Business Leaders Hall of Fame | JA of the Triad
Presented By The DeJoy-Wos Family Foundation
Join business and community leaders from across the Triad at one of North Carolina’s premier business events as we celebrate inspirational leaders and support the mission of Junior Achievement.
About the Event
Junior Achievement of the Triad’s Business Leaders Hall of Fame recognizes the remarkable contributions of business luminaries in our community, while also advancing the mission of Junior Achievement. Selected annually, inductees are honored each year at the gala dinner.
Join 450 of the areas’ top business and community leaders to celebrate this year’s Laureates with…
Cocktails – Live Jazz – Dining – Silent Auction
- Thursday | March 20th, 2025
- 5:30PM - 8:00PM
-
The Terrace at First Horizon Coliseum - Greensboro Complex
1921 West Gate City Boulevard
Greensboro, North Carolina, 27403
For more information contact Anna Liese Call, VP of Philanthropy at [email protected]
Presented By
Why Support
Junior Achievement?
Since 1965, JA has been on the forefront of empowering young minds and eradicating generational poverty.
We provide essential financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship programs to K5-12th grade students in high impact schools, equipping them with skills to achieve a lifetime of success.
JA programming plants seeds for success, teaches transferrable skills, feeds the workforce pipeline, and ultimately prepares young people to succeed in a global economy.
15,300+
student experiences
407
classrooms served
552
volunteers
Sponsorship Opportunities
By participating in our Business Leaders’ Hall of Fame event, you directly contribute to breaking the cycle of generational poverty and shaping children’s futures.
Across our five-county footprint, 80% of students we serve are economically disadvantaged. Your sponsorship helps provide life-changing financial literacy education to more than 15,000 local students and ensures that all programs remain cost-free.
Individual Ticket - $125
- You'll fund JA Programming for 2 students
Diamond Sponsor
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Additional Sponsorship
Benefits
By participating in our Business Leaders’ Hall of Fame event, you don’t only positively impact thousands of local students’ futures. Your business also benefits.
Your organization gains visibility in front of a distinguished audience of over
450
industry and community leaders.
Your brand will be featured in promotional materials, reaching a broad audience associated with one of NC’s largest business events.
2025 Hall of fame Laureate
Shirley T. Frye
Retired Community Leader
Shirley T. Frye, a longtime educator in Greensboro, North Carolina, received recognition in May 2022 with the Triad Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business Special Achievement Award. It was the most recent of many accolades she has earned in her lifetime, including The News & Record Woman of the Year Award in 2017 and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, one of North Carolina’s highest civilian honors.
After she earned her Bachelor of Science in education and english with highest honors from N.C. A&T State University, she taught at Washington Elementary School then earned her master’s degree in special education and Psychology to become a special education teacher in the Greensboro, North Carolina, community.
Frye later returned to N.C. A&T as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Development and University
Relations and as a Special Assistant to the Chancellor. That led her to serve as a Special Assistant to the President and Director of Planned Giving at the neighboring Bennett College. She also worked for the state Department of Public Instruction and retired as Vice President of Community Relations at WFMY News 2, where she won an Emmy.
Throughout her career, Frye has been a devoted community volunteer. She currently serves on the GlaxoSmithKlein Foundation Board of Directors. Previously, Frye served on the High Point University Board of Trustees for more than 20 years, on the Greensboro City Schools Board of Education, and chaired the steering committee for Action Greensboro.
“HPU is unique,” says Frye. “Its leadership, faculty and staff all work together in helping the student population, psychologically, academically, physically and spiritually. It’s what I call developing the ‘whole person.’ The students get the theoretical and the application sides while there. When graduation time comes, the students are ready for their chosen profession with lots of vigor.”
In the 1970s, Frye led the integration of Greensboro’s two segregated YWCAs, serving as the new organization’s first president, and her work became a model for YWCAs across the country. Greensboro’s newest YWCA building is named in her honor. Her leadership, civic engagement and dedication to public service is matched by that of her husband, retired Justice Henry Frye. He was noted as the first African American student to complete all three years of study and graduate from the University of North Carolina School of Law, the first Black man to be elected to the N.C. General Assembly in 1968, the first Black man appointed to the N.C. Supreme Court in 1983, and the first Black chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court in 1999.
2025 Hall of fame Laureate
Edmund R. Gant, Jr.
Glen Raven
Edmund R. Gant, Jr. (Eddie) is married to Allison Draper Gant, and together they have two grown children—Olivia Gant Miller and Edmund Gant III (married to Corinne). Their family has recently been blessed with a grandson, Thomas A. Miller, who brings immense joy to their lives.
Raised in Burlington, North Carolina, Gant graduated with a BS in Sports Management from Guilford College and furthered his education with a Focused Discipline Degree in Human Relations from Cornell University.
His first career spanned over nine years with the Boys and Girls Club of America, during which he made a lasting impact. Moving through various roles across North Carolina and Georgia, Eddie worked directly with over 1,000 at-risk youth. In his final role with the organization, he transformed a struggling location that had only 30 days of funds remaining by securing grants and private funding to create a secure six-year budget. Membership grew by 800%, and three additional service sites were opened. This experience shaped his view on the transformative power of education and the importance of understanding and engaging with communities in need. His first interaction with Junior Achievement (JA) came during this period, where he saw firsthand the value of partnering with JA.
His second career brought him to Glen Raven, Inc., a private textile marketing lifestyle brand company based in Burlington, NC. Over the years, he has held various roles within the company. Two core values of Glen Raven—”We get after it” and “Heart for People”—resonate with Gant personally. Glen Raven’s commitment to community engagement and volunteerism aligns with Gant’s personal belief in making communities stronger.
Gant’s community involvement is vast and varied. He has been an active participant in Junior Achievement, served as both an Elder and Deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Burlington, and taught youth Sunday School. His board memberships and leadership roles include the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, Alamance County Against Drug Abuse, Alamance Cares (AIDS Education), Burlington Community Land Trust, and Hospice of Alamance County, among others. He has served as Foundation Board President for Authoracare (Hospice) and held various cabinet roles with the United Way of Alamance County. His volunteer work extends to Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, and coaching basketball, and he has been an active participant in numerous fundraisers for breast cancer research.
The spirit of giving runs deep in Gant’s family. His great-grandfather was a community leader when Burlington was known as Company Shops, and his grandmother helped establish the first library in Burlington. His father, uncle, cousins, and extended family have all been involved in local, regional, and national causes with a shared goal of improving lives. His wife, Allison, has been equally engaged, passionately supporting public education, the arts, and services for women and mothers. Their children, Edmund and Olivia, have also found their own volunteer passions, continuing the family legacy of service.
Ultimately, Gant believes in serving not for personal recognition, but humbly and with a “silent boldness” that honors and dignifies those supported through his efforts.
2025 Hall of fame Laureate
Dr. Janet Spriggs
Forsyth Technical Community College
Dr. Janet N. Spriggs, the seventh President of Forsyth Technical Community College, assumed her role on January 1, 2019. With nearly three decades of leadership experience within the North Carolina Community College System, her career began in 1996, demonstrating unwavering commitment to community college leadership. Before joining Forsyth Tech, she made significant contributions as the Chief Operating Officer at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Carteret Community College.
Dr. Spriggs’ leadership has been nationally recognized through the Aspen Institute’s Community College Excellence Program. She holds the Aspen Presidential Fellow title, having received this honor twice. Initially, she was among the 40 leaders nationwide chosen for the 2018-2019 Aspen Rising Presidential Fellowship. Subsequently, in 2020, she was part of the inaugural
cohort of the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship, representing one of the 25 community college presidents selected for this prestigious program.
Dr. Spriggs’ journey echoes the theme of “Roots and Wings.” Her story begins in North Carolina, where she is deeply rooted in the values of faith, family, and hard work instilled by her loving parents and grandparents. As
a former community college student, she walked the path she now leads others on. She was a community college student at Rockingham Community College and Durham Technical Community College, experiencing firsthand
the transformative power of community college education. Dr. Spriggs earned her doctorate in higher education administration from Northeastern University. Her passion is in the power of education to change lives and community colleges’ vital role as catalysts for equitable access to postsecondary education and workforce and economic development. As a student-centered visionary, Dr. Spriggs fosters high-quality learning, strives to improve completion, advances equity of success for all students, and commits to expanding post-graduation success. In addition to her doctorate, she holds a master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree from Roger Williams University.
Dr. Spriggs champions the community college as a pivotal engine for breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty and advancing economic prosperity and workforce development. Embodying her conviction that “At the heart of remarkable leadership lies the courage to dream, the strength to care, and the power of authentic
relationships” (Dr. Janet N. Spriggs, 2023), she is committed to a student-centered approach, emphasizing quality learning, and nurturing a culture of belonging for each and every student.
Beyond her presidency, Dr. Spriggs contributes her expertise to several boards and commissions, including
serving on the executive committee and board of directors for Greater Winston-Salem, Inc., as Vice President
for the American Association of Women in Community Colleges, affecting change both within and outside the
academic sphere. She warmly invites engagement and dialogue through her Live Your Purpose Leadership website
at JanetSpriggs.com, where she explores the intersections of vision, heart, and the strength of our relationships.
In her life’s partnership with her husband Doug, spanning almost 40 years, Janet’s life outside her educational advocacy is equally rich and fulfilling. She finds joy and relaxation by navigating the fairways on a golf course with
Doug, capturing precious memories through photography, creating crochet gifts from her heart for friends and family, or losing herself in the pages of a book. Yet, above all, Janet cherishes the moments spent with their five children and five grandchildren, who are a constant wellspring of inspiration and a poignant reminder of the most important legacies we are meant to cultivate in our lives.
Thank you to our 2025 Event Sponsors!
Presented By
Diamond Sponsors
Platinum Sponsors
Joy Cohen Shavitz Foundation
Dawn S. Chaney Foundation
Wiseman Family Foundation
Gold Sponsors
Jim Morgan
Band & Stage Sponsor
Silent Auction Sponsor
