Board Member Spotlight: Devin Graham

June 3, 2024

BLF Board Member Devin Graham shares her story, from her roots in Cleveland through her time at Ohio State and her career path thus far. Check out our latest Board Member Spotlight to learn more!

Please start by sharing a little bit about your story and who you are.

I like to think that I'm a proud Ohioan - I always tell people that I'm from Cleveland and that I went to The Ohio State University. Growing up, my upbringing was honestly idyllic, I was encouraged to be a part of student & community organizations in High School (I was a Girl Scout for 10 years, Student Council President, Key Club, Valedictorian, etc) and be a leader, which is something that carried over to my Ohio State Experience as well. I'm an only child, love to travel, and try new things always. My mom and dad have been a huge inspiration for me growing up in terms of seeing them be leaders, work hard, build something from scratch, and know how to pivot and reinvent themselves over time.

Tell us about your career path thus far and the work you do in your current role.

While at Ohio State, I had a few different majors (yes I changed my major 4 times -- from Architecture to Pharmacy to Accounting, and finally to Human Resources), but once I found my sweet spot, I've been there ever since. After I graduated, I started at Nationwide in downtown Columbus as a Recruiting Coordinator, which basically meant that I organized all of the logistics for interviews, onboarded new employees once they started, that kind of thing. That role was contract, but I was able to secure a full-time role after 6 months as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Diversity Officer at the time, which was an amazing experience for me. I think that role is one that really helped me understand and have exposure to C-suite executives at a Fortune 100 company, how they operated, their thought process, how they spent their time, what conversations they had...it's been an experience that I constantly lean on and has helped further my career in ways that I didn't think it would have at the time. From there, I moved to JPMorgan Chase in Columbus and started working in Campus Recruiting. I relocated to the New York office in 2014 and started recruiting for the Asset & Wealth Management business; covering universities in the Midwest, Northeast, and our engagements at HBCUs. I loved working in Campus Recruiting and did it for six years - it was a dream to help students find their first job at JPMC and to get the opportunity to run the summer program each year. Professionally, I also made some of the most lasting work relationships of my career. I also learned how to structure new programs aimed at increasing Diversity & Inclusion. I ideated, created, and ran the first sophomore internship program for Wealth Management which has now blown up into a firmwide program under the Advancing Black and Latinx leaders umbrella.

That parlays well into my work at Google, where I lead Hiring Equity Strategy for a few of our businesses: Cloud, YouTube, Marketing, and CALA (Canada & Latin America). Me and my team sit within the Google Recruiting organization and work at the intersection of People Operations and business leaders to deliver inclusive hiring practices and data insights to leaders, all aimed at making Google a more representative company.

What are some personal interests and passions of yours?

The Arts - Super into the arts and love going to see broadways musicals, going to live shows at Brooklyn Steel and Blue Note Jazz Club, the ballet - my favorite companies are A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham (the Executive Director Sydnie Liggett is a OSU Alum), Alvin Ailey, and NYC Ballet. I also love going to big name concerts as well, and of course went to see Beyoncé Renaissance concert in London and hope to see Usher at Barclays if I can get tickets!!

Community Involvement - Being involved with community organizations and boards is super important to me because I love to give back to organizations that have given so much to me. It's an honor to serve on the Board of the Buckeye Leadership Fellows, and I'm always so impressed with the caliber of students that BLF selects and everything they accomplish at Ohio State and beyond. I am also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and at work co-lead the NYC Chapter of the Black Googler Network.

Foodie - Anytime I travel, I like to base a good section of my itinerary around where to eat. I absolutely love to try new restaurants anywhere I go. Last summer, I made a list of all of the major Italian restaurants in NYC and tried a new one each week. Would highly recommend Don Angie, Via Carota, and Lilia next time you're in NYC in case you need a recommendation :)

Health & Well-being - I'm really into boxing & strength training; as well as modalities that promote well being and relaxation like spas, sound baths, health tech like Oura ring insights, etc.

What’s one go to podcast/book for you that you would like others to check out?

One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay (yes, the one from The Bachelorette). It's a podcast about current events in Black culture & society, politics, etc. and I think it does such a good job of keeping up with headlines that I have heard about but also might have missed; and goes into deep detail about them. I always love a forensic deep dive into history, politics, and culture.

Separately, I always recommend Tiny Desk concerts on YouTube for those that haven't seen a ton of them. Some of my favorites are Jazmine Sullivan, H.E.R. Tank & the Bangas, Lake Street Dive, and Yebba.

Any shows that you are currently watching?

I'm definitely watching Love is Blind season 6 and you should be too.