BW announces 2023 Alumni Merit Award winners

The BW Alumni Merit Award recognizes alumni for exceptional accomplishments and dedicated service to their profession, community and alma mater.

Six highly accomplished BW alumni received the Alumni Merit Award, the most prestigious recognition granted by the university to its graduates, during a special ceremony held on April 28.

Ashlee Ammons '09
Broadcasting & Mass Communications

Ammons earned a Bachelor of Arts in broadcasting and mass communications and a minor in public relations in 2009. Her career springboard was being tapped to be LeBron James' first intern for LRMR Ventures, now in Akron, Ohio.

As a young events producer, Ammons worked with impressive A-listers, including Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jay-Z, as well as legacy brands like Moet Hennessy and Coca-Cola. She and her mother, Kerry Schrader, co-founded the start-up Mixtroz https://www.mixtroz.com/ in 2015 with the goal of making networking more effective and fun. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, the online platform has been featured by CNN, The New York Times and Forbes.

Ammons and Schrader have been celebrated as Black female entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur magazine, Inc. magazine, Amex and IFund Women of Color. Active in Birmingham's tech, civic and entrepreneurial spaces, Ammons serves on a variety of boards. In support of her alma mater, she has been an active guest speaker for students in BW's Center for Innovation and Growth.

Stanley C. Ball '08
Business Administration

Ball earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration with a minor in entrepreneurship at BW in 2008. He later earned his Juris Doctorate at Cleveland State University College of Law. Ball is the vice president and chief litigation counsel at Eaton Corporation in Cleveland.

At Eaton, he is responsible for resolving legal disputes involving Eaton's various business segments globally and oversees recovery efforts associated with fraud and theft investigations. Ball also represents Eaton's Business Roundtable staff team supporting efforts to advance racial equity and social justice initiatives, including the Second Chance Business Coalition, which consists of 45 of America's largest employers working to reduce employment barriers for justice-involved individuals.

Before joining Eaton, Ball practiced at Akerman LLP in Chicago as a complex commercial litigator and at Baker Hostetler LLP in Cleveland and Chicago on its white-collar investigations and securities enforcement and litigation team. He serves on the boards of Baldwin Wallace University, the Great Lakes Science Center and University Hospital's East Market District.

Michael E. Dubyak '73
Political Science

Dubyak was a political science major at BW. Upon graduating in 1973, he worked in the energy industry. He has more than 30 years of experience in the payment processing, information management services, and vehicle fleet and fuel industries.

He is the retired chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) at WEX, Inc, a leading international provider of business-to-business physical, digital and virtual card product solutions that went public under his leadership, trading as WEX on the NYSE. Beginning in 1986, he served in increasing positions of responsibility, mostly in marketing and sales, before ultimately taking the helm of the company.

Among other accolades, Dubyak was inducted into the Maine State Chamber's Business Hall of Fame and the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame. He has served on many boards of directors focused on the needs of Maine communities and was a member of the New England Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve.

In retirement, Dubyak continues his service as a founding board member and co-chair of FocusMaine, a private sector-led economic initiative, and as a trustee of the Harold Alfond Foundation, investing in education, health care and youth development.

Janet Gosche '82
Mathematics

Gosche earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from BW in 1982. Today, she is an executive advisor and fractional leader of Janet A. Gosche Consulting, with a passion for small business, working with entrepreneurs and helping lead senior management teams.
Gosche is also an advisor with the cybersecurity company OnCall Cyber, Ltd. She has led diversity and inclusion initiatives for more than 30 years and has researched, written and spoken on topics related to women in STEM.

Gosche's earlier career included 25 years with Accenture as well as the cybersecurity, computer forensics and legal technology company JurInnov, Ltd. and the global advisory firm Avasant, LLC, where she continues to serve as a distinguished fellow.

She holds a variety of board and membership roles in the community, including Saint Augustine Health Ministries and the FBI Citizens Academy Foundation of Cleveland. For BW, Gosche is a member of the Women for BW steering committee and the BW Mathematics Advisory Board. She lives in Avon, Ohio, with her husband of 35 years, Tim Opsitnick. They have three children and three grandchildren.

Amy Martin-Madeley '09, '15, '17
Education, Nursing

Martin-Madeley has earned three degrees from BW: a Bachelor of Science in middle childhood education, a Master of Arts in Education with a focus on mild/moderate needs and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (accelerated post-baccalaureate curriculum). She also studied abroad at York St. John University in the United Kingdom. She also holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Cleveland State University.

Martin-Madeley is a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN) on the traumatic brain injury floor and acute inpatient rehab unit at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. In addition to her regular duties of working with patients and families, she serves as the education coordinator for her floor, educating staff on providing the best possible patient care.

Martin-Madeley is a member of Sigma International Honorary Society for Nurses and has been featured in the Certified Rehab Nurse publication for her service and achievements. She served two years in Americorps with the Children's Hunger Alliance in Cleveland and raises donations supporting Cleveland nonprofits from within her role at MetroHealth. She is a member of BW's Nursing Advisory Council and a regular guest speaker for BW's Accelerated BSN program.

Mario Sinicariello '97
Business Administration

After immigrating to Cleveland from Uruguay, South America, Sinicariello began his career at National City Corporation. Shortly after, he entered BW's continuing education program, earning a Bachelor of Arts in business administration in 1997.

Sinicariello is president and CEO of Omni Smart Living, which he joined as a partner in 2016. Omni Smart Living operates 14 lifestyle living communities in Northeast Ohio, with the common goal of enhancing the quality of life for residents as they age and a "residents first" culture. Earlier in his career, Sinicariello underwrote loans for investment real estate clients with a focus on senior housing and later operated skilled care and assisted living communities in Connecticut.

He is active in the community as a Rotarian, volunteer and board member of the Cleveland Alzheimer's Association. Together with his business partner, Sinicariello's philanthropy has made significant life changes possible for individual children and their families from Central America and Ukraine.

Sinicariello has been the driving force behind discussions of a partnership between Vitalia and BW, which has included on-campus lifelong learning for Vitalia residents and experiential learning opportunities for students in the Carmel Boyer School of Business and Center for Innovation and Growth. Sinicariello lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with his wife, Ellen. They have two grown daughters.