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This Alum Traces His Enrichment to His Ancestral and ISD Roots


By Gebreyesus "Gabe" Hamda

I trace my current personal, professional, and business enrichment to my ancestral heritage as well as to my classmates and faculty at the Florida State University ISD Program. I vividly recall frequent trips to a beer house on Tennessee Street (in Tallahassee, Florida) with classmates who joined the program from all corners of the USA, Australia, England, Central America, New York and West Africa. My classmates reminded me of my 20 brothers and sisters, who I left behind in my homeland of Ethiopia. I experienced true cultural diversity at its best. They taught me how to say "no" to pushy salespeople, how to challenge authority, how to enjoy an American football game, how not to intimidate professors with "smart-allicky" questions, and how to be "My Own Man" in the Wild, Wild Western World.

I used my African oral traditional learning techniques to facilitate knowledge transfer from my professors. Whenever the professors asked me to read five chapters for class assignments, I used to skip the reading and opted to engage in a dialogue with the professors. While some professors were not too crazy about giving up their "publish or perish" time for my preferred style of learning, a few gave in. Especially Roger Kaufman, who thrives on international "hop-skotching," got into the act.

With that said about my years in the ISD program during the 1980's, the employment world was very kind to me. Those were days when unemployment and inflation rates were in double digits. Despite the tough environment, my upbringing as an African village cattle herder, and my thorough education in the ISD Program helped me prepare for the following career destinations:

  • Research Assistant at the Center for Needs Assessment and Planning, Florida State University, where I learned how to make instant coffee and how to talk back to the professor in charge without being fired.

  • Governmental Analyst at the Florida Governor's Office, where I watched pizza eating, oyster peeling and beer drinking as prerequisites for passing a very serious piece of State Legislation.

  • Senior Human Resource Development Analyst at the Florida Department of Transportation, where I learned that bridge building and instructional system design both use the lock-step system model.

  • Instructional Designer at American Express, where for the first time, I accidentally discovered that "If VISA is the problem, American Express is the solution."

  • Business Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, where I unintentionally learned that the corporate world thrives on triple loyalty and support to the political parties on all sides of the aisle.

With unforgettable lessons from my ISD professors and my African ancestors who entrusted me to maintain a holistic view, I have been able to maintain a very active volunteer life. A partial list of my ventures include:

  • Leadership Retreat facilitator for the Jacksonville Urban League Auxiliary, where I coached volunteer leaders to balance counting their dollars (strategic) as well as their cents (tactical).

  • Chair, Leadership Development Institute at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, where I coached non-instructional design volunteers to be bold and develop instruction without fear of the Florida State ISD gurus.

  • Chair, Africa Committee, Jacksonville Sister Cities Association, where I facilitated the establishment of a sister city relationship between Jacksonville, Florida, and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. On this committee, I was driven by the realization that the elusive world peace begins with the friendships between mayors, mothers, volunteers, bean counters, students, technocrats, businesses, and artists of two townships of two separate worlds.

As the ultimate compliment and credit to the ISD Program, I founded International Culture and Technology Transfer, Inc., or ICATT (pronounced "eye cat"). The company is dedicated to helping organizations improve human performance through instructional design, instructional technology, human resource development, process improvement, program evaluation, and strategic direction setting. At ICATT, we have created a team environment, where professionals of diverse backgrounds can work together and have fun while helping our customers reach their potential.


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