Northwest Foundation welcomes 7 new members

Bilal Clarance, a resident of Berkeley, California, is an executive engineering leader with Google. He previously was senior director of data engineering for privacy and data solutions at Capital One Financial in the San Francisco area and worked at Apple Inc. in a variety of positions, including software engineer, senior software engineer and software engineering manager. He also played professional basketball for European teams from 2005 to 2009 and was a member of the Danish basketball national team from 1999 until 2008.

A native of Copenhagen, Denmark, he graduated from Northwest in 2005 with a degree in interactive digital media–computer science. He was a member of the Bearcat men’s basketball team as well as the DigEm club and the Middle East student organization. He received the Northwest Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Award in 2020.

Rodney Edge resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, where he is president and chief executive officer of Materiel Solutions, LLC, a global logistics firm that specializes in business development in federal government, commercial and international sectors. Previously, he enjoyed a U.S. Army career that spanned more than 20 years and culminated as chief executive officer at Fort Lee, Virginia. He served as diplomatic advisor to senior Saudi Arabian officials and as deputy division chief at the Pentagon.

A native of Washington, D.C., he graduated from Northwest in 1984 with his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and has master’s degrees in business administration and management from Central Michigan University and in military national resource strategy and policy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces-National Defense University. At Northwest, he was a cadet in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) as well as a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Harambee and the Bearcat track and field team. He received the Northwest Alumni Association’s Public Service Award in 2019.

Ryan Hamilton, of Liberty, Missouri, is a 1993 alumnus of Northwest. With his wife, Dina, he manages Hamilton Sport Complex, a non-profit foundation that provides access and growth opportunities to youth in the Kansas City, Missouri, area through sports. Previously, he was employed with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and with Cerner Corporation as a senior vice president and chief architect.

A native of Cainsville, Missouri, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwest in computer science.

Brian Hesse resides in Mamaroneck, New York, and is co-owner, president and chief executive officer of aluminum distributor PerenniAL. With more than 25 years of experience with metal manufacturing and distribution companies, he previously was president and chief executive officer of Rusal America Corp, a global-leading aluminum company; vice president of sales and marketing with Vedanta, a global natural resources company; global sales director with Aleris International, an aluminum producer; and held multiple roles with Ryerson, a leading metals distributor.

He graduated from Northwest in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. As a student he was a resident assistant, assistant hall director, student ambassador and a member of Delta Sigma Phi and the American Marketing Association.

Angela Moskow, a resident of Gladstone, New Jersey, is returning to the Board after serving from 2015 to 2021. She is the chief operating officer for Booth Legacy Ventures after working in the healthcare field for nearly three decades, including 27 years in sales, marketing and government relations with Sanofi, an international pharmaceutical company. From 2017 to 2021, she founded and operated Equity After Investment LLC, a brand marketing strategic consulting firm.

An alumna of the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond, she is daughter of Melvin and Valorie Booth, for which Northwest’s business school is named.

Deryk Powell resides in Lake Quivira, Kansas, and is president and chief operating officer of Velociti Inc., a leading provider of technology deployment and support services. The company is a partner of Northwest, providing Wi-Fi hardware for the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse and suites at Bearcat Stadium as well as serving as a client in 2017 to Knacktive, Northwest’s digital media marketing agency for advanced undergraduate students.

A native of Burlington Junction, Missouri, he graduated from Northwest in 1993 with his bachelor’s degree in public relations. As a student, he worked in advertising sales and was an advertising director with The Northwest Missourian newspaper and Heartland View magazine.

Dr. Thomas Vansaghi, resides in Kansas City, Missouri, and is employed at William Jewell College as an assistant professor of nonprofit leadership and director of strategic planning. His previous professional experience includes service as associate vice chancellor of college and community relations as well as interim director of the foundation at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City and as vice president for university relations at Northwest. He also worked as a legislative liaison for the state of Missouri, among other assignments related to state government and then-Gov. Mel Carnahan’s office. He has served on numerous Kansas City-area and state boards.

A native of St. Louis, he earned his bachelor’s degree in government in 1991 at Northwest in addition to a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. As a Northwest student, he was a Student Senate president and resident assistant in addition to having membership in the Delta Chi fraternity.