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Alumni

Josiah Holland


Class of: 2018
Hometown: Midlothian, TX
School: Peabody College of Education & Human Development
Major(s): Human and Organizational Development
Minors(s): Corporate Strategy; Religious Studies

Some of Josiah’s first experiences in community service involved building relationships among Fort Worth’s homeless population.  During his first year at Vanderbilt, Josiah found joy in engaging Nashville’s homeless community through Room in the Inn.  However, he quickly fell in love with the work of Preston Taylor Ministries (PTM) after being introduced to the organization by an older Ingram Scholar, and he has since committed most of his time in service to PTM.

After three years of mentoring and tutoring through Big Brothers Big Sisters and Preston Taylor Ministries (PTM), Josiah is eager to spend his senior year continuing to build relationships with the 6th and 7th graders he mentors and building PTM’s volunteer base at Vanderbilt.  As a sophomore, Josiah initiated a philanthropic partnership between his fraternity, Beta Upsilon Chi, and PTM.  This partnership has grown to include an average of 10 service events each semester, and under Josiah’s leadership, the fraternity saw a threefold increase in its philanthropic efforts in 2016. 

Following graduation, Josiah hopes to gain business experience in the U.S. before eventually making his way overseas to work in economic community development through social business.  His international interests stem from growing up in Togo, Africa until the age of ten, and with funding from the Ingram Scholarship Program, Josiah has been able to further explore this interest by spending two summers abroad working on summer projects.  In 2016, he worked in Honduras with Mission UpReach to research and develop a model for small-scale fish farming.  Building upon his work in Honduras, Josiah returned to his childhood country of Togo in 2017 to initiate a fish farming program through International LIteracy and Development (ILAD) Togo.  He recognizes that without the Ingram Scholarship Program’s advising, funding, and encouraging community, he would not have been able to so fully pursue his passions while at Vanderbilt and is thus grateful to the Ingram family, program staff, and other scholars who have made his college experience so impactful.