UNC Charlotte’s Bank of America Alumni Network honored three distinguished individuals for their professional and community service achievements at a reception held at the Vue in Uptown Charlotte on Dec. 6.
Frenchie Wilson Brown (’91) received the Alumni Service Award, Julie Harris (’00) received the Professional Achievement Award, and Jarron Thomas (’12) received the Young Professional Award.
Brown (’91, criminal justice) is a senior project manager at Bank of America. She serves as co-chair of the LEAD for Women (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development for Women) Charlotte Charitable Involvement Committee and is a mentor and positive role model to the group’s 3,000 members. She has been called a fearless leader and advocate for woman and black professionals within Bank of America and the community. Brown has worked with many nonprofit organizations, including Dress for Success, the Girl Scouts, YWCA and Girl Talk. She was selected to participate in the Bank of America’s Women’s Executive Development Program and completed a law degree in May 2017.
Harris (’00, finance with a concentration in accounting) is an enterprise credit data, allowance and reporting risk executive with Bank of America. As the former executive sponsor of the FMAP (Finance Management Associate Program) in the CFO Group at Bank of America, she has shown great interest in developing students with the potential to become long-term hires at Bank of America. Together with her family, Harris established a scholarship that will allow students from the University’s Belk College of Business to travel internationally for study abroad programs, to attend professional conferences and present research alongside faculty mentors. She was recognized as one of Charlotte’s 40 Under 40 Leaders in Business by the Charlotte Business Journal in 2015 and served as chair of the Arts & Science Council 2017 Campaign for Global Risk. Harris is the incoming chair of the Belk College of Business Board of Advisors and serves on the UNC Charlotte Foundation Board, where she chairs the governance committee.
Thomas (’12, economics and sociology) is a business continuity consultant at Bank of America. He is co-founder of Jump Institute, a startup piloting software focused on equipping students for tomorrow by facilitating innovative approaches to STEAM education today. Thomas was recognized as the winner of City Startup Labs Business Pitch competition in 2014 for his entrepreneurial efforts in the EdTech space and was named one of Charlotte’s Top 30 under 30 by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the Board of Directors of 100 Black Men of Charlotte and was awarded the Lenny Springs Legacy Award in 2014 for his contributions to the UNC Charlotte chapter. Thomas was a Global Volunteer award recipient from Bank of America in 2017 for his efforts in the Charlotte community.
Photo: Johnathan Hill, Jarron Thomas, Julie Harris, Dean of the Belk College of Business Steve Ott, Lisa Hill and Frenchie Wilson Brown.