Jamie Taylor ’02

After receiving her BA and MBA from Gannon, Jamie was hired as the first female head golf pro for a Cleveland Metroparks course and acquired her LPGA certification; over the next several years she managed two courses–a 27-hole and a 36-hole course, created several women’s golf initiatives, continued to work with the Greater Cleveland Junior Golf Scholarship Fund (GCJGSF) and was the first golf pro to give weekly tips on WKYC-TV, the local NBC affiliate. In 2010, she was elected to Laurel’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Wanting to play a larger role in advancing golf for women, especially girls and women of color, Jamie left Cleveland for sunny Florida to work for the LPGA Foundation where as the event coordinator she oversaw junior clinics and girls golf academies and scholarships and created the eLeader program, a volunteer program for girls ages 13-18. Promoted to LPGA Foundation Program manager she designed and developed the Girls Golf app and coached a first place junior championship team.

While at the LPGA she drew on her business degree and launched JT Mobile Training, a training program that teaches how to attract and retain diverse customers through customer awareness, retention and engagement training. In the fall of 2020, she left the LPGA as an employee, the organization is now a client, and started two additional business ventures: JamieGolf, a virtual golf experience for golfers of all skill levels, and The Black Golf Directory (BGD), which she created to elevate and promote African Americans in the golf industry. BGD offers a centralized resource of African American golf professionals, amateurs, juniors and businesses.

Ever mindful that her golf journey began in Cleveland and of giving back, Jamie has remained connected to the community, especially its youth, through the Greater Cleveland Junior Golf Scholarship Fund of which she was elected president in 2020–the first alum of its program to hold the leadership position–and is now its executive director.

For her passion for the role sports can play in developing youth, her dedication to diversifying the game of golf and her commitment to helping businesses grow through innovation and by strategically recruiting and retaining diverse customers, the Alumnae Association recognizes Jamie Taylor ’02 as the 2022 Young Alum of Distinction.