Prelims

Scott Chazdon, Ph.D., is an evaluation and research specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension Department of Community Development. Trained as a sociologist, he has professional experience in evaluation project management, grant writing, research, public policy analysis, as well as community development and organizing. He has become a national leader in the use of Ripple Effect Mapping as an evaluation tool for exploring the impacts of community development programming, as well as in the development of readiness assessments for long-term, issue-based work in communities.

Rosalind F. Cohen, Ph.D., Senior Professional in Human Resources, has over 25 years of experience as a Senior Leader in Human Resources, Inclusion and Belonging. She is the Founder and President of Socius Strategies, a San Francisco-based advisory firm that combines a pragmatic approach with social and industrial psychology and mentorship to build cultures of connectedness. She earned her Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, where her research explored the relationships between dimensions of inclusive leadership, employee engagement, and identity. Her latest book on employee engagement, inclusive leadership, and organizational success is forthcoming in 2024. She has bold ideas and a vision of radical connectedness that create better workplaces.

Valerie J. Davis, Ph.D., Professional Certified Coach as per the International Coaching Federation, is President, Lysistrata Incorporated, a firm that specializes in executive coaching, leadership development, and coach education. Prior to her consulting career, she served in executive roles in global organizations. She received her doctorate in Human Development with an emphasis on leadership from Fielding Graduate University. She believes strongly in service to her community and in capacity building. She is currently the Board Chair for The Peel Learning Foundation, a community-based, charitable organization that raises funds to enable students to achieve personal excellence by providing resources that help them overcome barriers due to poverty.

Nurcan Ensari, Ph.D., is a social and organizational psychologist who teaches and conducts research in the area of intergroup relations, leadership, and diversity management. She conducts multicultural research with international collaborators from England, India, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, and Hong Kong. She is a reviewer and editor for several journals, and a recipient of academic awards. She is currently a Professor in the Organizational Psychology Program in Alliant International University. She has a M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology, University of Southern California, and a M.A. in Social Psychology and B.S. in Mathematics from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Valencia Gabay, M.Ed., works to design inclusive learning environments that support equal access to financial knowledge and promotes financial well-being as part of personal well-being. She is an instructional designer, organizational leadership scholar, international presenter, and co-author of Group Coaching and Mentoring: A Framework for Fostering Organizational Change. She is currently the Program Director for Financial Education and Wellbeing at the American College of Financial Services and is working on her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership.

Trisha Gott, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor and Associate Dean of Academics at the Staley School of Leadership at Kansas State University. She teaches undergraduate and professional coursework related to considering the ethical dimensions of leadership and leadership development. She focuses on practice-based leadership education and development for professionals. Since 2016, she has served as Co-principal Investigator and Co-director for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Civic Engagement and Leadership Institute at Kansas State since 2016. She is particularly interested in understanding how leadership interventions sustain, translate, and advance community leadership in a global setting.

Brad Grubb, Ed.D., M.A., M.S., has devoted over 30 years to the fields of higher education and organizational/employee development. He is a consultant and coach in the field of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, with an emphasis on cultural humility. He currently serves as an adjunct Professor at Indiana Wesleyan University in the Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership program. His research is in unconscious bias and inclusion, multicultural, and global leadership. He has presented the above topics at multiple conferences and is currently serving as a Co-editor for SAGE Business Skills on DEIB.

Jacqueline N. Gustafson, Ed.D., is the Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Professor of Psychology, and Fellow at the Dr Paul and Annie Kienel Leadership Institute at California Baptist University, and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Abeba Collection, a social enterprise lifestyle brand. She has conducted fieldwork on four continents, is a sought-after national speaker, author of numerous articles and book chapters, and is the co-author of the book Pursuing Wisdom: A Primer for Leaders and Learners. She has been recognized with several awards for her innovation in community engagement and work to advance equity.

Janice Branch Hall, Ph.D., is the first Associate Dean for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. She is responsible for envisioning, reimagining, and translating strategic directions into concrete goals and plans that promote the success of all stakeholders, including efforts to enhance the visibility and lived experiences of underrepresented and underserved populations. A Richmond, Virginia, native, Hall received a bachelor’s in Psychology from the College of William and Mary, a master’s in Management from Wake Forest University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Yael Hellman, Ed.D. (Institutional Management), M.A. (Creative Arts Therapy), repurposes her professorial experience as Educational Development Administrator of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, overseeing academic, vocational, and therapeutic instruction for incarcerated persons and diversity-enrichment training for staff. Author of Learning for Leadership: A Facilitative Approach for Training Leaders, she guides private- and public-sector executives, instructors, and advancement candidates through experiential exercises that create workspaces embracing – not just tolerating – cultural, social, and individual diversities. Her worldwide travels confirm that introspective, relational leadership links persons globally as well as within business and service organizations.

Jocelyn I. Hernandez-Swanson, M.P.S., is a former Leadership and Civic Engagement Educator with the University of Minnesota Extension, passionate about supporting community leaders in fostering equitable and inclusive cities and organizations. Her background is in leading racial equity changemaking in higher education and local government, with a focus on civic engagement and inclusive participation. As a formerly undocumented immigrant and bilingual Mexicana, she brings systems thinking and courageous imagination to create spaces where power is acknowledged and racial equity is a priority, resulting in strengthened diverse leadership.

Elizabeth Holcombe, Ph.D., is a Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the USC Rossier School of Education. Her current work involves a qualitative study of equity-minded leadership teams in higher education in partnership with the American Council on Education. Her research uses an organizational lens to understand various policies and practices that affect student success, including undergraduate teaching and assessment, faculty workforce and development issues, and leadership in higher education. She has published papers in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, Educational Policy, Higher Education, and American Behavioral Scientist, among others.

Lea Hubbard, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California San Diego. Her work focuses on educational reform and educational leadership as well as educational inequities across ethnicity, class, and gender. Working nationally and internationally, she has co-authored several books and written articles on school reform and leadership. Her most recent articles include “School Reform from a Constructivist Perspective” in the International Encyclopedia of Education 4th Edition and “Responsible School Leadership in Crisis” in the Journal of School Leadership.

Antonio Jimenez-Luque, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Leadership at the University of San Diego. His work explores how cultural, social, and historical perspectives influence conceptualizations and practice of leadership. At the intersection of critical theory and intercultural studies, his research topics are (1) organizational culture and identity development, (2) social movements and leadership, and (3) critical interculturality and global social justice. He is the author of Leadership, Diversity, and Social Justice: Culture as a System for Resistance and Emancipation and has published in different journals such as Leadership, Voluntary Sector Review, and the International Journal of Servant Leadership.

Adrianna Kezar, Ph.D., is Dean’s Professor of Leadership, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education, at the University of Southern California and Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education within the Rossier School of Education. She is a national expert on leadership, equity and diversity, change, student success, the changing faculty, and governance in higher education. She is well published with 20 books/monographs, over 100 journal articles, and over 100 book chapters and reports. Recent books include Shared Leadership in Higher Education (2021, Stylus), Administration for Social Justice and Equity (2019, Routledge), and How Colleges Change 2nd Ed. (2018, Routledge).

Aashna Khurana is a Ph.D. student in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. She is also a Professional Special Educator and has worked as an Assessment Associate at ASER Centre, Pratham Education Foundation. She worked on development of Assessment for All Tool, focused on including children with special needs in large-scale assessments in India, and ASER 2019 Early Years tool to assess skills of children aged 4–8 years. Currently, she is one of the lead researchers on the Boston Public Schools Inclusion Initiative that aims to reform the inclusive education service delivery system.

Linda Kligman, Ph.D., serves as President of the International Institute for Restorative Practices Graduate School. Dedicated to inclusive learning and decision-making, she recently co-authored a chapter with Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim, Ph.D., titled “Democratizing leadership-followership: Restorative practices in the age of disruption” in Springer’s Handbook of Global Leadership and Followership: Integrating the Best Leadership Theory and Practice. In 2020, her research in workplace leadership received two honors from Union Institute and University for its interdisciplinarity and social relevance. The praxis of this work is featured in her forthcoming book, Heart Strong Work: Improving Workplace Culture.

Catherine T. Kwantes, Ph.D., is a Full Professor of Industrial Organizational Psychology at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. She is a cross-cultural psychologist who researches the role social culture plays in workplace culture and interactions. Specifically, her work focuses on trust, trustworthiness, and social justice in the workplace. She is a member of the Indigenous Workways project, which is funded by SSHRC is the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Ontario Research Fund: Research Excellence (ORF-RE) and seeks to provide tools for organizations to increase employment outcomes for Indigenous employees.

Charles Lee-Johnson, D.Min., is the Pastor of The Life Church in Riverside, California; Associate Dean for the Division of Social Work at California Baptist University; and the Chief Executive Officer of National Family Life and Education Center, providing consultation and training services for organizations serving vulnerable families. He is co-author of the new book, Healing Conversations on Race: Four Key Practices From Scripture and Psychology. His commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has made him one of the most dynamic and inspirational social workers in America.

Cornelis Johannes (Kees) Matthijssen is Lieutenant General in the Netherlands Armed Forces. He served as Force Commander for the UN Mission MINUSMA in Mali from January 2022 to January 2023. His 42 years of military service include deployments to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, and Afghanistan, each in a command position at a different level. He holds a master’s degree of Strategic Studies (MSS). He was awarded the French “Legion of Honour” and the German “Bundeswehr Cross of Honour” for his outstanding cooperation with both nations. He is known for his excellent leadership. Cycling is his preferred sport.

Henry L. McClendon, Jr, is the Director for Community Engagement at the International Institute for Restorative Practices. A lifelong resident of Detroit, Michigan, He served as the Education and Community Leadership Program Officer for the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation. His career includes appointments as Executive Assistant to Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, Sr, and leadership roles for Prison Fellowship Ministries and New Detroit, one of the nation’s oldest race relations coalitions. In 2017, he co-designed the Detroit Police Community Summit with Bishop Daryl Harris, Total Life Christian Ministries, and fifth Precinct Commander (now Assistant Chief), Eric Ewing, Detroit Police Department.

Flor García Mencos is founder and Executive Director of Circula Center for Restorative Leadership, an organization that supports civil society leaders in Central America through training in restorative leadership. She is a clinical psychologist, an Executive Coach graduate from INCAE Business School, and is Trainer Certified in Restorative Practices and Certified in Nonviolent Communication. She has collaborated with the government of Guatemala and international cooperation agencies to develop and implement projects aimed at psychosocial care in natural disasters, reincorporation of the migrant population, and programs with war survivors in transitional justice processes.

Stacy Menezes, Ph.D. candidate at the Goa Institute of Management, India. She has a master’s in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and worked in the People Department in organizations in India. She has presented a paper on inclusion at the Indian Academy of Management Conference and continues to publish her work in relevant academic journals. Her research interests are in the critical areas of inclusive talent identification, competency development, and developmental interventions. With her passion for organizational psychology and a strong research background, she is dedicated to contributing to the field and making a meaningful impact in promoting inclusive workplaces.

Justin Mui is the Executive Director of Lutheran Community Care Services Ltd. in Singapore. He has an M.A. in Tri-Sector Collaboration from Singapore Management University and a Graduate Diploma in Social Work from the National University of Singapore. He is a frequent guest speaker on podcasts. Believing that entrenched mindsets perpetuate similar solutions and that relationships are the conduit for transformation, he has created safe spaces for stakeholders to have the “missing conversation.” These include peacemaking among residents-in-conflict in public housing, rebuilding communities of care for ex-offenders, and addressing school bullying by widening the circle of support.

Sarah Smith Orr, Ph.D., M.B.A., is teaching faculty with courses in Advanced Leadership at University of California, Los Angeles, Extension and Leading Social Entrepreneurial Ventures courses at University of Nevada, Reno. She owns a consultancy with research and work in the United States and internationally focused on system-changing social entrepreneurs. Selected published works: “The Twenty-First Century: The Century of the Social Sector” featuring Drucker’s philosophies and frameworks in The Drucker Difference (McGraw Hill, 2009), and “The Social Entrepreneur: Tackling the World’s Toughest Problems Through Innovation,” The Role of Entrepreneurs in the Political Economy of the Pacific Rim (Nanjing University Press, 2015).

Shauneen Pete, Ph.D., is from Little Pine First Nation (Treaty 6) and Cowessess First Nation (Treaty 4). Chair of the Emerging Indigenous Scholars Circle at Royal Roads University, her research focuses on the Indigenization and decolonization of Canadian higher education. She also examines the experiences of Indigenous faculty, in particular, since the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final report in 2015. She is a co-editor on the forthcoming publication, Decolonizing Educational Relationships with Fatima Pirbhai-Illich and Fran Martin. She also published “Decolonizing Equity Praxis” in Billie Allan and Rhonda Hackett’s Decolonizing Equity (2022, Fernwood Publishing).

Tissa Richards is a TedX and keynote speaker, leadership expert, and corporate facilitator who works with F1000 and growth-stage organizations, guiding them to create blueprints for individual and organizational success, develop high-performance cultures, and diversify C-suites and corporate boardrooms. As a repeat software founder and CEO, she sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, fundraising, and executive leadership. She has raised millions of dollars for her companies, won awards for innovation and products, and holds multiple software patents. She helps clients secure public board roles and guides executives in increasing their compensation packages by articulating their compelling value propositions.

Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. He is a social/personality psychologist and leadership scholar with more than two dozen authored or edited books and more than 250 articles/book chapters. His research interests are in leadership, team processes, I-O Psychology, and organizational and nonverbal communication. He is part of the Fullerton Longitudinal Study, examining leadership development across the lifespan (from one year of age and through middle adulthood). Besides research on leadership development, he has been actively involved in training young (and not so young) leaders.

Katrina S. Rogers, Ph.D., Masters of Environmental Law and Policy, is the seventh President of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, and Washington, D.C. Fielding offers a doctoral concentration in Inclusive Leadership and Social Justice in their Human and Organizational Development programs. She led the European campus for Thunderbird School of Global Management in Geneva, Switzerland, for a decade, working with international organizations. In addition to many books and articles, she is the author of Democracy, Civic Engagement, and Citizenship in Higher Education: Reclaiming Our Civic Purpose. She received a Presidential postdoctoral fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation and was a Fulbright scholar to Germany.

Martin Scanlan, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. His scholarship examines systemic transformation of school systems toward integrated service delivery and on asset-oriented approaches to educating culturally and linguistically diverse students. In particular, he supports communities of practice helping adults advance toward these ends, and he continues to work closely with building- and district-level administrators to bridge research and practice. Before moving to the academy, he spent over a decade working in teaching and administration in urban elementary and middle schools in Washington, D.C., Berkeley, CA, and Madison, WI.

Birgit Schreiber, Ph.D., is a Senior Associate for HELM, South Africa, and a senior expert for the international higher education sector, has served in senior leadership positions, with expertise sub-Saharan Africa and Europe higher education. She has over 90 publications on various themes around social justice, student affairs, student engagement, and higher education. She was the founding editor and is the editorial executive of the Journal for Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA). After being the Africa Chair, she is the Vice-President for the International Association of Student Affairs and Services. ORCid: 0000-0003-2469-0504.

Keyhan Shams, M.Sc., is an Iranian doctoral candidate in Leadership Communication at the Staley School of Leadership at Kansas State University. He has worked as a Consultant for the United Nations Human Settlements Program in Iran, for the Iranian government, and as a leadership coach in Iranian communities. He is the author of The City Iranians Need (2016), which was launched at the United Nations Habitat III conference. As a former urban planner, his main research interests revolve around how leadership emerges in the public sphere.

Carolyn M. Shields, Ph.D., University of Saskatchewan, is President of The Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management and Professor of Educational Leadership at Wayne State University, Detroit. After years of teaching in high school, she has focused on the creation of inclusive, equitable, excellent, and socially just environments and societies. For her work on transformative leadership theory – which includes 14 books, over 100 articles and chapters, and numerous international keynote addresses – she has received many honors and international recognition, including lifetime achievement awards from The University Council for Educational Administration and The Canadian Association for Studies in Educational Administration and an honorary doctorate from Laval University, Quebec.

Bryanne Smart, M.P.Ed., is the Associate Director, Indigenous Relations, Co-operative and Experiential Education at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She has a master’s degree in Professional Education and Aboriginal Leadership from Western University in Canada. She has worked with and for Indigenous people and communities for nearly two decades and centralizes her work in community-led approaches. This work is demonstrated throughout her ongoing contributions to CEE and with the Indigenous Workways project.

Cary Snow is a university educator and a celebrated chef who has been featured in magazines such as Better Homes and Garden and Restaurant Start-Up and Growth. He is a motivated, experienced change agent who builds diverse, culturally rich, and collaborative environments. With over 20 years of experience in higher education and culinary arts, he has focused his doctoral studies on organizational leadership. He uses his research in areas such as social justice’s effect on recruitment and retention to work with organizations and businesses, assisting them in building and establishing sustainable DEIB practices.

Tobias Spanier, M.A., is an Extension Educator in Leadership and Civic Engagement with the University of Minnesota. In his educator role, he has over 25 years of providing leadership development research and education to individuals, organizations, and communities. He is passionate about connecting community needs and university resources to address critical issues in Minnesota and the world. He is a Qualified Administrator for the IDI. He is a past graduate and facilitator with LEAD21, a leadership development program for faculty, specialists, program and team leaders, and others in land grant universities’ colleges of agricultural, environmental, and human sciences.

Anne-Marij Strikwerda-Verbeek is Lieutenant Colonel in the Netherlands Armed Forces. She studied International and European Law before joining the army as a Military Legal Advisor (LEGAD) in 2006. She was deployed to Afghanistan as LEGAD and to Mali as Personal Assistant to the Force Commander. She was also Military Assistant to the Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army from 2018 to 2019. She holds an executive master’s degree in Security and Defense. She has a particular interest in psychological safety and just culture, gender, and diversity. Her favorite sport is horseback riding.

Trenae Thomas has served the Indianapolis area to improve outcomes for marginalized groups. She has been a leader in adult education where she worked to create pathways to quality jobs. Currently, she is a Manager of workforce equity with the Markle Foundation supporting the ReWork America Alliance initiative. The initiative is focused on providing skills and resources to improve employment outcomes for people of color. She has an M.S. in Strategic Management from Indiana Wesleyan University and is currently working on completing her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership.

Natsumi Ueda is Graduate Research Assistant at Pullias Center for Higher Education and Ph.D. candidate at Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. Her research focuses on higher education leadership, organizational change, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and intergroup relations. For her dissertation, she explores college students from diverse cultural backgrounds and identities working together on equity and social justice initiatives on campus with the purpose of uncovering promising practices of intercultural collaboration to create equitable campuses.

Donald Williams, Jr, Ph.D., is a strategist, researcher, and consultant. He was a 2019–2020 Fellow in the White House Fellows Program and served as a Speechwriter and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has completed community-building events in over 10 countries and has led more than 9,000 volunteers in 10 years. He created an orphanage volunteer partnership in the Netherlands Antilles, taught Math and English in Ghana, led global disaster relief efforts, and founded and directed an outreach organization in Japan.

Ellen Wolter, M.P.H., M.P.A., is a Leadership and Civic Engagement Extension educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Department of Community Development. She has over 20 years of experience working with nonprofits, state and local governments, and higher education institutions conducting community-engaged research projects and facilitating conversations that support data-informed decision-making. Before joining Extension, she worked for Wilder Research, where she collaborated with Minnesota organizations to identify community-level trends to address challenges facing rural communities. She has also held positions with Hennepin County and the University of Minnesota’s Office of Community Engagement for Health.

Denise Zinn, Ed.D., is the Senior Associate at USAf HELM, South Africa. She was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning at Nelson Mandela