University of Kentucky MBA alum Mr. Damon J. Porter has been in corporate leadership roles for over 13 years and recently joined Grange Insurance at their corporate headquarters in Columbus, Ohio as their Chief Human Resources Officer in 2018. Damon is responsible for the strategic leadership and management of all Human Resources (HR) functions at Grange to support the overall business plan and strategic direction of the company.

Damon says, "One of my main motivations for getting my MBA right after my undergraduate education was to gain a broader perspective and to make myself more marketable. I wanted to gain additional skills, so I could contribute and grow in my career over a long period of time."

Damon has leveraged the MBA that he received at the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics and, in his current role, leads all HR functions including organizational development, talent management, employee engagement, strategic workforce planning, talent acquisition, learning and development, compensation, payroll, benefits, employee relations, performance management, employee recognition and policy development.

"Sometimes there are myths when it comes to HR; they only hire, fire and pay people," says Damon. "The reality is that the function entails so much more. In HR, we have the opportunity to engage employees and to create a dynamic corporate culture that will help unleash their vast potential."

Damon adds, "I firmly believe that people are the most important asset to any company. Developing, training and retaining talented people is an essential function of a good HR team. When you get people aligned and engaged properly, the sky's the limit and it's great to see that come to fruition."

Damon was a graduate of what's now known as the One Year MBA program at the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics. The One Year MBA program at Gatton targets young professionals and recent graduates from all majors that are seeking to further their business acumen in order to pursue various managerial, technical and leadership roles. In this program, students also get to apply what they are learning in class to real projects through the built-in internship experience called Project Connect.

"The UK MBA was the catalyst for my career," says Damon. "Without the MBA, I wouldn't have gained the necessary skills that were foundational to my long-term growth and development as a business leader."

In addition, Damon has served on various non-profit boards including the Housing and Neighborhood Development Service (HANDS), Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture.

"I grew up in a close-knit, hard-working family," says Damon. "I learned at an early age how important it is to serve others in the community and to be a servant leader. By serving others, we can create countless opportunities to benefit mankind and we can also engage in work that we are truly passionate about."

Before joining Grange, Damon was the Vice President of Talent Management and HR Business Partners at Erie Insurance Group; Vice President of HR Planning and Integration at Duke Energy and Senior Analyst of Executive Compensation at Cinergy. Damon graduated with his MBA and BBA (double major in Marketing and Management) at the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics. While at UK, he served as the President of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, the Vice President of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and was an active member of both the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) and INROADS. Damon is also an executive education graduate of the Strategic Leadership Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a member of the Center of Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Grange Insurance, founded in 1935, offers affordable and customizable auto, home and business insurance products. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the company operates in 13 states. Together with Integrity Insurance, their affiliate company, Grange sells exclusively through a network of approximately 4,000 independent agents. They serve customers throughout Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.