From Activist to Administrator: Women of Color Leaders as Models of Civic Engagement

During the last presidential election, women of color (and specifically, 92 percent of Black women) were among the most highly engaged and most democratically minded voters. We have always known that higher education serves public purposes, and generations of women of color leaders in higher education have been in the forefront of both institutional and civic change. In this session, panelists will engage attendees on how to understand the meaning of civic engagement for BIPOC women administrators and how to overcome attendant internal and external risks in this era. Questions will include: How can women of color leaders be involved in and promote civic engagement while also recognizing that we act as representatives of our institutions and not as private citizens? How do we exercise mission-aligned leadership and enact our values? How do we model this work for our students—those who do and do not share our identities?