2024 Belk College of Business Alumni Awards

Darin Stafford ‘94 Accounting, Finance, will receive the Belk College’s highest honor, the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Darin Stafford has served as Chief Financial Officer of Amwins since October 2016. Amwins is a specialty insurance distributor and has grown from revenues of $830 million in 2016 to over $2.8 billion in 2024. He oversees Amwins global financial operations, including mergers & acquisitions, capital raising and investor relations.

Prior to Amwins, Darin served as vice president of Remington Outdoor Company, where he led a 40-member finance team with broad responsibility over corporate, operational and strategic finance, investor relations, shared services, treasury, risk management and real estate.  Before joining Remington, Darin worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Charlotte, as well as a three-year rotation in London, England, in various capital advisory, transactional due diligence, accounting advisory and audit roles.

A 1994 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with Bachelor of Science degrees in both finance and accounting, Darin is originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Distinguished Alumni Award celebrates alumni who have had a transforming influence on the college and the business community over a lifetime.

Kimberly Moore-Wright ‘95 Accounting, Chief Teammate Officer and Head of Enterprise Diversity for Truist Financial Corporation, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. 

Moore-Wright shares her strategic vision serving as the vice-chair of the Belk College of Business Board of Advisors. She also served as the presenter for the fall 2021 Belk College of Business C-Suite Speaker Series where he shared her advice on leadership, career development and relationship building with over 300 business students.  She also supports the Truist Immersive Learning Experience through which students gain hands-on knowledge, build connections and propel their career forward. 

At Truist,  Moore-Wright  is responsible for all aspects of human resource management, including teammate relations and talent acquisition, talent management, learning and development, teammate experience, payroll, total rewards, enterprise diversity, and human capital systems. She also oversees Truist Leadership Institute and is a member of Truist’s Operating Council.

In 2019, Moore-Wright was named chief human resources officer of Truist. Prior to that, she served as director of Marketing and Digital Sales for Truist. She began her career in the company’s Leadership Development Program and held various roles after graduating.

Moore-Wright is a member of the board of directors of the Truist Foundation, Freedom School Partners, and Greater Charlotte Go Red for Women Executive Leadership. She is on the board of advisors for the Belk College of Business, North Carolina State HR Advisory Board, and is a trustee for the National Urban League. She is also a member of The Links Inc. and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Moore-Wright earned her undergraduate degree in accounting from UNC Charlotte and MBA from North Carolina State University. She is also a graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

Kwame Molden ‘12 MBA is the Co-Founder & President of Springbreak (SPGBK) Watches, a designer watch company that provides an amazing variety of impactful, meaningful and affordable watches. SPGBK draws strength and inspiration from its co-founders’ community and culture, their beautiful childhood experience growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina and their strong passion for education.

Kwame proudly celebrates his Fayetteville origins through his watches: each model is designed as a tribute to a local school or community, with symbolic watch bands to match. His watch company has experienced rapid growth and achieved major retail distribution in 250+ stores including Nordstrom, Macy’s, Belk.  SPGBK was selected as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things 2023. His company has also garnered national attending from media outlets including Good Morning America, Oprah, New York Times, AfroTech, and more.

Kwame’s ardent devotion to charity through his communities has enabled him to donate watches totalling over $35,000 to teachers & staff across the nation, including the entire staff at his alma mater, E.E. Smith High School, as part of SPGBK’s School Giving program.

In addition to launching his watch business, Kwame spent over 10 years as a Senior Process Engineer for multiple Fortune 100 financial and retail companies in the Charlotte metropolitan area and has direct experience in managing and leading continuous improvement projects, designing core operational processes, and implementing enterprise wide technology solutions.

Kwame graduated from North Carolina A&T in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and he earned his Master of Business Administration from UNC Charlotte in 2012.

The Outstanding Young Alumni award recognizes an alumnus/na who is age 40 or younger, who has demonstrated achievement and shows a promising future in business.

Henry Atkins, president of Atkins Properties, LLC, will receive the Honorary Alumni Award. 

In addition to his role with Atkins Properties, Atkins is a partner and manager for TAG Ventures, LLC, a real estate development and investment company, a partner with Carolina Fresh Holdings, LLC, a franchisee of Tide Dry Cleaners, and partner and manager for Carolina G&C, LLC, ,a franchisee for Dairy Queen.  He has also held senior positions with Faison and Cousins Properties.

He has deep experience serving as an advocate and board member on numerous college and University boards, including the Belk College of Business board of advisors, the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate advisory board, the J. Murrey Atkins board of advisors, the UNC Charlotte Board of Visitors, the Athletic Foundation Board, The University Foundation Board and the Facilities Development Corp.  Atkins is the grandson of J. Murrey Atkins, after whom the UNC Charlotte library is named.

Atkins earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina, an MBA from the University of Idaho and a Master in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Atkins will receive the Belk College of Business Honorary Alumni Award that recognizes individuals who, while not graduates of the Belk College, have made significant contributions to its leadership, vision and educational mission.