ATLANTA — The Georgia State University Honors College is pleased to announce that Gabrielle Arrington has been named the first recipient of the Honors College Alumni Achievement Award. The award was created to recognize outstanding alumni who have made significant contributions to their industry or community.
Arrington graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology as well as a certification in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. She credits Georgia State with encouraging intersectional partnership with nonprofits, businesses and government agencies to tackle large-scale social issues.
“The problems we’re solving are intersectional and cover different areas, so being solution oriented also requires a very collaborative approach,” she said.
After graduation, she worked with Operation HOPE, an organization that expands economic opportunity by teaching financial literacy, providing individual coaching and offering courses that range from improving one’s credit score to buying a home.
“I feel like financial dignity is a social justice issue,” Arrington said. “Not having a bank account can be pivotal in terms of being able to achieve some sort of financial security for yourself on a basic level.”
Arrington is also interested in promoting environmental justice and sustainability. She organized GSU’s first Earth Day celebration when she was a student, and was a United Nations delegate through SustainUS, where she led a group in creating a sustainability policy platform.
She currently works for Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), a nonprofit that develops and implements diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies to help employers create more leadership opportunities for high-achieving individuals from Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities.
In her role as director of business development, she advises Fortune 500 companies on implementing best practices around DEI and creating more diversity at the top levels of leadership for people of color.
MLT also offers coaching to college students and people who are mid-career. She spoke fondly of her work as a coach for its Ascend Program, where she worked with first-generation, low-income college students to prepare them for academic success and career readiness.
“Being able to see students join organizations and become leaders, meet their goals and exceed their goals in terms of their grades, become leaders in Greek organizations, graduate on time and get great offers from companies was extremely satisfying to me,” she said.
She looks forward to continuing to have an impact on others throughout her career.
“I want to continue to advance public-private partnerships to address social issues,” she said.
She is particularly drawn to work that expands economic mobility and increases access to environmental justice, sustainability and health equity.
“I think sometimes students feel the pressure to choose one thing that they want to focus on or one passion. I would encourage students to continue to explore, continue taking risks and continue to build relationships that support those different passions and interests,” Arrington said. “I think that’s what I’m thankful for — that I was able to take those risks — and I was proud that I took those risks.”