Alumni Profile: Meet Aly Keys

Aly Keys graduated in 2023 and has since started a career at the Tesla dealership in Savannah, Ga.

A native Savannahian who grew up attending summer camps on the Savannah State University (SSU) campus, Aly Keys started his academic journey at SSU in 2020 as a mass communications major and a 6’8’’ forward for the Tigers basketball team, which went on to clinch the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 2022.

“One of my most memorable experiences as a student-athlete at SSU was undoubtedly the entire championship run during the 2021-2022 season,” said Keys. “We struggled to maintain a .500 record throughout the season, entering the playoffs as the 3rd seed in the East. No one expected us to make it past the first round.”

After graduating in 2023, Keys catapulted his career by taking his people skills to the floor of the Tesla dealership in Savannah.

“I began my journey with Tesla on April 1, 2024, working in sales, community outreach and organizing local events,” said Keys who has since moved into business development management for the dealership.

It wasn’t exactly his plan after graduating from SSU.

That spring in 2024, he was preparing to join a master’s program at Grand Valley State University in Michigan and was applying for temporary jobs to wait out the time until the start of fall classes. One of those applications was for a maintenance technician position at Tesla.

“After not hearing back from them, my mom told me to go in there and talk to someone,” he said. “And that’s exactly what I did.” After meeting with a salesman during his first visit, he was encouraged to return a second time to meet the general manager. He received a job offer during that follow-up visit.

As a student, Keys didn’t fully grasp the meaning of the SSU slogan “You Can Get Anywhere from Here.” He added, “It wasn’t until after I graduated that I truly understood its meaning. My four years at SSU allowed me to establish deep connections within the community and build a nationwide HBCU network that has been instrumental in my career success.”

A member of the Collegiate 100, Keys remembers his move-in day fondly because the former university president directly assisted him with some paper work and ensured that he was taken care of.

“That level of care and attention is rare at other universities and it exemplifies the sense of community at SSU. It truly takes a village to get someone through college and SSU embodies that village,” Keys said.