“If you were going to go in a laboratory and build someone perfectly suited to be the CEO of the Columbus Chamber, you would get Derrick.” —Steve Stivers, CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce
Heading to college at the University of Akron, he majored in business and organizational communication, “really studying how business and communication intersect.” He also was very involved in student activities. “I was on the student government and ended up being president of Associated Student Government my senior year.” But the year before Clay was to graduate, his father died. “My mom was in Toledo by herself, and I was like, well, maybe I go home and help mom for a couple years and figure out what I’m doing. And that was going to be my plan.” Clay decided he was “going to work at a radio station, and they had worked out a little deal for me that I could sell advertising during the day, and I could DJ at night, and so that’s what I was going to do, right? “But God had a different plan for me.” One of Clay’s fraternity brothers was working for Vernon Sykes, who at the time was the assistant majority floor leader in the Ohio House of Representatives. “My fraternity brother had just gotten a new job, and Representative Sykes asked him who would be a potential good replacement for him. He recommended me.” Two weeks later, Clay had left all thoughts of working at a radio station far behind.“I was fortunate enough to get the job. So I worked in his office as his senior aide.” Clay went on to work in other political positions, including as executive director of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, working with 18 African American legislators in the Ohio General Assembly. “And then I got a big break: I was tapped to run Al Gore’s presidential campaign [in Ohio] in 2000. I worked on the Gore-Lieberman campaign, and my work took me to Florida for a month and a half with the Florida recount, and the hanging chads, all that stuff.” A job as Midwest political director with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee came next, “and basically I helped run campaigns throughout the Midwest for various different candidates.” At that point, Clay admits, “I got totally burnt out of politics, and went and sold copiers for a year.” What could have been a year of drudgery turned out to be “a great experience, NOVEMBER 2025 COLUMBUS MONTHLY
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