Alumni Spotlight

Noor Tagouri, a 2012 Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) graduate, made history as the youngest graduate to be selected as the 2012 Student Commencement Speaker at the 53rd Commencement Exercises of PGCC. She earned an Associate of Arts in General Studies, and her academic achievements included membership in Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and the Honors Academy. In addition, she made the Dean’s List with a 4.0-grade point average. She continued her education and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Maryland in 2014.

Ms. Tagouri has now emerged as an accomplished Muslim-American journalist and producer who has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, BBC, Washington Post, People, Refinery29, New York Times, TIME, CNN, Fox News. Noor has been featured on SXSW, TEDx, Create and Cultivate, and at Istanbul Fashion Week. Recently, she authored a chapter in the Because I Was a Girl anthology, a collection of inspiring true stories of women from all over.

Ms. Tagouri’s self-produced documentary, “The Trouble They’ve Seen: The Forest Haven Story,” landed her a role at Newsy, a national news network. She produced her groundbreaking series “Americanize Me” about the intersections of America and culture, as well as “A Woman’s Job,” a series that focused on labor and its unseen positive ripples. Her latest docu-series, “Sold in America,” examines the U.S. sex trade, aired on Hulu in February 2018.

Ms. Tagouri has built a socially-aware and engaged community of nearly one million social media followers and has received international acclaim. She has also initiated several empowerment projects and brand partnerships. The most notable is #TheNoorEffect, a streetwear line –– a collaboration with Lisn Up Clothing –– that was dedicated to advancing anti-sex trafficking efforts. It was her way to turn a personal love into a tool for change –– fashion into advocacy.

Growing up in Nigeria, Dr. Uzoma Okorie knew from an early age that he wanted to be a doctor. After encountering a child with a heart condition, he was drawn to pediatric cardiology. He enrolled in Prince George’s Community College in 1996 and transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dr. Okorie received his medical degree from Cornell University School of Medicine and is now a pediatric cardiologist who sees patients at the Marshfield Medical Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He was also featured in the Prince George’s Community College Student Success Stories and stated that the college was an incredible resource for him, financially and educationally.

He is married to Dr. Asha Okorie, an ophthalmologist, who also works with him at the medical center.

Victoria C. Taylor is a Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) alumna. She began her academic career at PGCC in 2006 and was the recipient of the Hillman Entrepreneurs Scholarship in 2008. She transferred to the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and earned her B.A.in 2011. She moved to Claremont, California to attend Claremont Graduate University where she earned her M.A. in Psychology with an interdisciplinary expertise in Health Behavior Research and Evaluation in 2013.

As a Washington, D.C. native, Mrs. Taylor returned to the Washington, D.C. area with her husband in 2014 and is currently working toward defending her dissertation as an EdD candidate at Grand Canyon University. Currently, she is an adjunct faculty member in the Social Sciences Department of the Humanities, English, and Social Sciences (HESS) Division at PGCC. She teaches General Psychology and Human Growth and Development courses and serves as the volunteer research team leader for the Psychology, Sociology, and Education (PSE) Collegian Center at PGCC. Lastly, she is a published co-author with works in a scholarly international journal in pursuit of expanding her research and teaching career as an early career scholar.

Jeremy Newkirk grew up in rural Wallace, North Carolina knowing that higher education would be the key to helping himobtain wealth in a thriving community. An alum of Prince George’s Community College, he remembers that the counselors and teachers were always helpful and informative, changing his outlook on learning. Prince George’s Community College was his launching pad to success.

Mr. Newkirk is the Founder of BeOfficial Management Group and creator of GoVirtualGreen.org.

Mr. Newkirk’s goal is to discover and help guide the experiences of highly intelligent individuals who are willing to invest in themselves, maintain a winning attitude, and demonstrate the hunger needed to determine their own destiny. He is giving back as a member of the Business Leadership Council at Prince George's Community College, with a desire to help the College further develop advance technology and STEM curriculum for youth.

An alumnae of the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program at Prince George’s Community College, Ms. Hayden cites the program as a major factor in preparing her to be successful when she was ready to transfer to the University of Maryland. Her most memorable experience was interviewing a Washington Wizards coach as part of her Hillman Entrepreneurs business plan course. She credits that experience in shaping her presentation skills today. Ms. Hayden is the creator of The Unique Seat, an innovative seating system.

Ms. Hayden came up with the idea for The Unique Seat when visiting the beach with her family and InventionHome worked closely with QVC to land Ms. Hayden a license agreement with a major manufacturer of beach and backyard furniture. She has been seen on American Dreams on HSN for inventors to showcase their products.

LaDonna M. Smith is no stranger to business or success. An alum of Prince George’s Community College, she is the owner of Philatonian Productions and Fire and Words Publishing. Ms. Smith stated that Prince George’s Community College made all the difference in her life because of the networking and opportunities she gained. She attributes the college with helping to get her foot into doors that may have otherwise been closed. A self-published author, Ms. Smith attributes her creativity to being encouraged to “improve and progress” at Prince George’s Community College. Ms. Smith acquired the Baltimore Pearls Semi Pro Basketball team and developed them into the PG Valor Basketball Team- Prince George's County’s first Professional Basketball Team. The team played their inaugural season in 2016 ending #2 in their division. Ms. Smith is working to make the team a strong branch of the American Basketball Association League.