LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Graduate Student, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center University of Vermont

Alexander (Alex) Weingart, a Boston native, is emerging as a dedicated force in the realm of healthcare transformation and pediatric cancer advocacy. Currently immersed in his graduate studies and research endeavors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Alexander has left an indelible mark on healthcare policy with his instrumental role in championing landmark legislation, namely The Creating Hope Act and RACE for Children Act. These legislative triumphs have not only reshaped the healthcare landscape but have also significantly increased access to life-saving drugs for pediatric patients grappling with rare diseases, particularly cancer. Beyond the legislative arena, Alexander's journey weaves through the corridors of academia, notably as an alum of The Leadership Alliance's Summer Research Early Identification Program at both Brown University and Vanderbilt University. With a profound background in cancer biology, he spent years at the laboratory bench before redirecting his focus to the crossroads of health policy and medical sociology. Alex's dissertation explores the extent of autonomy granted to pediatric cancer patients in end-of-life decision-making processes, evaluating the multifaceted factors that influence their participation. Through a comprehensive analysis of medical, ethical, and legal frameworks, his work aims to study light on the complexities surrounding the empowerment of young patients in shaping their own end-of-life care. As a passionate advocate for equity in healthcare, Alex extends his research interests to scrutinize health disparities within the United States. His nuanced perspective emphasizes that the healthcare crisis is multifaceted, with different meanings distributed across societal groups. In navigating these complex waters, Alexander eloquently underscores the undeniable truth that although children constitute only 15% of the population, they represent 100% of our future, and barriers to proper care must be eliminated. Through his tireless efforts, he strives not only to understand the nuances of healthcare but also to redefine standards of care for tomorrow, ensuring that every child's health is accorded the priority it unequivocally deserves.

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor
• Panelist - Associate Professor of Political Science, Villanova University

Camille Burge-Hicks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Villanova University where she also serves as Department Chair. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bethune-Cookman University and a Master's and Ph.D. in Political Science from Vanderbilt University. Her research and teaching areas of expertise lie within Political Psychology and Racial and Ethnic Politics, revolving around three key themes: (1) race relations; (2) emotions; and (3) intersectionality with emphases on race and gender, sexuality, and colorism. Her research has been published in The Journal of Politics; Political Research; Quarterly; Research & Politics; and Politics, Groups, and Identities, and featured in edited volumes, PsyPost, Politico, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The New York Times. Her book, Fired Up or Ready to Go: Pride, Shame, and Anger in Black Politics, is under contract with Cambridge University Press. She is also an award-winning teacher, receiving the Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018 and the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2021. Camille has given over fifty public lectures on race relations and racialized politics in America, appeared on two segments of CNBC, and can be heard numerous times on National Public Radio. In 2019, Camille was appointed to the 2020 Pre-Election Polling Task Force for the American Association of Public Opinion Research where she worked alongside other academics, statisticians, and survey leaders to analyze local, state, and national elections data. She is a member of the ABC News Election Night Decision Desk Team where she uses rigorous statistical analyses to project election outcomes. Camille devotes a significant amount of academic service to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. She uses her background in survey research and methods to ensure that corporate and campus climate metrics are inclusive and equitable.

Job Titles:

• Member of the External Advisory Board
• Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras

Job Titles:

• Member of the External Advisory Board
• Executive Consultant, University Alliance

Job Titles:

• Brown University 's 19th President and Professor of Economics and Public Policy
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts
• President, Brown University

Christina Hull Paxson has served as Brown University's 19th president and professor of economics and public policy since July 1, 2012. Under Paxson's leadership, Brown has fortified its standing as a leading research university known for its excellence and innovation in undergraduate education, its transformational vision in fueling economic development through community and government partnerships, and its commitment to inclusion and access. Paxson's ambitious strategic plan for Brown establishes the University at the forefront of higher education in all these areas. She has led the creation and growth of centers and institutes that connect top researchers and scholars to confront critical 21st-century issues in areas spanning neuroscience, environmental and climate studies, economics, international and public policy, humanistic studies, and translating science and technology to find treatments and cures for disease. At the same time, Brown continues to lead in undergraduate education, with the University among the top producers of Fulbright winners each year. Led by Paxson, Brown's public-private partnerships with government, businesses and industry have anchored the ongoing economic transformation of the formerly depressed Jewelry District in downtown Providence. This includes fueling the development of South Street Landing by moving 400 Brown employees into a former power plant; becoming the lead anchor tenant to enable the opening of the Wexford Innovation Center developed by Wexford Science and Technology; and Brown's partnership with the University of Rhode Island and two global startup accelerators to create one of the state's new innovation campuses. Paxson is a passionate advocate on issues of access to higher education, and Brown has gained international attention for its campus-wide effort to develop and implement its comprehensive Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion action plan, which the University launched in 2016. In addition, Brown became a national model in working with its students to create one of the first student centers for undocumented, low-income and first-generation college students. Her leadership in creating The Brown Promise financial aid initiative has eliminated loans from the financial aid packages awarded by the University, decreasing financial barriers to access to a Brown education. In addition, Paxson has overseen consecutive record-setting years in philanthropic support for Brown. Growth in fundraising and investment has strengthened the University's teaching and research with support for state-of-the-art facilities that include the Friedman Hall undergraduate teaching and learning building, the Engineering Research Center, expansion of the Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs, and spaces for research and study for data sciences, brain science, education, entrepreneurship, public health and other growing fields at Brown. Prior to her appointment at Brown, Paxson was dean of the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs and the Hughes Rogers Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She founded and directed both the Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging and the Center for Health and Wellbeing at the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs. A noted economist and public health expert, Paxson became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. Paxson has been the principal investigator on several research projects supported by the National Institutes of Health and authored or co-authored numerous journal articles. Her principal research explored the relationship of economic factors to health and welfare over the life course, particularly on the lives of children. While at Princeton, Paxson served as investigator for the Fragile Families Study and as co-editor of the journal, The Future of Children. Paxson served as vice president of the American Economic Association and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a past chair of the board of directors for the Association of American Universities, a past chair of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and a past member of the board of directors for the American Council for Education. She is currently a member the board of overseers of Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. Paxson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Swarthmore College, and earned her Ph.D. in economics at Columbia University.

Job Titles:

• Culture Worker, Scholar, Educator, Playwright, Director, Founder of the Touring Ensemble Progress Theatre and Creator of "SoulWork"
• Director of SoulWork Studio

Cristal Chanelle Truscott, PhD is a culture worker, scholar, educator, playwright, director, founder of the touring ensemble Progress Theatre and creator of "SoulWork" - a generative method for making performance, training artists, engaging communities and framing analytical research that is rooted in generations-old African American cultural practices, theories and performance traditions. She is a recipient of the Doris Duke Impact Artist Award - given to those " influential in shaping powerful creative movements in contemporary arts," - the Creative Capital Award, MAP Fund, NPN Creation Fund and NEFA National Theatre Project grants. As a culture worker and artist, Cristal is director of SoulWork Studio and has led Progress Theatre in using art as anti-racism to connect communities via a broad, deeply-linked grassroots network fostered nationally over 2 decades. She writes a'capella musicals called "NeoSpirituals," that span and straddle time between histories and the present to explore identities, inheritances/legacies and cultural movements to encourage connection, consciousness and healing. These include PEACHES (see Theatre Communication Group's collection Plays from the Boombox Galaxy), ‘MEMBUH, and The Burnin'. Plantation Remix, her current work-in-progress, is a site-responsive NeoSpiritual to to radically reimagine the separatistic genre of heritage tourism by rehearsing a contemporary, multi-cultural, future-building "afterlife" for historic sites related to slavery in the U.S. Her plays blend pop culture and academic conversations, fusing genre from Negro Spirituals and Folklore to Blues, R&B, and Hip Hop to produce performances that engage communities across race, class, gender and spiritual identity. As a performance studies scholar, she researches and writes about cultural performance as an object and a method of inquiry tracing the arts' essential role in movements for liberation using the theory she developed called the "Cultural Conservatory." She received her PhD from New York University and her academic writing includes: "SoulWork" in Black Acting Methods (Routledge) and "Cultural Conservatory: Living the Arts" in Are Arts Essential? (NYU Press), and "The 3rd Gift of The Negro: Dubois' Star of Ethiopia," featured in The Routledge Companion to African American Theater and Performance. As an educator, Dr. Truscott has held positions at HBCUs Spelman College and Prairie View A&M University. Currently at Northwestern University, she teaches SoulWork practice and Cultural Conservatory theory as a pioneering pedagogy that diversifies and decolonizes theatre and performance training in higher education. Dr. Truscott is a 2023 USA Fellow for her works as an Ensemble Theatre Artist & Cultural Worker.

Job Titles:

• Panelist - Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff for Institutional Diversity, University of Kentucky

Damon L. Williams, Jr., M.B.A., serves as the Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff for Institutional Diversity at the University of Kentucky. In this role, he is responsible for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility strategic planning and implementation for students, faculty, staff, alumni at the institution, across the Lexington community, and in The Commonwealth. Williams joined the University of Kentucky from Northwestern University, where he served as the inaugural Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion for Graduate Education and the Senior Diversity Officer in the Graduate School where he recruited the largest number of traditionally excluded students in the school's history. As a competent practitioner, Damon has worked in many roles supporting inclusivity for institutions and organizations including Emory University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Phillip Morris USA(Altria), and Verizon Wireless. He has a strong history of developing partnerships and pipelines which serve to recruit and retain underrepresented minoritized students in the workforce or graduate education. His worked has garnered him recognition by Black Enterprise Magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Xavier University's Louisiana Alumni of the Year Award, and Northwestern University's Penny Warren Service Award. Damon serves on several national boards including the National Conference for Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), Medical Moguls, Hill Harper's "Making Your Destiny", and the most recently named to Social Science Research Council. He is a member of the National Black MBA Association, National Urban League, National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and many other organizations. Damon holds a B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana; a Master's in marketing from Tulane University, an MBA from Fontbonne University, and is a doctoral student studying Higher Education Policy. He holds additional certificates from Cornell University, and a senior fellow at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Damon most recently was invited to participate on a panel discussion at the White House on HBCU Conference in Washington, DC, and a recent fellow in the Academic Leadership Institute at Swarthmore College for aspiring college presidents of HBCUS.

Job Titles:

• Panelist - President, Morgan State University

David Kwabena Wilson, Ed.D., is the 10th inaugurated president of Morgan State University-Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University. For more than a decade, Dr. Wilson has not only been a transformative president at Morgan but has emerged as a leader among university presidents nationwide as well as an effective advocate for HBCUs and the role they play in developing leaders and serving the needs of their community, state, and nation. Dr. Wilson has a long record of accomplishment in his more than 30 years in higher education administration. He is a nationally recognized 2023 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education winner and a newly elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S) and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Dr. Wilson also serves on the Lumina Foundation Board of Directors, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) Board of Directors, and the NCAA Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors. Dr. Wilson is the former chairman of the HBCU/China Network, and in 2010, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Board of Advisors on HBCUs. Dr. Wilson has also served on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology, the Board of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Board of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and as a member of the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering. Among the many recognitions received throughout his professional career he has been awarded the Maryland Senate's First Citizen Award and the Transcendent Order of the African Eagle Award. In addition, Dr. Wilson has been named as a Baltimore Business Journal Top 10 CEO, an AFRO Newspaper ‘Person of the Year,' a Baltimore Sun Business and Civic Hall of Famer, and one of the Maryland Daily Record's ‘Power 30' in Higher Education. To his credit, Dr. Wilson was named in Forbes as a "Top Black Higher Ed CEO to Watch in 2023." He has also authored two books and more than 20 articles in scholarly journals and other publications. Prior to assuming his current position, Dr. Wilson served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and University of Wisconsin Extension; vice president for University Outreach and Associate provost for Auburn University; assistant and associate provost for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Camden); and director for the Office of Minority Programs at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. Dr. Wilson received his bachelor's degree in political science and master's in education from Tuskegee University, and master's and doctorate in education from Harvard University. He was also bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater Tuskegee University. His educational philosophy is to put the students' experience first. As a leader, he is a consensus builder and a strong believer in transparency of process. Dr. Wilson's goal is to make Morgan a leader in producing the next wave of innovators in the U.S., further cementing its call to action of Growing the Future, Leading the World.

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the Spill

Dr. Clarence B. Jones served as legal counsel, strategic advisor, and draft speechwriter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1960 until Dr. King's assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Vanity Fair called him the man who kept King's secrets; Dr. Jones was privy to Reverend King's decision-making processes and political struggles. During that time, Dr. King depended on Dr. Jones for legal and strategic counsel and assistance in drafting landmark speeches and public testimony. He is credited with writing the first seven paragraphs of the iconic I Have A Dream speech. With the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington approaching, Dr. Jones shows no signs of slowing down. He has authored two acclaimed books What Would Martin Say? and Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation, and countless articles and essays for the Huffington Post and many other publications. His latest book, Last of the Lions, was released this year. (Red Hawk Publications/UNC Press). Across the decades following Dr. King's assassination on April 4, 1968, Clarence B. Jones worked to carry on Dr. King's legacy, to continue the nonviolent struggle for social justice, voting rights, and democratic inclusion. Dr. Jones has engaged American society in various fields, capacities, and roles throughout these years. As a lawyer, civil rights leader, and business executive in the entertainment field, Dr. Jones maintained close personal friendships -- and collaborative working relationships as -- with influential 20th- century artists, writers, athletes, and social justice activists, including Muhammed Ali, James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee, and Lorraine Hansberry. In 1974, Dr. Jones negotiated the historic "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. Dr. Jones has served on the boards of cultural organizations, including The Impact Repertory Theater & Dance Company, The Theatre Development Fund NYC, and the Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Dr. Jones was engaged in close working relationships and friendships with many leaders of the black liberation movement who interacted with King throughout these years. He was a liaison between Dr. King and Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and Robert F. Kennedy, among other figures. Because of his relationship with Dr. King and his associates, Dr. Jones, he was the target of illegal wiretaps initiated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover from July 1963 until Dr. King's assassination. Jones currently serves as the Chairman of the Spill the Honey Foundation, an organization dedicated to Black- Jewish relations. He also founded the Dr. Clarence B. Jones Institute for Social Advocacy and also serves as the Founding Director Emeritus of the Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco. Dr. Jones was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of San Francisco and honored at events at Columbia University, where he was an undergraduate, and the Julliard School of Performing Arts, where he studied music. He graduated from the Boston University Law School.

Job Titles:

• Director of Operations
• Panelist - Director of Operations and Business Development and the Inaugural Center Associate Director at the University of Pennsylvania Singh Center for Nanotechnology

Dr. Gerald Lopez is the Director of Operations and Business Development and the inaugural Center Associate Director at the University of Pennsylvania Singh Center for Nanotechnology, a nationally recognized center of excellence that provides open access to nanotechnology infrastructure under the auspices of the United States National Science Foundation National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI). His role manages the Center's day-to-day operations alongside his expert staff, forming and executing business strategies to foster collaboration and to continuously improve the Center's management of its 100+ publicly available nano-enabling tools and over 400+ users. His professional experience in academia and the semiconductor industry encompasses lithography process development and tooling as a former manager at the Singh Center; technical sales and support in computational lithography at GenISys, Inc.; his software engineering career at SITA; his former nanotechnology consultancy, Helio Nano, LLC; and his time as a graduate researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. As such, he has developed a deep network of professional colleagues in academia, industry and government and serves as an advisory board member in the private sector and non-profits. Dr. Lopez co-founded and is the Board Chair for the Meeting for Advanced Electron Beam Lithography (MAEBL), an annual workshop aimed to connect an esoteric community of geographically disparate electron beam lithographers, which includes researchers, students, process engineers, tool owners, and lab managers, spanning several countries intersecting academic, industry and government labs worldwide. Moreover, he serves in the leadership for the International Conference on Electron, Ion and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication (EIPBN), where he presided and navigated the organization as conference chair in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, Dr. Lopez plays a role in the US mid-Atlantic consortium, known as MASH, the Mid-Atlantic Semiconductor Hub, to elevate the region's relevance in the CHIPS and Science Act and recently represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as part of a US/Canadian delegation to Taiwan to strengthen ties with the island. He is passionate about education, mentorship, and connecting the next generation to nano-enabled opportunities through workforce development. Dr. Lopez received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his B.S. in Computer Engineering cum laude from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as a Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Scholar and Janice A. Lumpkin Scholar

Job Titles:

• Member of the Staff & Board
• Manager of Undergraduate and Graduate Student Programs

Dr. Jane Indorf is the Manager of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs for The Leadership Alliance. Since graduate school, she has worked with many programs aimed at supporting underrepresented students in their pursuit of advanced degrees through research opportunities and professional development. She has led professional development and teaching workshops for K-12 teachers, undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. She also has worked with K-12 students through STEM outreach. Previously she worked at the University of Miami where she was a faculty member in the biology department and assistant director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Community Outreach. She has conducted research in evolutionary biology and STEM education for many years. She earned a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology at the University of Miami, where she also completed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship in science education.

Job Titles:

• Panelist - Chair of the Department of African American Studies, Georgetown University
• Professor of African American Studies

Dr. Robert J. Patterson is a professor of African American Studies and served as the inaugural chair of the Department of African American Studies at Georgetown University (2016-2019). He is the author of Destructive Desires: Rhythm and Blues Culture and the Politics of Racial Equality as well as Exodus Politics: Civil Rights and Leadership in African American Literature and Culture, the co-editor of The Psychic Hold of Slavery: Legacies in American Expressive Culture and editor of the award-winning Black Cultural Production After Civil Rights (University of Illinois Press, 2019). Currently, he is working on two books. One is titled Black Equity, Black Equality: Reparation and Black Communities and the other one is African American Slave Narratives: A Very Short Introduction. Dr. Patterson also has published articles that have appeared in South Atlantic Quarterly, Black Camera: An International Film Journal, Religion and Literature, The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, The Cambridge Companion to African American Women's Writing, The Cambridge Companion to Civil Rights Literature, and the Journal of Popular Music Studies. Dr. Patterson has worked with governmental agencies, school systems, and other organizations to develop solutions that increase diversity, cultivate inclusion, and provide equity of access and outcomes. He currently serves as the Co-Chair of the College Board's Development Committee for its pilot course in African American Studies. He has also appeared on MSNBC, Fox Soul, CNN, and the British Broadcasting Channel, as well as additional media platforms, to discuss his expertise in slavery's legacies, reparations, and racial equity more broadly. Dr. Patterson has collaborated with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to endow the Robert J. Patterson Scholarship Fund, which supports residents of Hartford, CT, who intend to pursue an undergraduate degree in African American Studies, social justice, the arts, or the humanities.

Job Titles:

• Panelist - Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity, Brown University
• Vice President for Institutional Equity

Dr. Sylvia R. Carey-Butler is Brown University's Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity. She began in July 2021. She previously served as Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for Kennesaw State University where she was charged with developing a long-term diversity and inclusion action plan and led phase I and phase II of the Presidential Task Force on Race. She co-designed the diversity and inclusion curriculum for the American Council on Education's Fellows program, was named to the Top 100 Diversity Officers by the National Diversity Council in 2021, and was honored as one of 35 outstanding women in higher education in the U.S. by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in 2020. At Brown University, Carey-Butler is charged with leading phase II of Brown University's Diversity Action Plan (DIAP II) coupled with oversight of The Brown Tougaloo Program, The Leadership Alliance, The Affirmative Action Plan, along with other key Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. From 2013 to 2019, she served as assistant chancellor for academic support of inclusive excellence at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where she was responsible for building collaborative partnerships across campus to create an equitable campus climate and inclusive learning environment. As the former interim executive director of the United Negro College Fund's (UNCF) Institute for Capacity Building and the inaugural director of UNCF's Enrollment Management Program, Carey-Butler has worked extensively with private HBCUs. She has also held numerous positions in higher education in New York State. Previously, she served as assistant provost and dean of honors at Dillard University in New Orleans and as associate dean of studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. In addition to her university leadership positions, Carey-Butler has researched and presented extensively on student recruitment and retention in higher education, African-American women administrators in the academy and African-American men in higher education. She is the former board chair of the City of Oshkosh's (Wisconsin) Area Community Food Pantry and the City of Oshkosh's Housing Authority. Carey-Butler earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration and policy from Vanderbilt University and a master's degree in social science from Binghamton University. A native of Schenectady, New York, she holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta.

Job Titles:

• Writer, Public Scholar, Policymaker, and Advocate for Indigenous Communities

Elizabeth Rule, PhD (enrolled citizen, Chickasaw Nation) is a writer, public scholar, policymaker, and advocate for Indigenous communities. Dr. Rule was appointed to Governor Kathy Hochul's Executive Chamber in 2023 as the first Deputy Secretary for First Nations in the history of New York State: a position dedicated to the support of Indigenous self-determination and well-being, and the highest-ranking Indigenous affairs role in the State. Rule also holds a Social Practice Residency at the Kennedy Center and is an Assistant Professor of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies at American University. Her time at the Kennedy Center is being dedicated to the development of an Indigenous feminist television screenplay, Moon Time. Rule's Critical Indigenous Studies research has been featured in the Washington Post, Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien, The Atlantic, Newsy, and NPR. She has also published articles in American Quarterly and the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, and has two monographs. The first, Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation's Capital (April 2023, Georgetown University Press), analyzes historical and contemporary sites of Indigenous importance in Washington, DC. Rule's second book project, Reproducing Resistance: Gendered Violence and Indigenous Nationhood, links reproductive justice and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (forthcoming). Rule is founder of the Guide to Indigenous Lands Project and creator of the Guide to Indigenous DC (2019), Guide to Indigenous Baltimore (2021), and Guide to Indigenous Maryland (2022) digital maps and mobile applications. Rule's work has received support from the Henry Luce Foundation, MIT Solve, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Center for Black, Brown, and Queer Studies, and more. In 2021, she was recognized as an AT&T Women's History Month Honoree, was named among the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development's "40 Under 40," and received the Library Company of Philadelphia's Innovation Award. Prior to joining American University, Rule served as Director of George Washington University's Center for Indigenous Politics and Policy. Rule received her Ph.D. from Brown University, and B.A. from Yale University.

Job Titles:

• Member of the External Advisory Board
• Chief Diversity Officer and Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Vanderbilt University

Job Titles:

• Associate Director
• Member of the Staff & Board

Dr. Astorini currently serves as the Associate Director. Dr. Astorini was the Associate Dean for undergraduate academics at the University of Miami and joined The Leadership Alliance Executive Office in September 2021. Her personal and professional identity is dedicated to advancing values of diversity, equity, and inclusion through culturally responsive and strategic initiatives. Dr. Astorini earned a Doctoral degree in Higher Education Leadership and holds a Master's of Science degree in Student Life and Development as well as a post-master's certificate in Enrollment Management.

Job Titles:

• Assistant Professor in Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health 's Department of Epidemiology
• Panelist - Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Columbia University 's Mailman School of Public Health

Jasmine McDonald, an Assistant Professor in Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health's Department of Epidemiology, embodies excellence in education, research, and community engagement. Her journey began with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she excelled as a Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Scholar and a MARC U*STAR Scholar. Continuing her academic journey, McDonald earned a Doctorate in the Biological Sciences in Public Health from Harvard University, specializing in Immunology and Infectious Diseases. Her expertise was further refined through postdoctoral training in breast cancer epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. McDonald's impactful research focuses on critical windows of breast development, uncovering periods when breast tissue is more susceptible to carcinogenesis. She integrates individual factors like health behaviors, the macroenvironment (physical, social, environmental), and biological outcomes such as breast mammographic density and the tumor microenvironment. Notably, her dedication to understanding early-onset breast cancer has transformative potential. Her commitment to education and mentorship earned her the prestigious 2021 Columbia University Presidential Teaching Award. McDonald shares her wisdom through courses like Cancer Epidemiology and plays a vital role as the Assistant Director of the Cancer Research, Training, and Education Center at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. In her role as Co-Director of the YES in THE HEIGHTS Program at HICCC, she leads initiatives that foster discussions on cancer health equity, involving students from underserved backgrounds, New York-based high school teachers, and the community. The love of learning was instilled by her parents and both sets of grandparents, emphasizing the value of education and progress for future generations. Jasmine McDonald's dynamic career and unwavering dedication to cancer research, education, community, and service epitomize the highest ideals of public health.

Additionally, JT is an advisor to the Korn Ferry Charitable Foundation where he helps to guide external partnerships and philanthropic investments, which include KF's coveted Leadership U for Humanity Program for high-potential, underrepresented talent and the HBCU Leadership Accelerator program.

Job Titles:

• Panelist - Chief Diversity Officer, Korn Ferry

John "JT" Saunders serves as Korn Ferry's Chief Diversity Officer. He is an accomplished leadership consultant, facilitator and coach who has spent most of his professional career supporting diverse and under-represented talent.

Job Titles:

• Member of the External Advisory Board

Job Titles:

• Associate Scientific Advisor for the Journal Science Translational Medicine
• Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Recipient of the NIH Pioneer Award
• Panelist - Psychiatrist and Associate Professor, Duke University

Kafui Dzirasa completed a PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University. His research interests focus on understanding how changes in the brain produce neurological and mental illness, and his graduate work has led to several distinctions including the Somjen Award for Most Outstanding Dissertation Thesis, the Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Fellowship, the UNCF Merck Graduate Science Research Fellowship, and the Wakeman Fellowship. Kafui obtained an MD from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2009, and he completed residency training in General Psychiatry in 2016. Kafui received the Charles Johnson Leadership Award in 2007, and he was recognized as one of Ebony magazine's 30 Young Leaders of the Future in February 2008. He has also been awarded the International Mental Health Research Organization Rising Star Award, the Sydney Baer Prize for Schizophrenia Research, and his laboratory was featured on CBS 60 Minutes in 2011. In 2016, he was awarded the inaugural Duke Medical Alumni Emerging Leader Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers: The Nation's highest award for scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. In 2017, he was recognized as 40 under 40 in Health by the National Minority Quality Forum, and the Engineering Alumni of the Year from UMBC. He was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2019, the National Academy of Medicine in 2021, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2023. Kafui has served as an Associate Scientific Advisor for the journal Science Translational Medicine, a member of the Congressional-mandated Next Generation Research Initiative, and on the Editorial Advisory Board for TEDMED. He currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director. Kafui is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and recipient of the NIH Pioneer Award. He is the A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor at Duke University with appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurosurgery. His goal is to combine his research, medical training, and community experience to improve outcomes for diverse communities suffering from Neurological and Psychiatric illnesses.

Job Titles:

• Panelist - Chief of the Undergraduate and Predoctoral Cross - Disciplinary Training Branch, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Kenneth (Kenny) Gibbs, Jr., Ph.D., is Chief of the Undergraduate and Predoctoral Cross-Disciplinary Training Branch within the Division of Training, Workforce Development and Diversity (TWD) at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). In this role, he oversees the institute's long standing programs to institutional programs to enhance diversity. At NIGMS, he also directs the NIH-wide MOSAIC program to promote faculty diversity, and is a Program Director in the Division Genetics & Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology where leads and administers grants to promote basic research in the area of stem cell biology. Prior to joining NIGMS, Dr. Gibbs was a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, and an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). Dr. Gibbs completed his Ph.D. in the Immunology program at Stanford University, and received his B.S. in biochemistry & molecular biology (summa cum laude) from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where he was a Meyerhoff, MARC, and HHMI scholar. Dr. Gibbs is an honorary fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has previously served on the committee for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's consensus report "Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century," on the Board of Directors for the National Postdoctoral Association. He has written about scientific training and diversity issues for Science Careers, and Scientific American.

Job Titles:

• Member of the External Advisory Board
• CEO, President and Founder at the LCLO Group - a Higher Education and Workforce Development Consulting Firm

Job Titles:

• Member of the Staff & Board
• Communications and Events Specialist

Maria DoVale is the Communications & Events Specialist for the Leadership Alliance. It is Ms. DoVale's primary responsibility to plan, organize, coordinate and develop sessions that promote networking, mentoring and professional development for undergraduate students, graduate students, and our doctoral scholars. As the Ex-Officio of the Leadership Alliance Symposium Planning Committee, she works alongside colleagues from various member institutions who provide suggestions on different aspects of program planning for the Symposium. She is also responsible for maintaining the national website and keeping the public aware of all programming and events through social media. Ms. DoVale comes to us with a wealth of experience in administration, event planning and management augmented with exemplary technical, organizational and customer service skills. Prior to her appointment with the Leadership Alliance, Ms. DoVale worked for the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau helping to promote the state of Rhode Island as well as the city of Providence as a convention destination. Prior to this appointment, she worked for American Express corporate travel. Ms. DoVale holds a B.A. in Travel & Tourism Management from Johnson & Wales University.

Job Titles:

• Member of the External Advisory Board

Job Titles:

• Moderator - President, Dillard University

Possessing a robust résumé in higher education administration, President Ford has earned a stellar reputation as a hands-on, transformative leader. Since arriving at Dillard on July 1, 2022, she has bolstered Dillard's commitment to cultivating leaders, strengthened its legacy of excellence, and is working diligently to establish Dillard as a communiversity. With a focus on the DU3: facilities that withstand the forecast, fortifying staff and faculty, and financing the future for students, she envisions Dillard as a leader in developing healthy, safe and innovative communities through its living, learning, and serving the community. Dr. Ford chairs the GNO Higher Education Consortium and sits on the boards of the Business Council of New Orleans, the LA Board of Regents HBCU Advisory Council, GNO, Inc., the United Way of New Orleans, EIIA, UNCF, Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and Black Women Collegiate Presidents and Chancellors. She is also a member of the Black College Fund, Rotary of New Orleans, and Louisiana Women's Forum. Her scholarship and experience include diversity, equity and inclusion, public relations, advertising, journalism, and media. She has served on the boards of PRSA, the PRSA Foundation and the American Advertising Federation's Mosaic Center and the Arthur W. Page Society's diversity and inclusion committee. A native of Gahanna, Ohio, President Ford earned her bachelor's degree from Howard University, her master's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She also earned a graduate certificate in higher education administration from Harvard University and was the first Clark Atlanta University HBCU Executive Leadership Institute graduate to become a college president. She is a member of the National Black Public Relations Society, the American Advertising Federation, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.

Job Titles:

• Coordinator
• Member of the Staff & Board
• Coordinator of Undergraduate Programs

Samantha Andersen is the Undergraduate Coordinator for the Leadership Alliance. In this capacity, she coordinates the combined application process for the undergraduate summer research sites and supervises the Alliance's Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) at Brown University. Ms. Andersen cultivated a passion for connecting diverse populations of students with research opportunities when she began her career in higher education at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). At UCSB Ms. Andersen coordinated the Internships in Nanosystems Science, Engineering and Technology (INSET) program which gave community college students from across California the opportunity to engage in research at USCB labs under the guidance and supervision of university mentors during an 8-week summer research program. Holding a master's degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from New York University, she has also coordinated after-school programs in science, technology, engineering, art and math at UCSB and at Teachers College, Columbia University. These programs bring university students and resources to public elementary, middle, and high schools in Santa Barbara and New York City, and they bring K-12 students to the university. The after-school programs are designed to expose young students to university life and opportunities early in their educational career and to give university students and faculty the chance to engage with local communities and practice communicating their research and work with varied populations in a setting that is very different from the lab. Since moving to Rhode Island in 2012 Ms. Andersen has worked with United Way of Rhode Island on initiatives focusing on out-of-school time and expanded learning opportunities for Rhode Island youth and with the Community College of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Department of Education to establish a youth apprenticeship program which allows students to begin a career while they are still in high school.

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor

Job Titles:

• Managing Director of Continuum Health Group & Senior Vice President at Venn Strategies

Dr. Whitaker is a managing director of Continuum Health Group, a public health and health disparities policy firm based in Washington, DC. She is also a senior vice president in the health policy group at Venn Strategies, a government affairs firm in Washington, DC. Shanta joined Venn and Continuum from her position at LMI as a Health Policy Consultant to CMS, where she served as a subject matter expert on Medicare and Medicaid Shared Savings Programs and worked extensively with Accountable Care Organizations. Shanta has also been a senior health disparities analyst for the Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care, has served as an editor for American Journal Experts, and was a post-doctoral fellow with the North Carolina State Public Health Laboratory. Shanta received her bachelor's degree from Virginia Union University, a doctorate in microbiology from Yale University, and a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Job Titles:

• Moderator - President, Dartmouth College
• President of Dartmouth College

Sian Beilock is the 19th president of Dartmouth College. She is the first woman to have been elected president of Dartmouth by the Board of Trustees and began her tenure on June 12, 2023. Sian previously served as the eighth president of Barnard College at Columbia University. A cognitive scientist by training, Sian is one of the world's leading experts on the brain science behind "choking under pressure" in business, education, and sports. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Choke and How the Body Knows Its Mind, which have been published in more than a dozen languages, and she has published over 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers. She works closely with individuals, Fortune 500 companies, sports teams, and government organizations to help them build high-performance teams and use research-driven strategies to create environments that attract, retain, and get the best out of their talent.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director
• Member of the Staff & Board

Dr. Bingham-Hickman embodies this mission as an alumna of the Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) and a Leadership Alliance member institution. After participating in the SR-EIP at Harvard Medical School, she earned both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from New York University School of Medicine and completed her M.B.A at Northeastern University. Dr. Bingham-Hickman is also an HBCU graduate, she received a B.S. from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Dr. Bingham-Hickman brings to this position a wealth of experience and an impressive record of results across multiple sectors. In the past three years, she served as the Assistant Director of Biomedical Informatics Research and Operations at Brown University, where she supported the operational functions of the Brown Center for Biomedical Informatics (BCBI) with major statewide initiatives. In this capacity, she also served as the technical liaison for assigned projects with BCBI collaborators across Brown and its affiliated hospitals, as well as regional/national/international partners. Before coming to Brown, Dr. Bingham-Hickman worked in the private industry at Beacon Health Options as the Vice President of Data Analytics where she oversaw Beacon's Analytics Innovation Center that provided thought leadership and analytic capabilities to ensure optimal behavioral health solutions for regional and specialty health plans; employers and labor organizations; and federal, state and local governments. She managed a team that leveraged advanced analytic concepts to drive actionable, insight-driven and outcome-oriented decision making to deliver the best in class service for its members, providers and clients. Dr. Bingham- Hickman also worked as the Manager of Analytics for Beacon's Pharmacy Intervention Program and was key in the development of evidence-based algorithms to help identify medication- related problems specific to behavioral health conditions. As a parent of a child with special needs Dr. Bingham-Hickman also serves as an advocate for students with disabilities in her local community and serves on the board of Autism Care Partners.