Longtime Cal State San Bernardino staff member Twillea Evans-Carthen ’92 has been awarded the Educational Leadership & Community Service Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Eta Nu Omega Chapter and the Inland Ivy Foundation.

Per the award’s spokesperson, Tonia Causey-Bush, “The criteria that the committee identified included someone with active, consistent and exemplary community service and involvement and presence in the Greater San Bernardino/Riverside areas including service in the church, someone who has served in education, and someone who has held positions of leadership and influence in our Sorority.”

Twillea Evans-Carthen ’92 has been awarded the Educational Leadership & Community Service Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Eta Nu Omega Chapter and the Inland Ivy Foundation.
Twillea Evans-Carthen ’92 has been awarded the Educational Leadership & Community Service Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Eta Nu Omega Chapter and the Inland Ivy Foundation.

Causey-Bush shared the key information from the nomination itself: “Twillea Evans-Carthen is a dedicated professional leader in the community, church, in our Eta Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc. and at Cal State University,” she said. “For over 20 years she has coordinated the Oratorical Contest and served organizations in the greater San Bernardino and Riverside community in many capacities. She is an outstanding leader, professor and most importantly a God-fearing woman, loving wife, mother, friend and advocate for change.”

Evans-Carthen expressed her thanks and gratitude for the award.

“This has been a humbling experience for showing empathy, exercising integrity, inspiring, and helping youth and adults in the community and classroom advance the pursuit of their dreams,” she said. “I am grateful and thankful to be able to help others all while being my authentic self.”

CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales praised Evans-Carthen for her dedication.

“CSUSB’s heart is tied to community outreach and supporting the community. Recognizing Twillea’s work in the community, on top of her deeply held commitment to CSUSB, is more than welcome,” Morales said. “The university is proud of all she has done and congratulates her on this honor and recognition.”

Added Bryan Haddock, chief of staff to Morales, “While I am new to the role of chief of staff, I have long been aware of Twillea’s reputation on the campus for integrity and commitment to the university along with its students, staff and faculty. This is a wonderful recognition of her career.”

While originally working in the office (now division) of Human Resources, Evans-Carthen currently serves as the university’s ombuds director and also as a lecturer in the Department of Public Administration in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration.

She is also a proud graduate of CSUSB. “I secured my master’s degree taking one class at a time starting in 1989 and completing my program December 1992,” Evans-Carthen explained. “I was a wife, mother of one, career woman, at the time that I returned to school and graduated with an MPA degree from CSUSB!”

In her role as ombuds director, she regularly schedules “Talks with Twillea” for the campus community to learn more about the ombuds offices and its services. National Ombuds Day this year is Oct. 13.

For additional information on the Ombuds Office, visit the University Ombuds Services website.