Introducing Three More Alumni Board Members

Last month in “Quest” we introduced you to two of our five new Alumni Advisory Board members, John-Paul Adrian (2003) and Julie Gehrki (1998).  This month, we would like to introduce you to the other three, David Buckholtz (1993), Crystal Williams (2003) and Austin Shaw (2009).

David Buckholtz is a 1993 Coca-Cola Scholar from Sykesville, Maryland.  He is Vice-President and Divisional Chief Information Officer of Corporate Information Technology at Sony Pictures Entertainment.  He is responsible for setting and achieving technology strategy for the finance, human resources, legal, global communications, and security functions and providing shared information technology services and platforms across all divisions of the studio.

In his prior role at Sony Pictures he led the global CIO’s Office functions including shared technology strategy, global IT sourcing, and quality across the studio’s business units and territories. He also oversaw operation and support of Sony Pictures’ global business intelligence, identity management, integration, enterprise content, and collaboration platforms.

Before joining SPE, Mr. Buckholtz spent five years at the General Electric Company (GE). His roles at GE included chief architect for consulting services at GE Information Services, technology lead for several GE corporate digitization initiatives, and lead for various strategic customer initiatives as a Six Sigma Blackbelt. He moved to GE after working primarily in the financial services industry with customer internet applications at IBM and began his career as a marketing analyst for GTE Mobilnet, now part of Verizon Wireless.

David attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; and now lives with his wife Suzanne and son Levi in Santa Monica, California.  Over the years he has hired at least 10 Coca-Cola Scholars as interns or in full-time positions at Sony!

Crystal Williams, a 2003 Coca-Cola Scholar, grew up in Washington, DC, and was elected youth mayor of the District of Columbia by the Mayor Youth Leadership Institute while a sophomore in high school. In college, she was named Miss North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, which is her alma mater. Other achievements in college included co-founding the student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); being inducted into four honor societies; and placing in the top five at the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Competition of Black College Queens.  In her current role as Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, she manages recruitment in three states and thirty counties in North Carolina; develops relationships with high school administration, the university community, parents, and prospective students using various methods of communication; and develops strategies to increase enrollment.

She is a member of New Light Missionary Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.. In her spare time, Crystal enjoys shopping, spending quality time with family and friends, and Zumba!  She has also served on the Program Review Committee for one year, who are in charge of selecting our 250 Coca-Cola Scholars out of 2,200 Semifinalist applications!  And she is trying to start a regional connections group of Coke Scholars in the Greensboro/ Winston-Salem area.  Let her know if you are interested!

Austin Shaw, the 2009 Sandy Williams Alumni Legacy Scholar, is a Morehead-Cain Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well.  He is double majoring in Political Science, minoring in Business and is currently studying as an exchange student at King’s College in London. During the summer before his sophomore year he was a microfinance intern in Iganga, Uganda, where he worked with rural Savings & Credit Cooperatives. He also taught English in a local school. This past summer Austin interned for the non-profit “miraclefeet,” where he traveled to Ecuador to research the rate of clubfoot and ways in which to establish a national clubfoot health care program there.

In his spare time, Austin enjoys spending time with friends, traveling, and jogging. He plans to pursue a career in banking or consulting, with the hopes of one day starting his own non-profit.