UOPX alumni spotlight: Devin Harrison

If you come across Devin Harrison (MBA, 2006) on social media, you’ll spot his favorite refrain: “Peace, beautiful people.” For Harrison, it’s more than just a saying often presented as a hashtag. It’s a mantra so important, “I even got it tattooed on my arm,” he says.

Harrison was hired at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) straight out of college as an engineer, and he has leveraged his positivity throughout his career. Today, he serves as an associate director at the VA, but he is also a small-business owner and a philanthropist. He makes the case, in other words, that light begets light. “In work and online, we have the choice to bring life or bring negativity,” he says, “and I choose to bring positivity.”

Harrison grew up in the Bronx and admits education wasn’t a priority. “Where I grew up, I didn’t see a lot of my peers go beyond high school, and if they did, it was in the military,” he says. “But I knew that college was going to be the next step for me because I wanted to change the situation I was in.”

To make that move, Harrison enrolled at South Carolina State University, where he received his degree in electrical engineering. During that time, an internship at a Charleston-area VA medical center turned into a job offer. Twenty-two years later, Harrison is still a VA employee — and as proud of it as ever.

“At first, if I’m being candid, I was just happy to have a job right of college,” says Harrison, who was married with one child before he even graduated. “But now I understand that this is the most meaningful work that I’ve ever done. Even … going through some of the uncertainty that we have been going through [as federal employees], the work is still to provide quality healthcare and healthcare environments for the veteran.”

Harrison’s appreciation for his career wasn’t the only thing to grow on the job. After three years with the VA, he began to consider upward mobility. When he had the chance to earn his MBA at University of Phoenix, Harrison felt he would need to round out the technical expertise he had developed during his undergrad years with the durable skills he would need in a leadership position. 

Harrison has never been afraid to do the work, but managing a full-time career and education — while his family at home continued to grow — was “a lot,” he says. He credits his wife, Shani, for helping him through. “I’m also very grateful for the flexibility that University of Phoenix provided, especially being able to do things remotely,” he adds.

Harrison also credits the collegiality of his classmates, many of whom were fellow working adults and parents who matched his positive outlook: “We all shared the same vision and could be there for each other,” Harrison says.

Even before he graduated, Harrison found himself putting his education to work, citing operations management and technology management as courses that aligned with his career. “Bringing value to our internal and external stakeholders while driving efficiencies is at the core of our work,” says Charles Tubbs, Harrison’s colleague at the VA, “and Devin’s education directly impacts our ability to carry out that work.” As a result, Harrison offers the kind of insight that leaders across the organization value, Tubbs says.

Or, as their fellow VA colleague LeAnn Schlamb puts it, Harrison’s education and work ethic demonstrate that “lifelong learning is a valuable asset.”

Harrison also emphasizes the value of using engineering to ultimately improve service. Today, for example, Harrison’s work at the VA involves designing medical facilities to serve patients as well as developing training spaces where employees learn how to work in environments engineered to improve patient outcomes and safety. It’s a fascinating blend of technology and human insights, as well as a role uniquely fit for Harrison and his dedication to service. Tubbs describes Devin as “a collaborator who works diligently to bring people together to get the mission done.”

Harrison’s journey took him from VA intern to employee to leader — and now his role as an ambassador for veteran care has inspired him to found a nonprofit, ICG Cares, where he has given back to those same veterans.

“We buy meals for families during the holidays as well as provide school supplies for youth going back to school. It’s been so important to be able to give back to the community,” Harrison says.

Meanwhile, with their daughter graduated from college and their son now in his junior year, Harrison and his wife are finding yet another way to bring positivity to the world. This time, it’s by publishing a journal — a dream journal, appropriately enough, which Harrison hopes can help people record their dreams as part of a daily routine and meditation.

“I’m just a regular guy,” he says. “Just a guy trying to leave his mark.”

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