Great Grads: Jamerya Kelley
Verdict for Kelley is Wells Fargo, Then on to Law School
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As a first-generation college student, Jamerya Kelley had a big decision to make when searching for a university to begin her college education journey.
After attending a CIAA tournament with her mother in her junior year of high school where she witnessed the success of people who looked like her, she started researching HBCUs, and eventually concluded Johnson C. Smith University was the place for her.
Four years later, she is graduating with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and a minor in Pre-Law. She has landed a job with Wells Fargo in the CAO Analyst Program. But she plans to pursue a law degree and open her own law firm.
“I’m thrilled to make the switch from being a college student to working for corporate America after I graduate,” she said. “I believe this adjustment will have a significant impact on me.”
During her time at JCSU, Kelley has served as the vice president of Queen’s Organization, the president of Delta Mu Delta International Business Honor Society, a member of the Gamma Delta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first-ever Red Bull student marketeer at JCSU and the enrollment paraprofessional intern for the Becoming Kings program.
In 2022 and 2023, she was also a member of the HBCU Battle of the Brains competition during which she was trapped in a room for 24 hours to solve a case study provided by the National Football League.
“As the business analyst, I drafted the company’s business plan, executive summary and financial statements,” she said. “My team was selected as the NFL favorite and was eligible to participate in the NFL draft in 2022. While attending the NFL draft, I was able to make numerous lifelong contacts and represent my University in a positive light, which led to my nomination to attend the Black Sports Business Conference in Atlanta in May 2023.”
She said she’s most proud of her work in the Becoming Kings program because she was able to mentor young men who were entering college for the first time. The Becoming Kings program at JCSU is a six-week program including academic preparation, career exploration and cultural activities that aims to prepare young men for success in their freshman year fall semester and beyond.
“Every week, I made it a priority to take my mentees to different companies to get them internships and to create a familiarity with the workforce in Uptown Charlotte,” she said. “I ensured that the program operated efficiently and that the participants were prepared for their first year at JCSU. While doing this, I was able to give back to my University along with establishing a bond with my mentees involved with the program.”
The Becoming Kings program won the 2022 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for JCSU’s partnership in helping the FBI increase diversity and inclusion within the federal law enforcement agency.
Kelley said she learned a lot in the classroom, but most notably she learned the power of networking. She hopes her collegiate experiences can motivate other first-generation college students to achieve greatness at JCSU.