration. During her time as an undergraduate student, St. Léger competed on the varsity track and field team.

St. Léger serves as the assistant vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students at Hofstra University. She has dedicated her career in higher education leadership to serving students; her efforts forge multidisciplinary partnerships, both on and off campus, that create leadership opportunities and support student success and social mobility. St. Léger has served the New York Institute of Technology as the dean of students, as well as other universities in student affairs leadership roles including Ohio State and WVU. 

In 2018, St. Léger was recognized nationally by the Association of College Personnel Administrators as a Diamond Honoree.

St. Léger lives in Hempstead, New York.

Nesha Sanghavi

Nesha Sanghavi is a graduate of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics and West Virginia’s 2016 Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2018, she established a scholarship and enrichment fund at the College to inspire and support others. A year later, Sanghavi was inducted into the John Chambers College Roll of Distinguished Alumni as the youngest inductee in history and in the same year, delivered the WVU December Commencement keynote address. 

Sanghavi is the owner and president of women’s clothing brands UG Apparel and chicka-d, which hold collegiate licensing contracts for more than 250 universities and can be found in more than 500 retailers across the United States. Sanghavi founded UG Apparel shortly after graduation; she was inspired to create her company during her travel as a WVU cheerleader, where she noticed a lack of feminine appeal in WVU-branded clothing. Sanghavi has worked as a financial analyst and attended design school at Parsons School of Design |The New School, receiving an AAS degree in Fashion Marketing.

Sanghavi and her husband reside in Austin, Texas.

Monté Williams

Monté Williams, Esq. is a three-time alumnus of West Virginia University; he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences before graduating from the College of Law. Williams was a member of Mountain Honorary, the Lugar Trial Association and the football team.

Williams currently leads the General Litigation Practice Group at Steptoe & Johnson in Morgantown where he represents government agencies and individual clients in matters related to premises liability, personal injury, contract dispute, and professional liability. Williams leads the firm’s Oil and Gas Emergency Response Team, chairs the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and serves on the firm’s cybersecurity taskforce. Prior to joining Steptoe & Johnson, Williams spent nearly a decade as a trooper and investigator for the West Virginia State Police.

Williams has recently served as the commissioner for the West Virginia Ethics Commission and secretary for the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia. He has dedicated years of service as a board member to several organizations including Leadership West Virginia, Mon Valley Habitat for Humanity, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and the West Virginia Bar Foundation.

Williams lives in Morgantown.

The WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors will meet again in September.

-WVU-

mb/06/04/21

CONTACT: Meridith Balas
Director of Alumni Engagement
WVU Alumni Association
Meridith.Balas@mail.wvu.edu

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