2023 BellXcel Peterkin Award Winner Named

Pursue our mission with energy and purpose; innovate bold, intuitive solutions; embrace personal responsibility; promote collaboration; trust and inclusiveness; empower results and impact – these are the core values of BellXcel. The annual Peterkin Award, named after Dr. Robert B. Peterkin, a pioneer in educational leadership and past BellXcel Board Director, celebrates the employee, nominated by their colleagues, that best exemplifies the organization’s core values. 

In January, BellXcel hosted its biennial company-wide convening in Boston, MA. The event included an evening gala and award ceremony where BellXcel CEO, Dr. Lauren Sanchez Gilbert, announced the winner of the 2023 Peterkin Award, Rashid Parham. Rashid began his career with BellXcel in 2008, making him one of BellXcel’s longest-serving employees. He currently serves as the Senior Director, Information Systems. The announcement was met with enthusiastic cheers of congrats and applause, offering further testament to how deserving Rashid was of this honor.

Throughout his employment with BellXcel, Rashid has gone above and beyond in his role. As part of the organization for nearly 16 years, Rashid has witnessed BellXcel go through many transformations and has played a huge role in what the company is today. One colleague put it perfectly stating, “Rashid is BellXcel’s biggest champion, working with the HR team and all the teams at BX trying to make sure our needs are met.”

Throughout his nominations, a recurring theme was Rashid’s enthusiastic, friendly, and welcoming spirit. Many colleagues mentioned his willingness to help, one stating that, “though we don’t work together often, every time our paths do cross he has a smile on his face and is happy to answer my questions, no matter how silly they seem.” Another nominator mentioned that, “Rashid is a walking embodiment of so many of BellXcel’s values,” and goes on to say that Rashid cares deeply about BellXcel’s mission and sees the connection between it and his daily work. 

Rashid was shocked by the announcement. As a veteran BellXcel employee, Rashid has witnessed the Peterkin Award evolve over the years and has seen it be awarded many times. He noted that it was an incredible honor to be recognized by both his peers and to be able to join the elite group of colleagues selected as Peterkin Award recipients. When asked about his role at BellXcel Rashid remarked, “My commitment to this organization is different than many others, as I have a child who was once a BellXcel scholar.” He is incredibly loyal to BellXcel’s mission and values and loves being devoted to something bigger than himself. His proudest moment while working at BellXcel has been the opportunity to witness the organization transform from a direct service model to scalable software solution.

Rashid shared that his favorite part of working for BellXcel has been the people. He highlighted BellXcel’s amazing ability to hire the best people for a role and their willingness to take chances when hiring. He felt humbled to be recognized among some of BellXcel’s hardest working employees including this year’s runner-ups for the Peterkin Award, Nicole Warehime and Ina Hyseni. 

Ina Hyseni serves as the Lead Backend Developer and is our longest serving employee within the engineering team. She has seen BellXcel and the Arly platform through many transformations. In her nominations, several colleagues noted her dedication to BellXcel’s mission, ability to lead initiatives and bring others up to speed, and her hardworking positive attitude.

Nicole Warehime serves as the Director, Product Marketing. Nicole is the ‘voice’ of our platform and has brought our product marketing capabilities to life for Arly. Her efforts have been critical in ensuring the sales and customer experience teams have the resources and tools necessary to meet BellXcel’s future goals. In her nominations, multiple colleagues noted Nicole’s consistent responsiveness, her willingness to collaborate, and her commitment to our customers. 

Congratulations to all of our recipients on this well-deserved recognition!