Noah Gray is a student at UAH pursuing a Bachelors in sociology with a minor in political science. Born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina to a military family, Noah has been fortunate enough to be a Citizen Diplomat from a young age, living in Norway, Estonia, and Belgium for a total of eight years before he graduated high school at the Brussels American School in Brussels, Belgium. He moved nine times and attended 11 different schools before graduating high school. Noah took a gap year in Alabama before attending UAH in Fall of 2019, where he was very involved through starting the UAH Club Soccer team and pledging into the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Since his initiation, Noah has served as the fraternity’s Public Relations Chairman, their Recruitment Chairman, the Chapter’s President, and Director of one of the Chapter’s philanthropy events, the Bill Hallum Memorial Golf Tournament. Noah joined Global Ties Alabama as a University Intern in January 2023, and hopes to broaden his knowledge on interpersonal and international diplomacy before embarking on his career.

Roxie Hipps is a new resident to the Huntsville area moving from Florence, AL in 2022. Roxie is a new member of the Global Ties Alabama team. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Alabama in Political Science with a double minor in International Political Studies and Security & Emergency Management. Roxie is continuing to pursue higher education by working towards obtaining her Master’s at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and has plans to continue after to get her PH.D. Roxie has a strong passion for helping others with new experiences and looks forward to helping create these opportunities at Global Ties Alabama.

Jacob Inglis is a graduate student pursuing a degree in Public Affairs and Policy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He completed his undergraduate degree in International Relations at the University of Alabama with a specialty in Korean and Asian studies. Jacob lived in South Korea while participating in the U.S Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program in 2015 and returned to the country as a member of the 2019 cohort of the U.S Congress – Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program. Jacob has also been professionally involved with the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other U.S Government-funded exchange programs such as the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) and the Pan-Africa Youth Leadership Program (PAYLP) since he joined Global Ties Alabama in 2018 as a University Intern before becoming a Program Associate in 2021.

A native of Huntsville, AL, Kezia is well known in her community. Kezia served as one of Global Ties Alabama’s first outbound Central American Youth Ambassadors in 2014. She credits that experience for beginning her journey as a global citizen and love for the Spanish language. She graduated from Oakwood University in 2021 and is currently pursuing her master’s at Troy University. She has a love for global service and is continuously seeking new opportunities to show that the world is a classroom. Kezia is determined, persistent, goal oriented, and determined to educate others through cultural differences.

Born on Herbert Field Air Force Base, Josh Daniels began his career as global citizen early. Having lived overseas in Japan, Okinawa, Hawaii, and Guam, Josh was able to get an early appreciation for other cultures and an understanding of the importance of diplomacy. In 2018, Josh graduated from Mississippi State University with Bachelor’s in Business Administration/Marketing. During his time at university, he served as both an Orientation Leader and Alumni Delegate being a constant representation of MSU and their values. After graduating, he gained experience in both sales and customer service as an Executive Account Manager for Broadway Consulting Firm and later gained experience in international business as the Business Relations Coordinator for Global Diplomacy Continuum. He now serves as an Operations Associate for Global Ties Alabama, where he gains daily experience and appreciation for diplomacy and global citizenship.

Annette Philpo’t, Program Consultant for Global Ties Alabama, has developed international exchange programs for professionals and youth for eleven years with experience in virtual programming since June, 2020 including virtual student simulation programs.

She received her BA from Auburn University and an MA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her professional experience also includes teaching, historic preservation management, and grant writing,

Home for Annette is in Birmingham, the largest city in Alabama. Birmingham, a city known for its role in the Civil Rights Movement, will host the World Games in 2022.

Jacquelyn Gates Shipe is the Chief Executive Officer of Global Ties Alabama. Shipe is also the President and CEO of SOARing, LLC, which delivers global leadership development consulting services specializing in ethics and compliance, diversity and organizational culture
shaping. Her clients include the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank Group, Jacobs ESTS, ERC, Kaizer Permanente, Nationwide, Oakwood University, and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.

From 2008 to 2010 she served as the Associate Vice President of Development at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and from 2004-2006, she served as the Vice President for Advancement and Development at Oakwood University.

Shipe is the former Ethics Officer for the World Bank Group where she reported to the Office of the President and was a corporate officer for Duke Energy and Bell Atlantic/Verizon having served as the Vice President of Diversity, Ethics and Compliance. As a result of her impact in the area of domestic violence prevention, Verizon is today a leading corporate advocate in this work. Shipe also held strategic management positions at the Senn Delaney Leadership Consulting Group, Time Warner, PepsiCo, Revlon, and JCPenney.

Shipe is the former Chair of the Board of Directors of Global Ties U.S. She is an emeritus board member of the Ethics Officer Association and Operation ReachBack Inc. Shipe is on the Advisory Board of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College, the Advisory Committee of Oakwood University’s New Beginnings Single Parent Resource Center and is the Planned Giving Director of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc – of which she is one of its former national presidents. Shipe is an alumnus of the FBI Citizens Academy – Class of 2011 and Leadership Huntsville’s Class 29 and FOCUS Class 2004. She is the Women’s Ministries Leader of the Abundant Life SDA Church in New Market, AL.

Shipe has been cited by Ebony Magazine as one of America’s 100 Most Influential Blacks and
by Good Housekeeping Magazine as one of 100 Young Women of Promise. Shipe was inducted into the 2004 Women’s Hall of Fame at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina and is a 2021 Global Ties Network Decade of Impact Leadership Award Winner. She is a well-known speaker on ethics and values leadership, global diversity, women, education and youth issues.