ABOUT "TRUST-E"HILL
CHAmpion FOR OUR ALUMNI AND OUR UNIVERSITY
She is an ambassador for CAU and supports our dear alma mater by: serving the alumni association in leadership roles, mentoring students, fundraising, soliciting alumni support for students, keeping alumni informed, and enhancing alumni engagement by encouraging us to give our service and financial support to CAU.
Her innovative, servant leadership style and ideas, along with her professional experience, business acumen, resourcefulness, and alumni experience, are all transferrable to her success as the alumni liaison on our Board of Trustees.
The Loyal Clarkite
A native New Yorker, Ermina came to Clark College (now CAU), from Cairo, Georgia, and graduated with a BA in Business Education (1983).
She loves her school and is very grateful for all that she has been blessed with thanks to her college journey.
Ermina's commitment to get others involved has earned her the nickname "Miss Clark", and the reputation as a "go to" person from alumni and others who want information about the School, thanks to her dedication and creativity with social media to spread the word about CAU.
She is often present to support campus events, alumni meetings, athletic events, National Alumni meetings, the activities of students she mentors, and all things CAU.
No matter where she goes, if Ermina meets an alumnus, she will always ask, "Are you engaged with the University and receiving communication from the school?" It is a common sighting to see her with membership applications and a card swipe so you can conveniently pay your alumni chapter dues - on the spot. She's always going to ask if you are a member of the alumni association.
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The Alumni Advocate
Ermina is very passionate about the success and legacy of her alma mater. She has proven over the years that you don't have to hold office to be a leader, as she built a reputation for her grass roots approach to alumni engagement.
She also realizes that sometimes you must make sacrifices to step up and serve in a leadership role when necessary. When Ermina decided to run for President of the Atlanta Chapter, she realized a need to revitalize the brand and vibrancy of the Chapter. She does not hesitate to share praise and concerns from alumni with University stakeholders and alumni leadership. Ermina has truly proven over the years that you do not have to hold office to be a leader, as she has built a reputation for her grass roots approach to alumni engagement. Ermina is often called upon to apply her ingenuity and influence when is a need to rally alumni for support of our dear alma mater.
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Immediate Past President, Atlanta Chapter, CAUAA (4 yrs.)
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Current member of Constitution Committee, CAUAA
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Current member of Atlanta Chapter, CAUAA
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Active member of CAUAA (National Alumni Association)
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Former member of Clark Atlanta Athletics Booster Association (CAABA)
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Former member , Planning Committee of Panther 300 Club (Athletic Fundraising for CAABA)
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Former Atlanta Chapter Representative, HBCU Alliance (4 yrs.)
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Organically mentors students, supports student activities held on and off campus, and travels to support student athletes.
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Other Offices Held:
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National Membership Chair, CAUAA
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Atlanta Chapter – Chair, Political Action Committee
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Atlanta Chapter – Chair, Student Activities Committee
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Atlanta Chapter – Corresponding Secretary
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Atlanta Chapter - Nominations Committee
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Ermina genuinely believes that our voices as alumni matter and is passionate about getting us off the sidelines to take our rightful places as key stakeholders in the future of our dear Clark Atlanta University.
The Fundraiser
Ermina firmly believes and hopes that by being an example as an individual or an alumni chapter, when it comes to fundraising for our dear alma mater, she will inspire others to get involved, offer fresh ideas, and make improvements to existing initiatives.
She understands that Trustees should be influential and leading the way as it relates to fundraising and raising the profile of the University. During her first term, she collaborated with Institutional Advancement to get a resolution passed by the Board of Trustees that would give alumni some flexibility on the minimums needed to start a scholarship endowment. It pass unanimously.
During 2020 when the University didn't host any fundraisers, she had the idea to ask Alumni during our virtual Homecoming to give a portion of what they would have spent by attending Homecoming in person. She was asked by the Beta Psi 1923 Foundation to assist with marketing for their hugely successful Brick Campaign and she assists the MRTC Foundation - unsolicited - with their marketing for the annual Homecoming Party.
As a fundraiser for CAU, Ermina has hosted events with her CC '83 classmates that resulted in the "Standing In The Gap" scholarships for freshmen who need to fill a financial gap so they can stay in school. These events include "Art Walk & Wine Sip With A Twist of Jazz" (hosted in CAU Art Galleries), and selling Clark College paraphernalia. She also mentors the students who are beneficiaries of this scholarship. Ermina and her CC'83 classmates have shown initiative and empowered themselves to host these fundraisers to benefit the University and students in need of "gap" scholarships. She also mentors the recipients of these scholarships.
She raised funds for CAU with her fellow Fall '80 Greeks during their 30th Anniversary. This event inspired the Fall Lines of 1981 and 1982 to also host events during their 30th Anniversaries that benefitted CAU.
Ermina has given her time to marketing and promotion of the MRTC Endowment Scholarship Fund, started by one of her classmates, and formerly served on the Panther 300 Club Committee (fundraising for our student athletes). Her innovation as a leader was prevalent as the Atlanta Chapter was significant in helping to raise $48,000 within two months during the summer of 2016 for football scholarships.
As President of the Atlanta Chapter, Ermina easily leveraged her business acumen, relationships with alumni, and experience to generate new streams of revenue for the Atlanta Chapter, donations to CAU, and support for our students through scholarships and other in-kind donations. In her first year of serving the Atlanta alumni as President, the Chapter exceeded its Chapter goals to increase scholarship giving, increase revenue, and increase Chapter gifts to the University all by 100%! As a result, the Chapter received recognition during the annual May Weekend conference as the Chapter in CAUAA donating the most gifts to CAU during the 2015-16 fiscal year.
As a member of charter group for the CAU Cynthia Graham Hurd Memorial, Ermina helped to plan the initial memorial commemorating the death of Alpha Pi Soror Cynthia Graham Hurd (Emanuel 9) and continues to actively support and assist in plans and events for the Cynthia Graham Hurd Endowment Fund, and other commemorative activities.
In addition to regular newsletters from the Atlanta Chapter to keep alumni informed and engaged, Ermina developed a special theme day designated as "Philanthropy Friday". As a Chapter leader she's always seeking creative and effective ways to enhance alumni engagement and support of our dear alma mater.
She organized and hosted a virtual fundraiser with her Classmates during Homecoming 2020 to provide scholarships; the special guest was CAU President George T. French. Ermina spear-headed a campaign to solicit donations from alumni to the University that would reflect the expenses they would have paid had we been able to host our Homecoming. She saw the need for this because the University had been forced to cancel all fundraisers during the year because of the pandemic.
Alumna Hill also initiated a fundraiser with her classmates in July 2020 to celebrate our Consolidation Day as a University. Classmates were encouraged to donate at least $19.83 to represent our Class Year, and the Class of '83 also issued a challenge to all alumni to donate.
The Professional
Ermina has been the CEO of her company, Innovative Benefits Consultants for 13 years. She became an entrepreneur after over 25 years of progressive experience within public and private sectors. Her versatile background includes roles in management, sales, operations banking, insurance, and administration. Her employers have included IBM, Georgia-Pacific, MARTA, Dow Chemical, and First Union Bank.
Today, as "The Benefits Lady", Ermina educates clients on innovative ways to use life insurance as a living benefit for protection of assets, retirement, business purposes, and senior benefits. She holds a professional license to offer insurance products in several states. Her corporate and entrepreneurial careers have exposed her to all levels of business and corporate leadership, up to and including the C-Suite.
Her innovative, servant leadership style and ideas, along with her work ethic, business acumen, resourcefulness, and alumni experience, have all been transferrable to her success as an alumni liaison and leader for CAU. With an eye and ear for what matters to our alumni, her skills and experiences have made Ermina a natural to mediate, negotiate, and collaborate with various alumni constituencies and CAU's administration, to help our University achieve its goals.
She does not hesitate to share praise and concerns from professions, interests and values held by current members of our Board, to help our University achieve its goals.