Legacy & Leaders honorees

UW Foster Honors Three Outstanding Business Leaders

Carmen Nazario, Christian Tinder, and Robert Goins recognized for contributions to the business community and the University of Washington

The Foster School of Business recently honored three outstanding business leaders—Carmen Nazario, Christian Tinder, and Robert Goins—with awards for their contributions to the community and the University of Washington. Faculty, students, and community members celebrated each award recipient at the recent Legacy & Leaders celebration. Legacy & Leaders is a new schoolwide celebration of bettering humanity through business and features the Foster School’s Consulting and Business Development Center’s Impact Awards.

Minority Business of the Year:
Carmen Nazario, President & CEO, ELYON International

Carmen Nazario
Carmen Nazario, left, with her daughter

The William D. Bradford Minority Business of the Year Award was awarded to Carmen Nazario, President & CEO of ELYON International. In presenting the award, Dean Emeritus William Bradford recognized Nazario’s accomplishments in leadership through Elyon’s revenue growth, management quality, and investments in efforts to grow other businesses owned by people of color.  

Nazario’s diverse upbringing across Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and the U.S. shaped her global perspective, which she has applied throughout her career. After joining the U.S. Army while attending the University of Puerto Rico, she transitioned into the corporate world, holding roles such as Project Manager and Information Systems Consultant. In 1997, she founded ELYON International, which provides Enterprise IT Services & Solutions, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and professional support to government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.  

 “I want to thank Dean Bradford,” Nazario said. “Because of him, companies like mine can succeed and have the resources to create wealth and create opportunities for other people as well.”

 

Alumni of the Year:
Christian Tinder, EY Seattle Office Managing Principal 

Christian Tinder
Dean Frank Hodge (right) celebrated Christian Tinder’s continued contributions to the Foster community.

The Alumni of the Year award went to Christian Tinder (BA 1999) in recognition of his continued contributions and investment of talent and resources, significantly advancing the CBDC’s mission. Tinder is the EY Seattle office managing principal.

“It’s important to have an Alumni of the Year award to celebrate what people are doing to elevate others in our community,” said Dean Frank Hodge. “It’s a way of recognizing those who have thought about how they can use their skills and the power that comes with their position to help others. And I think Christian is a perfect example of that.”

Board Fellow Award:
Robert Goins, Principal Engineering Manager, Mojang Studios

Robert Goins
Robert Goins (right) with Dean Hodge

The Board Fellow Award was presented to Robert Goins (MBA 2024). The honor is given to a recent Foster MBA graduate who has demonstrated exceptional skills, leadership ability, and commitment to inclusion and diversity through work with the CBDC.

“This program has given me direct insight and a practical line of sight into how a nonprofit board operates,” said Goins. “It’s shown me how boards solve critical problems for the organizations that they represent and how they can be good stewards to the community.”

Goins is a Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft, leading the team developing the Minecraft gameplay engine.  He recently graduated from Foster’s Technology Management MBA program and is earning a Master of Molecular Science and Engineering at the University of California Berkeley.

Learn more about the CBDC.

Avatar photo David Fenigsohn

David Fenigsohn is a Producer at the Foster School, and a former editor at MSNBC.com. He strives to be one of the better poker players in local road races or one of the faster runners in a poker game.