CEO and Educator Laster Finally Fulfills Promise to Herself and Her Students

After building businesses, leading a nonprofit and opening a California high school, April Laster returned to Alabama A&M University to earn the degree she promised herself she would finish.

When Alabama A&M University recognized the 44-year-old during its Spring 2026 commencement ceremonies Friday as the oldest graduate in the class, the applause inside the AAMU Event Center reflected far more than her age.

For Laster, crossing the stage represented a promise fulfilled two decades after she first arrived on The Hill as a freshman with dreams of earning a degree from an HBCU.

“I started here, I went everywhere, and I came back,” Laster said after receiving her Bachelor of Science in management with honors.

Laster grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, before moving to Southern California as a child. She said growing up near Jackson State University helped shape her understanding of the cultural importance of historically Black colleges and universities. After high school, she returned to the South and eventually enrolled at Alabama A&M as a mass communications major nearly 20 years ago.

After spending about two and a half years on campus, she left school and entered the workforce, remaining in Huntsville for more than a decade before moving back to California in 2013.

What followed was a career many would consider successful without a college degree.

She worked as a quality control and patent supervisor for a biotech company before launching Open Heart Leaders, a San Diego-based nonprofit focused on mental health, education and justice reform services for underserved communities. In 2023, she also opened Heart Leaders Academy, an accredited high school serving transitional-age youth, including students impacted by incarceration and educational inequities.

Still, despite leading multiple organizations and serving as a CEO, Laster said something remained unfinished.

“I always preach to my students, ‘You start what you finish,’” she said. “One of my students asked me, ‘Well, why didn’t you finish?’ That challenged me.”

That conversation ultimately led her back to Alabama A&M.

Unable to relocate to Huntsville, Laster contacted the University’s online degree program in 2023 and enrolled in management courses remotely. Nearly three years later, she graduated as an honor student while continuing to lead her nonprofit, high school and executive leadership development company in California.

For Laster, returning to Alabama A&M was about more than earning credentials.

She said attending an HBCU shaped her identity and reinforced the importance of cultural connection in higher education. She also wanted her students to see that education remains valuable regardless of age, status or career success.

That message resonated even more Friday as family members traveled across the country to watch her complete the journey she started 20 years earlier.

Laster said her mother, Regina Johnson, her sister, aunts, uncles, friends and colleagues flew in from California to witness the moment she crossed the commencement stage. The moment carried special meaning because her mother, who raised her as a single parent, was there to see it happen.

“I’m grateful that my mother is still alive to be able to see me cross this stage,” Laster said. “This is a really big deal.”

As cheers echoed through the arena after she stood during commencement recognition, Laster reflected on the long road that led her back to Alabama A&M and the degree that will now hang in her office beside the accomplishments she earned without it.

But she said the University itself remains one of the proudest parts of her story.

“I talk about Alabama A&M everywhere I go. I knew I had to come back to my HBCU and finish. It’s been a long time, and I am so proud to be a Bulldog.”