Above, left to right, in banner
Gabriel Foster ’12
Cody Messick ’10
Jasmine Tolbert ’15
Billy Henry ’14
Cameron Huegel ’12
Blake Huegel ’10
Jasmine Tolbert ’15 is a passionate advocate and volunteer who addresses systemic racism and racial inequities. Still early in her career, she’s already been lauded for her efforts in Clark County including receiving the Gen. George C. Marshall Leadership Award. In 2020, she was elected president of the NAACP after serving as its vice president for three years. While in college, Tolbert volunteered with YWCA Clark County and served on its board of directors. In 2021, she joined YWCA as their human resources director. She proudly works to eliminate racism and empower women in her community roles and career. Photo by Jasmine Tolbert. Watch Jasmine Tolbert’s video
Gabriel Foster ’12 is already giving back to his alma mater. A deputy prosecutor for Clark County, Foster provides career guidance and develops internships for current students through Clark College Foundation’s Alumni Relations program. He teaches a course at Clark on landlord-tenant law. An active community member, Foster raised more than $13,000 for the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital through Hudson’s Bay Foundation, the Vancouver, Wash., high school’s nonprofit organization. He also provides pro bono legal aid and training for younger lawyers and law students through the Clark County Volunteer Lawyers program. He is the 2019-2020 recipient.
Cameron ’12 and Blake ’10 Huegel are former Running Start students at Clark who bought their first property at ages 17 and 19, respectively. Today, Cameron, 23, and Blake, 25, run an eldercare residential home business and own several properties. Premier Residential Living are adult family homecare facilities located in Vancouver, Battle Ground and Brush Prairie that house up to six residents each. Their clients’ needs range from independent living to assisted living for those with dementia to end-of-life hospice care. Every day the brothers are reminded why they chose this line of work: they love family and these intimate homes allow them to get to know each resident personally. They are the 2018 recipients. Watch their video.
Cody Messick ’10 is a doctoral student in physics at Pennsylvania State University and was part of the team that detected the presence of gravitational waves at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington State and Louisiana in 2015. He is a current executive committee student member of the American Physical Society’s Division of Gravitational Physics. He was a math tutor at Clark, a Physics Days host at University of Washington and a gravitational wave summer camp organizer at Pennsylvania State University. He is the 2017 recipient. Listen to a podcast with Cody Messick. Watch his video.
Billy Henry ’14 is founder and executive director of Northwest Association for Blind Athletes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for blind and visually impaired people to participate in sports and physical activities. He founded the organization in 2007, when he was all of 15 years old. Henry, who is legally blind due to a congenital condition called optic nerve hypoplasia, might well have become part of that 70 percent of non-active youth if he hadn’t discovered the sport of powerlifting in his teens. Energized by what he calls the “life-changing” boost in self-confidence and strength provided by competing in this sport, he decided to create the NWABA to share that feeling with other blind and visually impaired people. He is the 2015 recipient. Read more about Billy Henry.
Naomi Kay ’14 is a mentor who teaches others about responsibility, community and respect. She is a firm believer that each person has a valuable place on earth, and you cannot judge a person from the outside. Kay has worked at Clark College since 2006 and is a program specialist in eLearning. She pursued her education while working full time at Clark, graduating in 2010. Naomi is devoted to mentoring all who walk through her door and strives to model a future of success for all by teaching responsibility, respect and the benefits of community involvement. She is the 2015 recipient.
