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A Gwinnett County trailblazer along with a formerly homeless student who will graduate with honors will be the featured speakers at Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) fall commencement taking place at 10 a.m. Dec. 14 at Gas South in Duluth.  
 
Commencement keynote speaker Nick Masino is the first GenX president and CEO of Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett. Masino installed the Chamber’s most diverse board of directors, implemented the organization’s strategic plan and earned its first-ever, five-star accreditation rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2022 and its first-ever global title as Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in 2023. 

Representing GGC’s student body will be Harrison Clark, an integrative studies major, who minored in African American studies and earned a paralegal certificate. Clark unexpectedly lost his mother on Christmas Eve when he was 13 years old. His grandmother, a retired veteran who served in the Army Corp of Engineers, cared for him after his mother’s death. Clark’s life took another tragic turn when his grandmother began to show signs of mental deterioration and was placed in an assisted care facility.

“I found myself sleeping in a Walmart parking lot in my car, often with just five dollars to my name,” Clark said.

Clark eventually found shelter with friends who encouraged him to apply to GGC, where he immersed himself in college clubs, activities and student leadership roles. He now works as a paralegal and plans to become an attorney one day.

Other notable students among the 560 graduates who will turn the tassel on their caps are nursing major Said Pasoon, a former Afghan doctor, business major Diana Bamfo, an immigrant from Ghana who plans to become an accountant, and information technology (IT) major Chizoba Okeke, who will work in IT security.