CLEVELAND, Ohio – With more than 20 years of collegiate athletic administration experience, primarily in compliance, Alabama A&M Senior Associate Director of Athletics D’Wayne Robinson has a wealth of knowledge to offer and he will have the opportunity to do just that as he has been chosen to be a mentor as part of the 2022- 23 ACE Mentoring Program sponsored by the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC).
Standing for Athletics Compliance Elite, the program has been in existence since 2016 and is designed to provide career mentoring opportunities for both experienced and mid-level professionals during this prestigious year-long program.
One of just 11 individuals selected as a mentor in the New Professional track, Robinson will serve in that capacity for Emmanuel College’s Assistant Athletic Director of Compliance Whitnie Carter Riden for the 2022-23 campaign. During that time he will be serve as a confidant, advisor and teacher to Riden and will visit and observe her Compliance program. He is also the only individual, mentor or mentee, selected to the program.
An attorney with Lawson McKinley out of Atlanta, Georgia, Riden has been at NCAA Division II Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia since July of 2019. She began her time there as a compliance intern before being elevated to Assistant AD of Compliance the following October. This past November she added Senior Woman Administrator du- ties to her responsibilities.
That mentorship will begin in earnest on Sunday, June 26 with the introduction to the ACE Mentoring Program at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada as part of the annual NAAC Convention. Following that opportunity for each of the mentors and mentees to meet for the first time they will close the convention with a mentoring lunch on Wednesday, June 29.
“I’d like to first thank NAAC for this opportunity,” said Robinson. “This will be another great opportunity to serve as an ambassador for Alabama A&M University along with igniting my passion of providing development and growth to young professionals.”
Robinson is in his third year as Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance at Alabama A&M and has extensive experience in all aspects of compliance along with securing significant grants, major fundraising and increased revenue generation. He has previously served in compliance and leadership roles at Coppin State, Florida A&M, Alabama State, Al- corn State, Clark Atlanta, Cheyney and Florida State.