About A-LIST

Applied Learning in Societal Transformation

Founded in 2018, the Applied Learning in Societal Transformation (A-LIST) educational pathway focuses on helping changemakers understand diverse consumer cultures and promote inclusive societal change. A-LIST uniquely combines a triple-bottom-line philosophy, custom-built curriculum on intersectional consumer culture and social impact marketing, and hands-on experiential learning through live consulting projects with tri-sector industry partners. This pathway has done wonders to help connect students with industry executives and recruiters in order to advance their professional careers while giving them the knowledge to develop socially-conscious marketing techniques. Check out A-LIST classes.

Meet the A-LIST Pathway Directors

Mitchell Hamilton, Ph.D.

An award-winning scholar trained as both a marketer and social psychologist, Dr. Hamilton earned a Ph.D. in consumer behavior from Syracuse University. His most recent work investigates the relationships between brands and consumers, and has been primarily motivated by social injustice and inequity issues. He is also a renowned thought-leader on the topic of brand activism.

Julian Saint Clair, Ph.D.

Julian K. Saint Clair earned a B.A. in marketing from Clark Atlanta University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in marketing & consumer psychology from the University of Washington. His work explores consumer identity and learning, including subtopics of intersectionality, stereotypes, and diversity marketing. Saint Clair’s interdisciplinary approach has led to publications in Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Education, and the Association for Consumer Research (ACR) Film Festival. He has been recognized by the Ph.D. Project, American Marketing Association, National Black MBA Association, and ACR for excellence in diversity marketing.

A-LIST's Founding Story

At the start of 2016, Mitch Hamilton, Ph.D. was living a life nothing short of utopia.

He was married to an amazing woman, they were raising two incredible kids in picturesque Palos Verdes, California, and he was off to a great start at his dream job with LMU.

But on January 19, 2016, his life changed forever

That morning, Hamilton awoke suddenly with excruciating pain in his abdomen. He was immediately rushed to the emergency room at a local hospital.

By the time he could remember anything, six weeks had passed and he was in a completely different hospital.

Hamilton was suffering from a severe case of necrotizing pancreatitis and kidney respiratory failure. Complications led to a medically induced coma, four major surgeries, a tracheotomy, and several other medical procedures.

But don’t you worry! With his wife at his side, his kids in his heart, and an army of prayer warriors supporting him, Hamilton fought the good fight and made a miraculous recovery. He spent the next five weeks in the hospital convalescing while he struggled to walk and talk again.

Now, if you spend three months laying in a hospital bed, you’ll eventually start to reevaluate your life.

And when Hamilton finally walked out of that hospital, he left with a renewed sense of purpose to live life to the fullest and remain grounded by the things he believed to be righteous.

This led him to a transformative conversation with his long-time friend and colleague, Julian Saint Clair, Ph.D. about the social impact of the work they engaged in outside of academia. They were both community leaders. Advocates for diversity. Culture mavens. But it seemed there was a disconnect between that world and what was expected in a traditional business education setting.

And that’s when Saint Clair had an epiphany:

Why couldn’t they just take the things that they were doing outside of the classroom and do them inside of the classroom… and still mold their students into top-tier marketers?

And just like that, the seed was planted.

After several months of researching, brainstorming, and strategizing, as well as collaboration with Robert Winsor, Ph.D., and the rest of the departmental family, that seed grew into what is now the Applied Learning in Societal Transformation (A-LIST) educational pathway and its continuing mission to shape the changemakers of tomorrow.