Servant leadership is a firm pillar in the Colangelo College of Business, and four individuals will be honored Wednesday for their commitments, which reflect the sturdy foundation that sports business entrepreneur Jerry Colangelo built in the Valley 56 years ago.
Bill McKee, Brandy Labinjo, Mike Greenawalt and Karrin Taylor Robson were named recipients of the Colangelo Servant Leadership Awards, presented by Freeport-McMoRan. They will be recognized at a breakfast at 7:30 a.m. at Grand Canyon University’s Havoc House.
The award recipients were chosen for their service before self, humility, love and care for their team, and stewardship of their organization.
McKee, a scholar-in-residence at Valley Presbyterian Church and executive-in-residence at GCU, supported the installation of the Bloomberg terminals in the business college's Charles Schwab Finance Center. McKee also has hosted multisession lunches in which he educates students on the Bible, economics and human flourishing. He is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy and has held several executive positions in finance.
Labinjo, leader of executive operations support at APS, also performs as professional chair for APS’ African-American employee group. She is a member of the business college's Advisory Board and is an adjunct professor. Before working in the utility industry, Labinjo was in education and taught accounting and business law. She also held positions in finance and student advising.
Greenawalt, CEO of Rosendin Electric, was instrumental in partnering with GCU to create the University's Pre-Apprenticeship for Electricians pathway to address the shortages in the workforce. He started groups to intensify Rosendin’s Zero Tolerance for racism, discrimination and bullying, as well as set up a hotline to report discrimination. Greenawalt expanded training of Rosendin’s Respect for People program to include diversity and unconscious bias and launched an Emerging Leaders program.
Under Greenawalt, the Rosendin Foundation (the nonprofit charitable arm of Rosendin Holdings) allocated $1.8 million to 220 unique organizations across the nation.
Taylor Robson, founder and president of Arizona Strategies, a land-use strategy company, has mentored GCU students and allowed them to work on projects with her.
She has served on the boards of several government, community and economic development organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Phoenix, the Arizona Mexico Commission and the Joe Foss Institute. She is a member of the Civic Leaders Group for the Chief of Staff for the Air Force.
Servant leadership is one of the three pillars of the Colangelo College of Business, along with ethics and entrepreneurism. It is instructed in and out of the classroom.
Colangelo arrived in the Valley in 1968 with $300 and embarked on a career that included ownership of the Phoenix Suns and 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks; the creation and relocation of the Phoenix Mercury, Arizona Rattlers and Arizona Coyotes; reshaping the Valley skyline with two state-of-the-art sports facilities that invigorated downtown Phoenix; re-establishing worldwide dominance of USA Basketball; and serving as principal partner with JDM Partners, which embarked on a 60-year history of real estate acquisitions, development and management.
Don Cardon, Tommy Espinoza, Dawn Grove and Steve Zabilski were the 2023 Colangelo Servant Leadership recipients.
GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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