Meet our 2024 Jeanne Johnson Alumni Service Award recipient
Since 1984, the University of Oregon Alumni Association (UOAA) has chosen an alum who exemplifies loyalty, distinguished leadership, and generous contributions of time and talent to the university and its alumni association to receive the Jeanne Johnson Alumni Award. The UOAA is proud to announce that this year’s recipient is Ericka Warren, BA ’92 (Asian studies), MBA ’19.
Like Johnson, who served for many years as a UOAA staff member, Warren has tirelessly gone above and beyond to strengthen ties between alumni and the UO. As a student who returned to the university in her late forties, Warren took on the challenge of developing strategy for the UO's Black Cultural Center as her MBA capstone project and later helped to organize the first-ever Black Alumni reunion. Today, she works as an equity consultant whose clients have included the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement project, Habitat for Humanity PDX, and Multnomah County’s Albina and North PDX Library Project. This is in addition to her work as the President of the Black Alumni Network (BAN). Established in 2016, BAN seeks to foster community by providing opportunities to build strong personal and professional networks for Black alumni and students through mentorship, scholarship, and the celebration of Blackness.
“Ericka was the right person at the right time,” says Executive Director of the UOAA Raphe Beck. “She is a relentless recruiter of other volunteers, she has a wonderful vision of programming that will engage alumni and students, and she has a keen eye about the future and all the ways that alumni and students can come together. Under her leadership, BAN has grown, and I think that the organization has a lot of the wonderful characteristics that she does. It is ambitious, it is inspiring, and it is full of love.”
During the award ceremony, Beck acknowledged that historically students of color haven’t always had the most positive experience at the university. Together with BAN, Warren has been addressing these challenges and looks forward to holding the UO administration accountable in its mission to make sure that every student flourishes through its new strategic plan, Oregon Rising.
“Often our communities of color don’t rise along,” Warren says. “We don’t take to heart that if we raise the lowest of the communities, we all rise together. I want for every initiative to make sure that it includes our marginalized communities so that we no longer have to call them marginalized.”
One of the UOAA’s values is heritage, and the organization seeks to restore and build upon relationships, experiences, and memories to create a better future. Warren embodies this value, bringing over three decades of experience in strategic planning, operations, and finance management to her leadership of the BAN. Facilitating tough discussions and building inclusive communities are part of her daily work as she leverages the BAN Board and its passionate volunteers to ensure that the next generation thrives at the UO.
“We are reaching back and serving out of our heart to make sure that our kids, your kids, can come out and say, ‘I had the best experience at the UO,’” Warren says. “We yet have a lot of work to do, y’all.”
Find out more about last year’s Jeanne Johnson Award recipient, Dan Rodriguez, or visit the UOAA website to learn how to get involved with the Black Alumni Network.
Additional profiles on Ericka Warren
Building Sustainable Change
Executive MBA Drives UO Black Alumni Network and Reunion
June 19 Reception Aims to Advance Diversity
Voices on Racism
President's Diversity Advisory Community Council (PDACC)
School of Global Studies and Languages Alumni spotlight