Member Spotlight: Oscar Holmes IV

Company or organization: WH Consulting Firm and Rutgers School of Business-Camden

Title: Founder; Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs & Associate Professor of Management

Civic involvements: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, The PhD Project

Why did you decide to join the Club’s board?

I had a great experience as a member and had friends who were on the Board. They shared with me their positive experiences serving and how serving allowed them to connect with many more Sunday Breakfast Club members and help curate the experiences members had. I enjoy connecting with others and thought I could offer a valuable prospective to the Board, so I agreed to join when I asked.

What’s your favorite thing about the work you do?

At my job at Rutgers, I love the opportunity that I have to conduct research that contributes to our knowledge in the management discipline and to positively impact the educational journeys of over 1,000 business students specifically and thousands more generally. As a consultant, I love that I get to take my research knowledge and apply it to help people and organizations solve real-world problems, and in turn, take those experiences to inform my research and practice.

What are some words to live by that you value?

I value Oprah’s joy rising sentiments which is the idea that we should try to create joy in ourselves and others. I also live by Maya Angelou’s maxim of believing people who show you who they are. Finally, I’d say that I love Rent’s “525,600 Minutes” song particularly the line that states: Measure your life in love.

What books are on your nightstand right now (or … open on your Kindle)?

I often read many books at the same time. Right now, I’m reading Contagious by Jonah Berger, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young, and When Affirmative Action was White by Ira Katznelson.

What’s one of your guilty pleasures (food, show, book type, activity)?

I love eating popcorn and watching movies or TV shows late at night.

If you could choose one hero from history to have dinner with, who would it be and why?

I would choose to have dinner with Bayard Rustin because I’d love to hear first-hand his experiences working in the Civil Rights Movement as an openly gay Black man. I’d want to discuss all the dreams he had and hear about the things that can’t be found in books or documentaries.

What’s your favorite Philly spot and why?

I won’t pick just one Philly spot, but I’ll say that I love the Center City area of Philly. I love it because it is just so lively with something for everyone from theaters, private clubs, discotheques, bars, restaurants, some of them with amazing views like XIX, hotels, and so much more, but it doesn’t give you the overcrowded and congested feeling like New York’s Times Square.

What’s one bad habit of Philadelphia as a community - or Philadelphians as a species - that drives you crazy?

I cannot get into all the parking in the median that occurs in Philly.

If you could decide the next choice for One Book, One Philadelphia, what would it be and why?

There are so many that I’d want to choose, but if I could only choose one, I’d choose The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee as she does an amazing job showing how racism impacts all of us and if we would obliterate our racist systems, all of us would be better off.