“The Word is Collaboration”: Don Graham Visits with Innovation Fellows

On September 18, 2025, YCP welcomed Don Graham for an afternoon conversation with the Graham Collaborative Innovation Fellows.

The visit allowed students in this honors program to talk about their experiences, what they hope to get out of it, and how they see applying their learning to their future careers.  They also got to hear directly from the founder of the Graham Group about his personal values and enduring commitment to York College.

Graham, who began his career at Baker Perkins before founding Graham Engineering and then the Graham Group, spoke candidly about the lessons he learned over decades in business. One message came through clearly: “The word is collaboration.”

He talked about early professional experiences that shaped this perspective, like joining his company’s softball team made up of machinists, while he worked in the office. The machinists offered different perspectives that he was able to take back to the company’s engineers. Graham shared how listening to others outside of one’s specialty can lead to better ideas and stronger organizations. “We can’t get anything done without working together,” he said, noting that both industry and higher education can suffer from siloed thinking.

He praised the Graham Fellows Program for helping students broaden their educational experience beyond their major. “Programs like Graham Fellows are important because they show how we really need to come together to accomplish our goals,” he said.

During the conversation, one of the Fellows asked about risk-taking.  In his response, Graham described his own approach as measured. “It’s a personal choice, and I chose to only take mitigated risks.” He encouraged students to stay open to opportunity but emphasized maintaining personal priorities. “Keep balance in your life… to be successful, you need to be good at your specialty, but don’t let that focus get in your way.” He credited his success to staying grounded, saying, “I always made time for my family, and that was most important.”

Graham also urged the Fellows to help shape positive working environments: “We need to promote a culture where making mistakes is acceptable.”

Sophomore Fellow Cecelia Christ reflected on the experience:

“I really enjoyed hearing from my fellow Grahams about why they joined the program and how they want to best utilize its variety of resources. I loved getting to meet Mr. Graham and being able to hear about how successful he became through hard work and collaboration.”

As the visit wrapped up, Graham expressed his ongoing dedication YCP: “I’m a big supporter of York… it’s going to give you an education that’s meaningful.”