Globetrotters CEO to head foundation at Ramapo alma mater
MAHWAH — Keith Dawkins, the Harlem Globetrotters CEO, has been named the new board chairperson of the Ramapo College Foundation at his alma mater.
Dawkins, a Ridgewood native, is the first Black chairperson of the board. He has served on the Board of Governors for 22 years, most recently as secretary. Dawkins succeeds outgoing chairperson and Tony Award-winning producer Roy Putrino, who served as foundation chair from 2020 to 2023.
Dawkins was honored at the 2013 Ramapo College Foundation Distinguished Citizens Dinner for his many contributions to the world of media. At the May 2022 commencement, Dawkins received the President’s Alumni Award of Merit for his service-oriented leadership and continued advocacy of Ramapo.
“Ramapo College has given me so much over the years,” Dawkins said. “It’s a place where I furthered my education, started my career journey and met the person that would become my wife of 25 years. Being able to pay it forward and have an impact on future Ramapo students is both a privilege and an honor.”
A Ramapo internship with CNBC led to 17 years with Viacom. Dawkins was eventually named executive vice president of Nickelodeon, where he initiated Nickelodeon Sports partnerships with the National Football League and NASCAR. He founded Rock Hill Media Ventures, a media consulting firm, in 2018, serving such clients as the National Basketball Players Association, Believe Entertainment Group and 9 Story Media.
In January 2022, Dawkins was named president of the Globetrotters and Herschend Entertainment Studios, where he has negotiated the revitalization of the famed basketball performance group with a weekly television series, “Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward,” highlighting the team’s charitable activities.
“I grew up with the Globetrotters,” Dawkins said. “They are basketball royalty, and we had a unique opportunity to expand the brand and reach an entirely new, diverse generation of fans by amplifying the way we do business.”
Dawkins, 52, is a third-generation graduate of Ridgewood schools, where he played basketball for Ridgewood High . His grandparents operated the Colonial Post Restaurant on North Broad Street, later on Chestnut Street, where his mother worked as a chef. He is a past president of the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association.
Dawkins played a season of basketball for Bergen Community College before transferring to Ramapo, where he graduated in 1994 with a degree in communications. He and his wife, Janine, continue to live in Ridgewood with sons Cole and Bryce, who are also Ridgewood graduates.
To learn more about the mission of the Ramapo College Foundation, visit ramapo.edu/foundation. To learn more about the Board of Governors, visit ramapo.edu/foundation/ governors.